People who punish others the least earn the biggest rewards in repeated interactions, according to a new study published in the journal Nature and authored by Martin Nowak, director of the evolutionary dynamics lab at Harvard University. At the same time, we are happiest when we’re spending money on others instead of on ourselves, says another team of researchers out . . .
Today is apparently D-Day here at Freakonomics — the “D” stands for divorce. Along with Hamermesh’s earlier post and this post by Wolfers, there’s one more on the way. One of the most frustrating things about doing research on families is seeing how often even the simple facts are misreported in the press. And Sue Shellenbarger, writing in this morning’s . . .
Some towns promote good citizenship even though it doesn’t pay off. Dallas discovered this when the traffic light cameras monitoring its busiest intersections worked so well that the city had to decommission more than one-fourth of them. Dallas had anticipated an annual $14.8 million for red-light-running fines, money essential to keeping the cameras running — before people stopped running lights . . .
Divorce can be very good for (some) children. A Spanish colleague was discussing the effects of the 2004 changes in Spanish divorce law — which require only a six-month waiting period in uncontested cases and no separation of living arrangements before the divorce becomes final. In many Spanish cities there is substantial excess demand for places in some public elementary . . .
Facebook’s tally of basketball’s hated and celebrated.(HT: Michael Stevens)(Earlier) What’s most likely to kill you?(HT: Chris Flanagan) Forecast your news.(HT: Nigel Eccles) Verizon’s open-door policy, translated.
Here is the latest from our Indexed friend Jessica Hagy. Her past pieces can be found here, her own blog here, and her new book here. This piece is called “Impressions & Press”:
A few years back, I got interested in taxicab tipping – and what influences how much people tip. So together with Fred Vars and Nasser Zakariya, I collected data on more than 1,000 cab rides in New Haven, CT and crunched the numbers. The study (published in The Yale Law Journal) found — after controlling for a host of other . . .
If the nuclear power industry is headed into a renaissance, it’s going to need the help of a renowned Japanese samurai sword maker. It turns out Japan Steel Works Ltd., in addition to hand-forging swords, also has a near-total monopoly on the manufacture of the steel containment vessels for nuclear reactors. But making the vessels is more of an art . . .
Trader sues over faulty lap dance. Does your home score high on the walk-ability scale?(Earlier) Is your doctor blogging about you?(Earlier) Motorcycles that look human are more safe to drive.
My friend Joshua Gans is one of Australia’s best young economists, and he is also a parent. And as passionate as Joshua is about economics, he’s just as passionate about parenting. While it has always been fun to follow Joshua’s economic musings on his blog, Core Economics, I have been having more fun following his parenting blog, Game Theorist, devoted . . .
A story on the Internet noted that New Zealand is banning the so-called party pill, a stimulant that is already illegal in the U.S. The ban goes into effect April 1. Sales after that date are outlawed, and possession will be illegal after October 1. The fines on sellers after April 1 will no doubt cause a decrease in supply, . . .
When it comes to saving the environment, things are often not as simple as they seem at first blush. Take, for instance, the debate about paper bags vs. plastic bags. For a number of years, anyone who opted for plastic bags at the grocery store risked the scorn of environmentalists. Now, it seems that the consensus has swung the other . . .
Can we do business with space aliens? Political scientist John Hickman thinks so. But he writes in a new paper that interstellar trade might be limited to information and entertainment beamed back and forth between planets because of the enormous distances involved. That kind of trade comes with its own unique risks. Hickman argues that in swapping information with alien . . .
If your GPS device said to drive off a cliff, would you? Computer program socks it to the spinners.(Earlier) A sport you can win by knockout or checkmate. Airborne: wonder tonic or just cleverly marketed?
The black-white gap in U.S. education is an issue that continues to occupy the efforts of a great many scholars. Roland Fryer and Steve Levitt have poked at the issue repeatedly; a recent study by Spyros Konstantopoulos looked at class size as a possible culprit, to little avail. We gathered a group of people with wisdom and experience in this . . .
I have been researching prostitution markets since the mid 1990’s. Much of my work has been in based Chicago, New York, and, more recently, Paris. Steve Levitt and I recently prepared a paper on the low-wage prostitution market in Chicago that received a lot of press. I’m hoping that the final version will provide some hard numbers on a difficult-to-reach . . .
Not long ago Dubner and I wrote in our Times column about some innovative approaches to solving big problems. Here is another example: The Victory Project, which pledges to give $1 billion to the first person to solve any of the following problems: 1. Develop a cure for breast cancer. 2. Develop a cure for diabetes. 3. Reduce greenhouse emissions . . .
This week in reader e-mail brings a note from a 46-year-old man in Rockland County, N.Y., a director in a private company that outsources invoicing for telecommunications companies and newspapers. It turns out that he and I have something in common. Here is a tale of identity theft I am happy to report: Hello Stephen, My name is Steven Dubner. . . .
Shame tactics used on johns. (Earlier) Radiohead asks fans for a new video.(HT: Daniel Lippman) Sick of Sudoku? Go to the Funny Farm. Business schools prefer familiar over revolutionary.
Last night, I watched the first two parts of HBO’s new seven-part series John Adams, based on the wonderful book by David McCullough. It was very, very good — as intricately crafted as any theatrical release and totally compelling. But I don’t think I’ll be watching the other five parts. Why? In part because Paul Giamatti just doesn’t work for . . .
Levitt had some advice last week for our friend Sudhir Venkatesh, who went on The Colbert Report to talk about his book, Gang Leader for a Day. Sudhir sure seemed to take the advice to heart, especially the smiling part. He did great, and Colbert was no slouch either. In case you missed it, here’s the clip, which might well . . .
George Bibel has written a fascinating book entitled Beyond the Black Box: The Forensics of Airplane Crashes. I suspect this is one book that you are never going to find in the airport bookstores. Bibel tells you when planes crash (focusing in particular on DC-10s). Forty-five percent of the crashes happen on landing, but remarkably these crashes account for only . . .
Shame tactics used on johns. (Earlier) Chicago Cubs to begin auctioning off season tickets. Six-word reviews of 763 music acts. (HT: Annitra Morrison) Do songbirds hold the secret to the origins of human speech? (Earlier)
… the new editor of this blog, Annika Mengisen. She comes to Freakonomics from TheStreet.com, where she was small-business editor and staff reporter. She studied journalism and fine arts at Rutgers; her current extracurriculars include boxing, small-scale theater, and serving as a rape-crisis counselor at New York-Presbyterian Hospital. Her name alone would seem to be fitting for this job. You . . .
Photo: Callista Gingrich, Gingrich Productions Last week, we solicited your questions for Newt Gingrich, the former speaker of the House whose latest book is “Real Change: From the World That Fails to the World That Works.” His answers, below, are comprehensive, measured, and often fascinating. I think this is easily one of the best Q&A’s we’ve had on this blog. . . .
Hats off to North Carolina residents, who, for almost a year now, have cut their water consumption by a third in response to a record drought. Now, the residents of Charlotte-Mecklenburg County are getting a hefty reward for their sacrifice: they’ll be paying more for their water. Perhaps ticked-off residents shouldn’t be surprised: less spending on water has left Charlotte . . .
Michael Knetter may just go down in history as one of the greatest fundraisers of all time. Knetter is the dean of the Wisconsin Business School. Other universities have managed to raise substantial amounts of money by naming their business schools after generous donors (think Carlson, Tuck, Goizueta, Sloan, etc.). But Knetter did something far more impressive. He managed to . . .
Reader Jeffrey Mindich, a senior news anchor at International Community Radio in Taipei, writes: I just happened to be working on a story about traffic accidents while reading your March 10 post on the subject and I thought you might find my story of interest. About a year ago in Taiwan, they started installing countdown timers at traffic lights at . . .
Online education increases in popularity. (Earlier) Is jealousy linked to height? Microsoft turns down Blu-ray for Xbox 360. (Earlier) Want to stop junk mail? Sign this petition. (Earlier)
There is nothing in the world that can prepare someone for what my co-author Sudhir Venkatesh (Freakonomics guest poster and author of Gang Leader For A Day) has on tap tonight: being a guest on the Colbert Report. I speak from experience. There is nothing I wanted to do less than go on Colbert, but Dee Dee DeBartlo, the dear . . .