In a typical Principles of Economics text, the factors of demand that are included in the introductory chapter on Demand and Supply are price, consumer preferences, the number of consumers, prices of related goods (complements and substitutes), average consumer income, price expectations, and miscellaneous factors. Chalk this up as a miscellaneous factor:
But Ciudad Juarez and El Paso, separated only by the Rio Grande and a couple of border checkpoints, are worlds apart.
Despite its movie reputation, El Paso — home of the Sun Bowl where the University of Oklahoma will play Stanford on New Year’s Eve — remains one of the safest cities in the United States.
Just last month, one study declared El Paso the second-safest big city in the country, trailing only Honolulu, according to the El Paso Times.
Yet many Sooner fans who annually travel to OU’s bowl games are sitting this one out. And concerns about safety are playing a role.
On a NewsOK.com online poll, almost half of the more than 800 respondents who aren’t going to the Sun Bowl noted their reasoning was they don’t feel safe with all the violence happening across the border from El Paso.
"Juarez has the highest murder rate in the world,” said Edmond resident Craig Blankenship, who has traveled to the last 10 OU bowl games with a group of about 20 family and friends. "We’re not interested in El Paso. We will stay at home and watch it on the tube.”