When Freakonomics.com was launched in 2005, it was essentially a blog (c’mon, blogs were a thing then!). The first Freakonomics book had just been published, and Stephen J. Dubner and Steven D. Levitt wanted to continue their conversation with readers. Over time, the blog grew to have millions of readers, a variety of regular and guest writers, and it was hosted by The New York Times, where Dubner and Levitt also published a monthly “Freakonomics” column. The authors later collected some of the best blog writing in a book called When to Rob a Bank … and 131 More Warped Suggestions and Well-Intended Rants. (The publisher rejected their original title: We Were Only Trying to Help. The publisher had also rejected the title Freakonomics at first, so they weren’t surprised.) While the blog has not had any new writing in quite some time, the entire archive is still here for you to read.
Despite our slight incredulity, Freakonomics has beaten Jane Austen and advanced to the final round of Time Out New York‘s “Ultimate Book Bracket,” meant to determine the book most essential to cocktail party conversation in New York City. Now Freakonomics is up against the winner of the “American Classics” category, none other than Vladimir Nabokov‘s Lolita. At first blush, the . . .
For a long time I have felt the price of gasoline in the United States was way too low. Pretty much all economists believe this. Greg Mankiw blogged back in October about the many reasons why we should raise gas taxes. The reason we need high gas taxes is that there are all sorts of costs associated with my driving . . .
June 18 is International Panic Day, a day “for everyone to be worried and concerned,” according to HolidayInsights.com.
My dad claims he reads this blog. I guess now we will figure out whether he is telling the truth or not. Here is an article from Discover magazine highlighting some of my father’s greatest contributions to science. (If you never click through anything on this blog, this is definitely the link to follow.) Links to a few of his . . .
One of the most controversial small points in Freakonomics was the claim that early childhood test scores are not correlated to the amount a child is read to at home. If you read Carl Bialik‘s “Numbers Guy” column in today’s Wall Street Journal, you’ll learn why so many people have thought otherwise. Here’s an excerpt: Children from low-income households average . . .
The answer is: they both have Cyril Wolf as a patron. Who? You may remember Wolf as the gentlemanly doctor in Houston who shared with me his research on how some drug-store chains charge 1000% more for generic prescriptions than Costco and Sam’s Club. (Yes, 1000% more.) The reason he was so distraught by this fact is that he has . . .
Here’s a creative solution to the stall in Army recruitment: the military and senior defense officials are trying to get a bill through Congress that would allow recruitment of illegal aliens. The main attraction for the recruits, besides the steady job itself, would be the prize of citizenship. Picking up where Second Life leaves off, IBM has developed Innov8, a . . .
Yesterday, we posted a Q&A with economist and all-around smart guy Steve Landsburg, who addresses a lot of everyday riddles in his writing. Sometime in the next few days, we’ll be posting excerpts from the economist Robert Frank‘s new book The Economic Naturalist. So far, I am loving Frank’s book. It poses a series of questions about small, real-world riddles, . . .
June 15 is Celebrate the Power of a Smile Day, in which we’re instructed to “smile at everyone you see all day long.”
It’s been a few years since I bought any “Thomas and Friends” toys for my son, so I don’t think any of the approximately 18,000 trains he owns are part of the recall that was just announced. It covers toys sold in the U.S. from Jan. 2005 through June 2007; they are thought to contain lead paint, and they were . . .
Google’s new Street View feature has caused a predictable sort of hubbub. Privacy advocates are upset; one woman freaked out when she could see her cat through the window of her house; one man was caught peeing by the side of the road. (We interviewed Google’s project manager on our site; his answers, hardly earth-shaking, were still interesting.) I understand . . .
Steven Landsburg is not known for having temperate opinions. An economics professor at the University of Rochester and a prolific writer, Landsburg regularly raises provocative theories in his Slate column: women choke under pressure, e.g., or miserliness is a form of generosity. He is the author of the books Armchair Economist and Fair Play, which are in some ways direct . . .
In stark contrast to tales of 60-story homes being built in Mumbai, reader Aparna Vemuri wrote in with this story about the bootstrap entrepreneurship of Dharavi, the largest shantytown in Asia, in which nearly every resident produces a good. While the region’s poverty is undeniable, results are starting to show: as of 2006, all homes had 24-hour electricity and running . . .
Today is Flag Day, commemorating the adoption of the United States flag in 1777, as well as the birthday of Donald Trump, who might have made a run at U.S. President if he weren’t so averse to shaking hands.
What a difference a day makes. I blogged yesterday about my first foray into World Series of Poker action. It started and ended very badly, with me failing to win a single hand. Who knows why I signed up for another day of punishment at the hands of the poker pros the very next day. The structure of this tournament . . .
In addition to their growing overlap with the laws and regulations of the physical world, virtual worlds are providing psychologists with new data sources and research for theories like Transformed Social Interaction, self-perception theory, and the Proteus Effect. Via TheStreet: In the wake of the Paris Hilton prison fiasco, financial blogger Eddy Elfenbein at Crossing Wall Street tracks the (continually . . .
Anyone who cares about autism, and particularly the supposed spike in autism in recent years, would do well to read this very informative, cogent, and non-hysterical OpEd by Paul T. Shattuck and Maureen Durkin. It is written on the occasion of a case before the U.S. Court of Federal Claims that’s investigating whether autism is linked to childhood vaccinations, as . . .
Have you all heard of Conservapedia? It bills itself as “a conservative encyclopedia you can trust,” and it is pretty fascinating. It has a strong pro-Christian, anti-liberal (and especially anti-N.Y. Times) bent, and is just one of several user-run encyclopedias that have taken root in response (or tribute) to Wikipedia. (Here are our previous posts on Wikipedia). These also include . . .
June 13 is?National Juggling Day — not to be confused with International Juggler’s Day on April 18,?as well as?Britain’s?World Juggling Day on June 15, which kicks off a weekend-long juggling extravaganza.
Dubner recently blogged about the most popular dog names in New York City. Now reader Nancy Callahan brings to our attention the 2006 list of top dog and cat names in the U.K. Granted, the list might be more accurately titled “The Top Pet Names of U.K. Residents Who Purchase Pet Insurance” — it was compiled by Direct Line, a . . .
Reader Sean Swanzy alerted us to Penny Postcards, a wonderful Web site that allows private collectors to share images of postcards from every county and state in the union, with mailing dates spanning the twentieth century. Not that we’re geographically biased, but the New York City collection is particularly impressive. From the Gainesville Sun via Consumerist: Florida’s Sun State Credit . . .
Over at the very, very compelling Strange Maps site (warning: do not click unless you have an hour to kill) is a map of the U.S. with each state renamed for a country with a similar GDP. In case you’re wondering where the really big countries are, here’s another map, in which Japan gobbles up our entire midsection and New . . .
We came to Vegas so my wife, Jeannette, could play in the Ladies Event at the World Series of Poker. It is my dream for her to win, and she kindly humors me with it. She played well, but got no cards — or, that’s what she says at least. She outlasted a number of big name pros, but went . . .
June 12 is the Feast of St. Onuphrius, the patron saint of weavers, who received his title for wearing nothing but a loincloth made of leaves and a garment woven entirely from his own hair. No word on his pricing scheme for weaving other people’s hair.
From reader Paul O’Keef: Architectural Record reports that India’s richest man is building a sixty-story house for his family, including six floors for parking, a health club and a rooftop helipad. The University of Georgia is offering a new incentive to make student-athletes show up for class: fining them $10 per unexcused absence. In the policy’s first month, the number . . .
We are still getting e-mails, like this one, concerning our New York Times column a while back about the leisure/work distinctions in “hobbies” like gardening, cooking, knitting, etc. But the following message, from economist Shoshana Grossbard, is easily among the best. She teaches at San Diego State and is the founding editor of the Review of Economics of the Household. . . .
Associated Press reporter Robert Tanner writes an article today stating that evidence strongly supports the conclusion that the death penalty reduces crime. As with most media coverage of controversial issues, there is a paragraph or two in which the other side makes its case. In this instance, the lone voice arguing against the efficacy of the death penalty is Justin . . .
What’s wrong with this picture? A contest sponsored by Time Out New York to pick the book that is “most essential to life — and cocktail conversation — in New York City” has reached the semifinals. Freakonomics is still in the running, pitted this week against Jane Austen‘s Pride and Prejudice. Talk about apples and oranges. If we happen to . . .
As every writer knows, beginnings are hard. Endings are perhaps even harder. So how hard is it to satisfyingly end a series like The Sopranos? If you like the show, you already know what happened; if you don’t like it, you don’t care. But one measure of just how unsatisfying many viewers found the finale can be gained by conducting . . .
June 11 marks the first day of?Meet A Mate Week. For those with a slightly different idea of the perfect mate, it’s also Adopt-a-Cat Month.
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