Also: How do you know if you have a “bad personality?”…
…real literary distinction, and beautiful design and production. All in all, a must-have reference in mathematical literacy. For this week’s bleg, I invite suggestions of famous or compelling mathematical quotations….
…a researcher at the Paris School of Economics, studied 22 countries and found that children conceived during heat waves have higher literacy rates, more years of schooling, higher income later…
…literacy and numeracy were not correlated with a greater fear of climate change. Instead, the more you knew, the more likely you were to hold an extreme view in one…
…to Bobby Kennedy would be to build broader indices of development. The UN’s Human Development Index is one such measure, combining data on life expectancy, adult literacy, educational enrolment and…
Air pollution is estimated to cause 7 million deaths a year and cost the global economy nearly $3 trillion. But is the true cost even higher? Stephen Dubner explores the…
Read the Column » 1978 New York City Pooper Scooper Law Using Sentence Enhancements to Distinguish Between Deterrence and Incapacitation By Steven D. Levitt and Daniel Kessler…
In this episode of No Stupid Questions — a Freakonomics Radio Network show launched earlier this year — Stephen Dubner and Angela Duckworth debate why we watch, read and eat…
Photo: istockphoto Here’s a test of basic economic literacy: What is the socially optimal price of online access to economics journal articles? If my students learn only one thing, it’s…
According to a decades-long research project, the U.S. is not only the most individualistic country on earth; we’re also high on indulgence, short-term thinking, and masculinity (but low on “uncertainty…
(Photo: 401K Calculator) We’ve banged the drum quite a bit on the need for greater financial literacy. If you care about such things, you might want to take a look…
Australia’s National Assessment Program Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) tests have been dogged by controversy this year, proving that teacher cheating isn’t just a problem in the U.S. One teacher was…
…i.e. villages with lower literacy rates. In total, Yanagizawa calculates that the radio station’s broadcasts explain 45,000 deaths (or 9 percent of the total death toll). (HT: Chris Blattman) [%comments]…
From domestic abusers to former child soldiers, there is increasing evidence that behavioral therapy can turn them around.
The controversial Harvard economist, recently back from a suspension, “broke a lot of glass early in my career,” he says. His research on school incentives and police brutality won him…
…The economics of online dating: an economist explains the marketplace of online love. The perverse incentives of prestigious science journals. Not just a piggy bank: toys to encourage financial literacy….
It’s a well-documented truth that many Americans are financially and economically illiterate – a handicap that some believe contributed to the recent financial crisis.? A 2008 paper by?Annamaria Lusardi, Olivia…
Also: is a little knowledge truly a dangerous thing?…
As the Biden administration rushes to address climate change, Stephen Dubner looks at another, hidden cost of air pollution — one that’s affecting how we think….
Why do so many promising solutions — in education, medicine, criminal justice, etc. — fail to scale up into great policy? And can a new breed of “implementation scientists” crack…
As a topic, “shadow insurance” may have a certain MEGO quality — that’s “My Eyes Glaze Over” — but a new paper called “Shadow Insurance” (abstract; PDF) by Ralph S.J….
…but would he read more if there were no computer in the house? And would there be a great benefit in that? And will his computer literacy yield greater unforeseen…
Artist Wendy MacNaughton knows the difficulty of sitting in silence and the power of having fun. She explains to Steve the lessons she’s gleaned from drawing hospice residents, working in…
Evidence from Nazi Germany and 1940’s America (and pretty much everywhere else) shows that discrimination is incredibly costly — to the victims, of course, but also the perpetrators. One modern…
…so dismissive she won’t even read the few things I have given her about it, and her attitude is not uncommon. One necessity is greater statistical literacy among the population…
…presented in more than 100 charts and graphs, depicting things such as homicide rates in Medieval Europe, rates of battle deaths in state-based conflicts, literacy and income levels over time,…
Also: should you feel guilty if you don’t read books?…
…for a moment the low level of financial literacy in this country, which an economics course would certainly help; wouldn’t a principles of economics course in high school help smarten…
Are things as dire as they seem? How big is your moral circle? And should Angela spend time with her kids or answer her emails?…
…about colonial-era literacy), is one of my favorite tools for developing what I like to call number-sight: the ability to see connections among (and make sense of) the myriad numbers…
