Sep 25 2007
Cupcake Ban: Are you serious?
Published by Michelle Close at 3:51 pm under
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WikipediaNew York Times - Don’t Even Think of Touching That Cupcake
I had to post this article. It would have been a crime not to. Seriously, there are economic implications to bans on cupcakes in school and changes in attitudes about cupcakes. You are bright AP and IB Economics students, you figure out the economic implications and then post a comment with your economic analyisis. What does this attack on cupcakes really mean from an economist point of view?
And what is presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton’s stance on the great cupcake debate? The writing’s on the wall folks… promise #9…
About the author: Michelle Close teaches AP Economics and IB Economics the Shanghai American School where she is also the CAS coordinator for the IB program. Michelle has taught in a wide variety of school settings for the last twenty years and truly values teaching, living and traveling abroad.
Michelle has been living in Shanghai with her husband Kevin and two children, Maya and Cooper since 2006 and she previously taught at the Columbus School in Medellin, Colombia. She calls Boston and The Bay Area her home away from home. 
This is seriously ridiculous. Have the schools thought about what the consequences will be for bakers and owners of restaurants such as Magnolia?
The schools should leave the issue alone and let parents decide whether or not their children can bring cupcakes or eat the cupcakes brought to school. I totally agree with Rachel Kramer Bussel, this “Safe Cupcake Amendment” type thing is over the top. If I were a parent, I’d be outraged as well.
Cupcakes on a birthday has been a long-standing tradition; I’ve been doing it every year since 1st grade. It is not morally or economically sound to ban cupcakes just because some people have obesity issues. A few cupcakes are NOT what make a person obese; it’s their eating and exercise habits.
Instead of banning cupcakes, schools should implement a few extra P.E. classes per week.
I agree with Christina in that the cupcake ban is ridiculous, and that schools should encourage exercise and healthy eating rather than banning cupcakes. However, I don’t think that these bans will have very severe economic repercussions since as far as I am aware cupcakes would only be banned in school, leaving you free to eat one at home, or in your own spare time.
However, if somehow schools managed to ban the sale of cupcakes, then I feel that bakeries would try to change their ingredients to give them a healthier appearance, maybe by using less refined sugar and more brown sugar or something like that. If the “cupcake pioneers” have made unhealthy cupcakes popular, then they should have no problem marketing a “healthier” version, especially considering the United States’ recent fixation on healthy goods.
I don’t really think there is such a thing as a healthy cupcake, but I think we all agree that this issue is absurd. I mean if you don’t allow students to bring cupcakes to school, are you going to allow cake, or any alternative dessert almost as equally unhealthy? Schools would have to place a ban on all deserts since it would be stupid to forbid cupcakes and allow all other desserts. However, the media surrounding this issue may have an effect on public thought of cupcakes. If the popularity of cupcakes diminishes because of this issue, then the demand curve for cupcakes will shift to the left and be substituted by other desserts. This issue is quite ridiculous though; if kids get obese from eating cupcakes at school, no sane parent is going to blame the school for allowing cupcakes to be eaten there.
If you think about it most desserts are unhealthy, that’s the point of it. Brownies, chocolate chip cookies and etc. Who would eat a “healthy” cupcake? What ever that is. If they are going to ban cupcakes because they are unhealthy why not just ban every other dessert that students eat or sell in school. Also, Howard has a point, students are only banned from eating cupcakes from school, they would be free to eat as much as they liked at home. Wouldn’t the whole point of banning it be defeated? Those that are obese would eat just as much at home and unless there are more p.e classes in school their weight issue wouldn’t be solved. I believe they should just encourage more physical exercises and eating healthy in school instead of banning cupcakes.
WHAT! BANNING CUPCAKES?? NOOOOOO
I agree with all the other commenters that this would be totally ridiculous and irrational. Banning cupcakes wouldn’t do ANYTHING to make kids less obese. I’m sure that they’re mostly obese because of their bad eating habits and lack of exercise, and subtracting one cupcake from each birthday date per year is not going to affect that. In addition, parents would EASILY find a way around this cupcake thing. They could just bring cake cut into small pieces, or cookies, brownies, pie… there are endless alternatives that would be just as unhealthy!
From an economic perspective, however, the ban on cupcakes might lead to a decrease in quantity demanded, since parents won’t buy cupcake mix as much; this would lead to a drop in cupcake prices as producers try to entice parents into buying cupcakes anyways. However, who’s to say that it wouldn’t lead to an INCREASE in quantity demanded? Maybe people would actually buy more cupcakes just to show their defiance towards the cupcake ban. I’m sure the cupcake ban would have at least some impact on the cupcake market, but it’s hard to predict exactly what effects it would have.
Banning cupcakes? Other junk foods, such as candy bars might as well be banned from schools too since both are about equally unhealthy (45% and 46% calories from fat, respectively). Since cupcakes are quite substitutible (normal cake, donuts, etc…), demand for other unhealthy foods would only increase.
Simply banning cupcakes is not going to solve the obesity epidemic. Instead, schools should probably integrate nutrition into physical education. or maybe they should provide healthier options. Weightwatchers and Hostess sell “100 calorie cupcakes”.
This article hurt me very deeply. I grew up on cupcakes. The thought of them being taken out of schools is scarier than a Texas Chainsaw Massacre. The people at Betty Crocker must be feeling the same way. Just like with many goods that have become banned in schools the sales in cupcakes will severely drop. Children bringing cupcakes to school is a large part of the consumer market of cupcake manufacterers. The Qd of cupcakes will decrease severely. Depending on the future of the cupcake bans however, people might stock up on cupcakes to have for other occasions, and/or sneak them in after school. It may be the new form of rebellion for the pre teens in America.;)
Wow. I totally agree with everyone else. It’s just totally ridiculous. If the students eat a few less cupcakes at birthday parties at school each year, it really won’t do anything to solve the obesity epidemic. Plus, there are many other substitutes for cupcakes such as brownies, cakes, among other junk food. Even if they can’t eat it at home, they can still eat as many cupcakes as they want at home. Instead of banning cupcakes, they should encourage the students to exercise more, or organize a PE class like Christina suggested.
I never thought that Cup cakes are good, and nor do i like it. However, banning it, i dont think is a good idea. As Richard Tu said, people can still get their sugar from cupcakes’ substitudes. From an Economist point of view. Banning this would increase the quantity of demand of its subsitudes. They should un-ban cub cakes and have a better Heath Education system telling students to balance there calary intake, and calary burned.
Two Words: Big Brother
Cupcakes=love. Before I begin, I must say, we sound like a bunch of cupcake vigilantes
I agree with Alice, that the quantity demanded of cupcakes may not necessarily decrease just because they’re banned at schools. Chances are, kids don’t even consumer cupcakes that much at school; I know I only have cupcakes at school during bake sales and events. Kids don’t spend their whole lives at school. Okay, maybe for the most part of the day, but most habits that develop into factors that cause obesity are learned from the people and environment we grow up in. So why not ban cupcakes all together - at home, in stores, etc.? I imagine this can only result in a black market for cupcakes. Is that even sane? This will only make kids binge on other possibly more unhealthy junk instead of being more well informed on their health.
Excuse me while i go hyperventilate.
Okay, i’m back. I really really disagree with this whole ban. I mean, if they are going to ban CUPCAKES, then why not go and ban chocolate brownies while they’re at it? they are about almost as (or twice as more) fattening as belovedd cupcakes!
Also in an economist view, I agree with Christina. This would drastically affect bakers and all other sorts of bread-and-goodies-makers (i can’t think right now) as cupcakes are probably one of their bestsellers! I mean, look at everyone’s posts here so far as well: we love ‘em to death
. I am guessing that the quantity demanded for almost all bread would drop, as everyone may be too angry or depressed with the cupcake banning…At least that’s how i would be like, i think. And I’m guessing since the bakers realize that cupcakes aren’t going on sale anymore, they would lower the price of most bread and try to sell those for the time being so that they will recieve the attention instead?
And I think Hilary Clinton would make an awesome president (: .
Wow, that was a weird read, haha. However, I believe that even if cupcakes are banned (sort of doubt they will), it’s not going to suddenly make kids in the stats healthier. They’ll just switch to another baked good and if it’s not sweet enough, they’ll add even more frosting on it.
Enforcing a cupcake ban would be ridiculous, there will be more people baking cupcakes probably just for the sake of defying the ban. Thus, instead of decreasing cupcake production, cupcake productions will probably increase anyways.
Anyways, please don’t ban cupcakes, they’re yummy.
I think that any attempt to rid schools of cupcakes is sheer idiocy and completely irrational.
Cupcakes are an essential part of a child’s life, just like diapers and rubber underwear. To simply invoke a ban on cupcakes in school would have devastating far-reaching consequences.
From the viewpoint of a child, cupcakes are the holy grail of treats. They are a staple of in-class birthday parties and many times provide incentives for children not only to celebrate birthdays but to go to school on birthdays. By REMOVING cupcakes from the equation, the opportunity cost is significantly elevated. Not only do kids have to go to school and learn grammar and vocabulary, but now they have no occasional cupcakes to tide them over. Cupcakes make the learning experience a less painful one, especially in the early years. I do not remember a birthday in elementary school without cupcakes (except mine; we had popsicles. w00t popsicles.).
Diet is a matter of discipline and self-restraint. If one cannot control their food-lust then by all means, let them get fat and take the brunt of whatever ridicule they get for it. It shall be a constant reminder that will serve them well even into adulthood: excess is bad. Very bad. And they will pay for it with their physical attractiveness and dignity, at least until they graduate to high school. And then some.
I also disagree about the comment that said Hilary Clinton would be a great president.
VOTE EDWARDS
DAHIL. wow, so this article was pretty ridiculous and I’m sure something like this would only happen in America. Maybe it was brought up because someone wanted to see how the presidential candidates would view the issue. But anyway, I agree with what everyone else said and I’m pretty sure that this ban will never happen. From an economic point of view, if cupcakes lose popularity because of this issue, the demand curve will shift to the left because of change in consumer preferences.
This is quite shocking. Really. Its quite obscene.
Let’s jump on the cupcake vigilante bandwagon! Haha. I agree with the idea that maybe instead of banning desserts in schools, we should try to make them relatively more healthy. This may include the use of more expensive ingredients, shifting the supply curve. However, seeing the responses posted here to this news, cupcakes don’t seem so elastic. Consumption of cupcakes should continue as the price increase of, say sugar, is not a major change relative to our families’ incomes.
hmm, I’m not quite sure banning cupcakes would help with health issues…what about freedom of choice for consumers? People should be informed about consumption of fatty, sweet foods, but they get to make their own choice. The government could place a tax on it =) make it less attractive to consumers (and create efficieny losses in the market).
you can’t suppress a market…someone will find a way to profit from the ban.
Yeah, cupcakes aren’t the healthiest food to eat but they’re considered healthier out of the unhealthy food group. Even if this ban of cupcakes were to carry through, due to the rebellious nature of kids, they would probably just buy them even more. I don’t think that it’s the school’s responsibility to ban cupcakes from being sold but rather the parent’s responsibility to allow their own children to eat them or not. I like what someone said above, as an alternative, to enforce extra P.E classes, encourage out of school sports, etc. Eliminating cupcakes from kids’ diets does not eliminate obesity. Cupcakes are not the direct source therefore banning it will do no good!
DAHAHAHA banning cupcakes. Knee-slapper. Dare I say “lol”?
Banning cupcakes from schools would probably increase problems. I agree that if a school truly has a problem with them, then the solution should be along the lines of an increase physical activity, but any more than that becomes somewhat absurd. To watch kid obesity is a parent’s job, where indivdual people can undergo specific rules that apply to themselves as opposed to the whole society. Plus, would banning cupcakes even truly help the situation so much? Is it really worth it? In worse cases, kids maybe eat several cupcakes per week. In many more cases, McDonalds cuases obesity quicker and is eaten more often in general. Would one ban lead to another and another, up until they try to ban McDonald’s? Through banning cupcakes, when they realize that ban was ineffective, they may start to ban other things and make the situation more difficult.
The chaotic fact is that if the government tries to ban cupcakes and more and more products afterwards, the quantity demanded for those products decrease, the prices decrease, and then the resources are being sold for less than they were previously, thus slowing economic growth and development by the long-run.
The cupcake ban has many, many problems and loopholes. There are many questions to the actual ban on cupcakes. The first question is whether there will be a ban on the cupcake substitutes or not. In the article there was an implication that goodie bag material, such as reeses and skittles, was in danger of banning. There was also the implication of a list, indicating more than one item, of products forbidden and discouraged from bringing to school, therefore, there is probably more than just cupcakes that are banned. Another question: When does the ban actually take place? The article specifically mentions that cupcakes are “banned from a growing number of classroom birthday parties.” Does that mean that if a kid wanted to bring a mass number of cupcakes on an arbitrary Wednesday, s/he could? In which case, the ban is pointless. And, there should be guidelines to what qualifies as a cupcake. A cupcake is defined as “A small cake baked in a cup-shaped container.” Does that mean bringing a small sized triangular cake-like confectionary is allowed? These things need to be addressed before this ban is seriously considered.
Economically, the school cupcake ban would probably not affect the industry very much. Although banned at schools, there is no ban at home or in public places. Children would probably just eat them at home. Birthday parties could be held at home instead of at school, which would probably be more fun anyways. Thus, the industry would continue as usual with no change. This could be seen in another case, with cigarettes. Smoking, in the United States, is prohibited in public places, however, the sales of cigarettes is the same as before, if not increasing. Although cigarettes are considered addictive, cupcakes could be too, with its sugar content and its sugary goodness. Thus, there would probably be no decline in cupcakes sales, especially with the “Safe Cupcake Amendment” and possibly others like it. There is a civil war of cupcakes in the United States, it really depends on who will win it.
On the other hand, as another turn of events, the cupcakes will get bad publicity and would probably lead parents to believe that cupcakes are “evil.” This new found awareness could possibly decrease the demand for cupcakes, due to change of taste, similar to the increase of demand of dark chocolate after people heard it was good for the heart. Anyways, after the shift of demand to the left, there would be a shift in demand for sugar as less cupcakes are being baked. And a shift in demand for all the ingredients of the cupcakes, and all the complements of the cupcakes, possibly coffee, tea, etc… and the cycle continues, in this extreme case. However, this is highly unlikely as everyone seems to be fighting for the cupcake cause.
In reality, if everyone wanted to reduce obesity in the United States, I think they should FIRST try to require all schools to have PHYSICAL EDUCATION mandatory, instead of only in a few states. That would probably be the better first step, rather than trying to get rid of all the food kids and teens eat.
As a side note, its ironic that the person who supports the limitation of sweets, and who probably dubbed the cupcake situation the “cupcake problem” is named Nestle, like the chocolate/candy brand. (Although also a water brand, that is not as interesting)
Life without cupcakes would be miserable!! Banning of cupcakes will result in my issues.
First off, no cupcakes would mean that there will be less demand for these delicious little buddies. Thus, there will be a shift to the left in the demand curve for cupcakes due a change in consumer expectations. And as a result of this drop in demand, the suppliers will be forced to lower their prices of cupcakes, in an effort to get consumers to buy them again. However, lowering their prices will lead to less profit which in turn would mean that people will lose their jobs and whole companies might even shut down. Complements will also be affected by this ban on cupcakes. The demand for sugar and multi-coloured toppings would also decrease and even more people will be affected by this ban.
Looking at the comment above, written by Teemar Ratanasirigulchai, I have to say that I do not agree with it. Just the fact that the school is not encouraging cupcakes would lead people to think that cupcakes are bad for them and they just stop buying it. Also, if cupcakes aren’t allowed to be eaten in school, would parents ever need to buy large amount s of premix or ingredients? No. Thus, this issue will affect the whole cupcake industry and more.
HAHA. I must admit, the moment I read this article I cracked down laughing. I mean, passing the “Safe CupCake Amendment”? But on the other hand, children obesities and diabetes are big issues in America and under these circumstances, I guess the decision to ban cupcakes isn’t totally ridiculous afterall. Personally I will go for cupcakes because cupcakes are good, and like it says in the article it “makes people happy”. But because this is an economics blog, I’ll analyze this case in a economist’s point of view.
To determine the affect of cupcake banning, it is crucial to examine the demand and supply of cupcake in America. As it says in the article, demand for cupcake is huge. It is highly popular food in America, it is considered a “mom-in-an-apron food, happy food”, it is more preferrable than its subsitutes communal cakes, and it is enjoyed by almost all Americans of all age. As for supply, cupcake is inexpensive and easy to make, its ingredients are highly cheap and common to buy, and it is made by most of the mothers in America. With both demand and supply high, the quantity of cupcake will be huge and its price would be cheap. This will result in high rate of children obesity and diabetes.
After the government influence and also school regulations on cupcake banning, the number of cupcakes would decrease. Normally, this would be done by setting a price ceiling on cupcakes so the quantity supplied of cupcakes would decrease. The result of a massive shortage of cupcakes would then be solved by the government by decreasing the demand for cupcakes by introducing other substitutes that will appeal to Americans. However, in the case of cupcakes, the shortage of cupcakes would only be replenshied by american mothers baking cupcakes for their own children, which will not decrease the amount of cupcakes consumed by americans. Therefore it is arguable in the government’s side that cupcake banning is reasonable.
However, the government banning the cupcake of all american homes is ridiculous. It is violating human privacy, and mother’s ability to choose what to give to her children. I think what the government should do is raise awareness of children obesity and diabetes and attempt to reduce cupcake consumption indirectly, rather than banning cupcakes and offending all mothers in America. But eventually the best way would be for the children to realize the danger of eating too many sweets and restraining themselves.
I think SAS can relate to this article directly. Having been here several years i have seen the changes in the food that the school has offered. When i was in elementary school the high school had the luxury or purchasing candy canes and m & ms on a daily basis. When i was in middle school this was banned but we could still purchase soda. Now that i’m in high school these are both banned.
The publicity about cupcakes being unhealthy will cause a decrease in demand because of consumer expectations or other.
The demand curve will shift left and, the equilibrium price, the equilibrium price and quantity of cupcakes will decrease.
Having a lower price has several possible implications. If this decrease in price causes cupcake companies to go bankrupt then there will also be other big implications.
First off, if these companies shut down, lots of employees will be made jobless. 2ndly, if these companies do shut down, companies that sell complements to cupcakes, such as sprinkles or frosting, will suffer too.
Also, if cupcakes are substitutes for other deserts, people may choose to buy cupcakes due to the substitute effect.
Looking at this issue from an ordinary perspective, I think schools and society should not be blamed for an individual’s bad decisions. It’s ultimately the child’s choice whether or not he eats a cupcake. If he chooses to have it then ihe lacks decision making skills.
So, this leads me to my next point, that students should be taught how to make good decisions at an early age so they can maximize their efficiency. In this case they won’t eat cupcakes and die of diabetes, so they can do more with their life.
econ is the key to life
Hi, just wanted to say, I disagree with all of the above posts.
I think that this article is deliberately being written in order to cause people such as high schoolers to get angry, thus expressing their anger by buying more cupcakes. It is very likely that this article/tabloid is funded by cupcake producers to stimulate increase demand for cupcakes, making their cause a great success.
haha andy…I don’t think this is exactly a “rumor.” But still, it’s quite ridiculous. It’s one of those amendments that wastes everyone’s time and won’t ever pass. Question: why cupcakes? Why not sugar in general? We don’t achieve anything by banning cupcakes. Kids wil just eat brownies or ice cream at parties, which still leads to obesity. Actually, I don’t even think this leads to obesity. It could…but it’s not the sole reason. Everything in moderation is key. Personally, I think that if there was a ban on cupcakes, producers would just switch to producing other foods, such as brownies. If cupcakes were banned, I would probably crave them even more, as people tend to want what they can’t have, and the quantity demanded would increase. However, I wouldn’t exactly mind if cupcakes were banned, (sorry, all you cupcake lovers) as I would just eat other desserts. Ooohhh…there might be a cupcake black market =)
Wow, just seeing the title of this article makes me wonder. Banning cupcakes?
Although cupcakes cannot be considered as healthy food but as someone said above, they are a lot healthier than those other junks. Many people think that the problem associates with eating cupcakes is making more obese people. I don’t think banning cupcakes will eliminate obesity, school should encourage students to get up and exercise, getting rid of the junks won’t do much help than creating programs to help students getting enough exercises.
Clearly, there is going to be a lot of debate if cupcakes were actually to be banned. After seeing all the incredulous remarks before me, I totally agree that not only is this issue ridiculous, it’s not even plausible. First of all, banning cupcakes at school does not mean that the kid will not eat it at home. Secondly, cupcakes are not the only kind of food that has fat in it. Not only do most junk foods have fat, even food normally perceived as nutritious are bound to have some kind of fat. Thirdly, there will be several ways to avoid getting caught eating cupcakes. So, what’s the purpose of even raising such ridiculous issue? That’s the real question.
…There’re way too many substitute products for cupcakes that I don’t think banning cupcake will make a large difference in the obesity issue. Besides, it would probably be better at
creating angry people (how dare you limit our freedom) than lessening obese people. But
let’s just suppose they do implement this silly law.
Well, it would help the substitute product for cupcake a lot, I’m sure. Because cupcake is
now totally unavailable, cupcake-lovers would probably look for a replacement, something
that taste similar to cupcakes (and they WISH they would just be good and sit around getting
healthier), increasing the demand for those products (more buyers). So before the law was
implemented, the suppliers of cupcakes will probably be preparing to supply, oh I don’t
know, some other junk food. In the end…it seems like nothing would change and banning
cupcakes is a total waste of time, really.
The solution to that might be for them to ban all junk food in general: chocolates, chips,
icecreams, sodas, etc. Now THAT would make a difference. But I DARE THEM TO TRY.
Again, this can make the situation more complicated than ever… clearly, the cupcake is banned, but then, how about other products that are most likely to cause obesity? Since this is the case, the ban in cupcake is not going to shift any curve in the demand/supply analysis because there are many other substitutes for cupcake.
Therefore, since it is going to have no effect on either obesity or economic analysis, this ban on cupcake is clearly ineffective. Rather, I would consider the promotion of exercise; clearly, it is impossible to ban all the junk foods that cause obesity, besides, it is proven more effective to use exercise rather than food control in order to lose weight.
The banning of cupcakes sounds pretty funny at first, but when thinking about it, I find it pretty scary.
Despite the banning, though I don’t think it would be a problem in the industries that doesn’t necessarily mean that the demand of cupcakes will decrease, thus lowering the equilibrium price. The schoolkids can always purchase cupcakes after school, and they are also not the only consumers of cupcakes. In fact, cupcakes can be pretty inelastic as it may fall under the category of addiction - and therefore the consumers will continue to buy a consistent amount of it no matter the restrictions. Also, because cupcakes are a very specific type of product, the closeness of substitutes is pretty distant, although products like candies do match with the sweetness of the cupcakes; this further makes them inelastic. The scenario is pretty similar to that of the cigarettes in Korea; although the government increased the cigarette price, the consumption of cigarattes doesn’t seem to cease at all at this point.
Meh, Haven’t eaten a cupcake and don’t think I will. It’s true that even if they ban cupcakes in school the children can still eat it at home, and well…pretty much anywhere else. Haha, school kids may even start up an illegal cupcake business in school, in retaliation to this ban. I believe that there would be no change in the quantity of cupcakes demanded. Like what Jill said, some may consider this an addiction thus making the cupcakes inelastic. Despite all the nutrition warnings and bans on foods in America, no one, I repeat, no one is going to give up on their cupcakes like that. Or any other unhealthy foods for that matter.