Brilliance

Economists are all too aware of the fact that one's time has economic value. (You don't have to look too far, for example, to see an economist rant about how "free" things aren't really free if you have to wait in line for an hour for them.) Therefore, fields of research that study lines, and the time spent waiting in them, are pretty relevant to the field of economics.Maybe I'm biased on this issue because I studied queueing theory and operations research before I started graduate school for economics, but I find it fascinating that not only is queueing theory relevant to traditional neoclassical economics, but work on the psychology of lines is also relevant to behavioral economics. (Fun fact: queueing theory has focused on the psychology of lines since the mid-1900's, whereas behavioral economics is still a field working its way into the mainstream.) Specifically, people think a lot about the fairness of various queueing systems, according to "Dr. Queue" Richard Larson (my thesis advisor, coincidentally), and it stands to reason that this perceived (dis)utilty from waiting in line affects the valuation of the items that people are waiting in line for. Jodi Beggs

Jodi, your insite is worth a Nobel prize. I also am a queue watcher. One simple rule covers 90% of macroeconomics: No one likes to be third in line.  Anyway readers, watch this economist, she will have many valuable insites as a queue watcher.