Freakonomics Blog

Has American Pop Music Displaced Local Culture?

May 28, 2010

In search of a global musical monoculture, and finding none.

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Yes, Virginia … A Leveraged Lifecycle Can Reduce Retirement Risk

May 28, 2010

Ian Ayres talks long-term investment strategy.

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Animals as Diplomats

May 28, 2010

What can Zimbabwean zebras en route to North Korea teach us about statecraft?

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Are Women Nicer? To Each Other?

May 28, 2010

Lab experiments say yes. But in the real world…

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When Your iPad Says Something You Didn't

May 28, 2010

Does auto-correct know the difference between excitement and excrement?

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Some Maps That Changed the World

May 27, 2010

Be on Guard! and Google Maps both made the cut.

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The "Identity Economists" Answer Your Questions

May 27, 2010

Akerlof and Kranton respond to readers’ questions.

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Quotes Uncovered: Running a Railroad and Famous Misquotes

May 27, 2010

The origin of popular quotes.

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This Is What It Looks Like to Fly Over the Arctic in May

May 27, 2010

It’s breathtaking.

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How to Improve the Stop Sign?

May 27, 2010

Tom Vanderbilt on the stop sign.

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Avoiding the Big, Drunk Guy

May 26, 2010

He’s more likely to give you trouble.

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Does Living Close to Your Destination Make You Late? A Very Small Experiment

May 26, 2010

A Freakonomics reader experiments.

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FREAK Shots: Everybody Loves a Winner

May 26, 2010

A blue-ribbon shortage.

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Scientists to Ugly Endangered Species: Drop Dead

May 26, 2010

The cuter animals get all the attention.

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How Do Athletes' Brains Work?

May 25, 2010

What does all that practice do to the brain?

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Who Spends More on Social Welfare: the United States or Sweden?

May 25, 2010

A guest post from Price Fishback.

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Go For the Bottle?

May 25, 2010

A wine pricing anomaly in Parisian restaurants.

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Time Flies?

May 25, 2010

Does time fly as we age?

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A Different Angle on Climate-Change Economics

May 24, 2010

Climate-change capitalists.

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Crabby Incentives

May 24, 2010

Military side-jobs in North Korea.

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Game Theory TV

May 24, 2010

Game theory lessons on YouTube.

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Love in Reverse

May 21, 2010

Japan’s splitter-uppers.

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A New Fundraising Method

May 21, 2010

Backers and tiered rewards.

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Dog DNA Put to Good Use Once Again

May 21, 2010

A Baltimore condominium considers a sampling program.

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Should We BAC Down?

May 20, 2010

Cutting the legally permissible BAC.

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Quotes Uncovered: Man's Failures and Triumphs

May 20, 2010

Shapiro explains the origins of popular quotes.

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Another Spa Pricing Mystery

May 20, 2010

Should spas charge by the day or the hour?

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Pay What You Want at Panera

May 20, 2010

Panera tries a new nonprofit model.

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Rough Name, Rough Start?

May 19, 2010

A criminal’s name.

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FREAK Shots: The Oil Sands

May 19, 2010

Photographs of Canada’s oil sands.

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