Five-cent Coke, and the thoughts it occasions

NPR had a great story this morning about why Coca-Cola's price remained a nickel from 1886 into the 1950s--some 70 years as the same price: "Why Coke Cost a Nickel for 70 Years"

It was because of a poor deal that the president of Coca-Cola made with two lawyers who wanted to buy bottling rights for Coke, back when selling soda in bottles was a brand new idea: he agreed to sell the syrup to the bottlers at a fixed price--forever.

Andrew Young, an economist at West Virginia University, says the p...