Personae Non Gratae
…played in the meltdown, do you think the company will get any credit if it helps spur the recovery? In this siege mentality, what is A.I.G.’s incentive to succeed? [%comments]…
…played in the meltdown, do you think the company will get any credit if it helps spur the recovery? In this siege mentality, what is A.I.G.’s incentive to succeed? [%comments]…
…of two great pastries. The trademark strategy can be effective, but it’s not certain to succeed. Why? Because for a trademark to be valid, it must have “secondary meaning” –…
…what I hope is the first of many blog posts, Massimo reports on just what it takes to succeed in the banking industry in Kenya. (Massimo does not have a…
Could it be that cities are “our greatest invention” – that, despite their reputation as soot-spewing engines of doom, they in fact make us richer, smarter, happier and (gulp) greener?…
…outsiders, they will probably succeed in having 100 times as many person-hours devoted to the problem for the same price — or cheaper because they only pay out the million…
A conversation with veteran N.B.A. point guard Jeremy Lin, recorded for the Freakonomics Radio series “The Hidden Side of Sports.”…
In her new book The Two-Parent Privilege, the economist Melissa Kearney says it’s time for liberals to face the facts: U.S. marriage rates have plummeted but the babies keep coming,…
The pandemic moved a lot of religious activity onto the internet. With faith-based apps, Silicon Valley is turning virtual prayers into earthly rewards. Does this mean sharing user data? Dear…
…babies. Still, the true test case will be Aishwarya, who did not take a break after her marriage this year. If her films continue to succeed at the box office,…
A conversation with 2008 Olympic gold medalist Shawn Johnson, recorded for the Freakonomics Radio series “The Hidden Side of Sports.”…
…not succeed because of a few highly influential individuals influencing everyone else, but rather on account of a critical mass of easily influenced individuals influencing other easy-to-influence people… Just because…
Why are great accomplishments often followed by disappointment? Is it better to win and feel bummed out than to never have won at all? And where was ping-pong invented?…
…also comments on the organization’s new “partnerships” with corporations like Wal-Mart and Coca-Cola: One of the big failings in food security in particular has been a lack of working with…
…the things that he said, this wise, wise man (from Nebraska of all places), was that in order to first succeed you must first survive… People who leverage heavily when…
When she’s not rescuing chickens from coyotes, Susan Athey uses economics to address real-world challenges — from online ad auctions to carbon capture technology….
Does anyone really know what they’re doing? How do we reward the competent and not the confident? And what’s wrong with using TikTok for research?…
Stephen Dubner’s conversation with the Facebook founder and C.E.O., recorded for the Freakonomics Radio series “The Secret Life of a C.E.O.”…
The psychologist Angela Duckworth argues that a person’s level of stick-to-itiveness is directly related to their level of success. No big surprise there. But grit, she says, isn’t something you’re…
Dubner and Levitt field your queries in this latest installment of our FREAK-quently Asked Questions….
Success and failure are hard to measure in medicine. Bapu looks at how surgeons are judged after a bad outcome — and whether men and women are treated the same….
…years, would those who think Billy Beane should be the next pope still hold that opinion? (BTW, I see Beane is a real long shot to succeed John Paul II…
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals founder Ingrid Newkirk has been badgering meat-eaters, fur-wearers, and circus-goers for more than 40 years. For a woman who’s leaving her liver to…
…We hope they’ll remember us fondly. Q: Do you care if something better comes along to replace Craigslist? Is your goal to enhance peoples’ lives, or to see Cragislist succeed?…
…to share reasoning used to determine the size of this program so as to build confidence that the plan can succeed. Third, Federal Reserve programs to purchase securities issued against…
…businesses succeed or fail — and in fact this week have just re-released an hour-long Freakonomics Radio podcast on the topic, “The Church of ‘Scionology’” (subscribe here). It features stories…
We all know the standard story: our economy would be more dynamic if only the government would get out of the way. The economist Mariana Mazzucato says we’ve got that…
Liberals endorse harm reduction when it comes to the opioid epidemic. Are they ready to take the same approach to climate change?…
…they had to. Author Michael Lewis introduced important economic concepts through a venue that millions of Americans pay to watch. As a book, it succeeded, but I was skeptical that…
Probably not. The economist Kelly Shue argues that E.S.G. investing just gives more money to firms that are already green while depriving polluting firms of the financing they need to…
…by spreadsheets and data algorithms. Fisman argues that in order to succeed in the new economy, American workers need to shift away from construction and manufacturing jobs to “high touch”…
