Are Public Commitments Counterproductive?
…be as important.? When it comes to commitments, there’s safety in numbers. Indeed, on the same New Year’s morning when Justin was committing to go to church, Andy Mayer, an…
…be as important.? When it comes to commitments, there’s safety in numbers. Indeed, on the same New Year’s morning when Justin was committing to go to church, Andy Mayer, an…
Also: is it better to be a thinker, a doer, or a charmer?
…very large) New York City. For the most part, any new transit service has to go to relatively low-density cities and low-density areas within cities, meaning that new investment would…
Relocating halfway across the world is hard enough for humans. For pets it can require a specialist. Zachary Crockett waits at the airport, holding a sign saying “Fluffy.”…
The World Trade Organization is the referee for 164 trading partners, each with their own political and economic agendas. Lately, those agendas have gotten more complicated — especially with President…
…make New Year’s resolutions, and only one person actually expects to keep her resolutions. Is this typical? Do you make New Year’s resolutions? Why or why not? Comments are open….
…that Ms. Clinton was the winner. Read the full column here. And here’s Paul Krugman: There’s no hint that the market saw either Iowa or New Hampshire coming, or knew…
He’s a Harvard physician and economist who just started a third job: host of the new podcast Freakonomics, M.D. He’s also Steve’s former student. The two discuss why medicine should…
There are a lot of barriers to changing your mind: ego, overconfidence, inertia — and cost. Politicians who flip-flop get mocked; family and friends who cross tribal borders are shunned….
As Kevin Kelly tells it, the hippie revolution and the computer revolution are nearly one and the same.
There are a lot of barriers to changing your mind: ego, overconfidence, inertia — and cost. Politicians who flip-flop get mocked; family and friends who cross tribal borders are shunned….
The Ford Motor Company is ditching its legacy sedans, doubling down on trucks, and trying to steer its stock price out of a long skid. But C.E.O. Jim Hackett has…
The environmentalists say we’re doomed if we don’t drastically reduce consumption. The technologists say that human ingenuity can solve just about any problem. A debate that’s been around for decades…
Our take: maybe the steps aren’t so easy, but a program run out of a Toronto housing project has had great success in turning around kids who were headed for…
Indra Nooyi became C.E.O. of PepsiCo just in time for a global financial meltdown. She also had a portfolio full of junk food just as the world decided that junk…
In one of the earliest Freakonomics Radio episodes (No. 39!), we asked a bunch of economists with young kids how they approached child-rearing. Now the kids are old enough to…
…as relevant as saying that No, so-and-so couldn’t have committed a murder today because he didn’t commit one yesterday. The manager left and, five minutes later, returned. You’re right! she…
In this special episode of People I (Mostly) Admire, Steve Levitt speaks with the palliative physician B.J. Miller about modern medicine’s goal of “protecting a pulse at all costs.” Is…
Pharmaceutical firms donate an enormous amount of their products (and some cash too). But it doesn’t seem to be helping their reputation. We ask Pfizer’s generosity chief why the company…
…free to use a PC. Moreover, you can use the code to get 10% off the purchase price of any souvenir in the shop. But unlike some “free” deals that…
…credit as an AA credit for some time,” said Otis Casey, director of credit research at Markit in New York. U.S. CDS had traded below 2 basis points until late…
…followed by the word “-free,” as in “peanut-free school,” “peanut-free party,” “peanut-free environment,” etc. And second: because the kid in the ad is holding a couple of toy guns! Many…
Levitt and Dubner field questions from the public and hold forth on everything from dating strategies and rock-and-roll accordion music to whether different nations have different economic identities. Oh, and…
…overseas, is how do the cost of packaging and shipping compare to the cost of purchasing the same goods in local markets in the destination country? Or in this particular…
…The research I published with Aju Fenn and Stacey Brook in the Journal of Productivity Analysis last year (research discussed in Stumbling On Wins ) might help some shed some…
…question we put to them: You are walking down the street in New York City with $10 of disposable income in your pocket. You come to a corner with a…
In pursuit of a more perfect economy, we discuss the future of work, the toxic remnants of colonization, and whether giving everyone a basic income would be genius — or…
…world with 7 billion bald guys, Rogaine will be discovered. I am a technological optimist. Climate change will cause a new demand for energy efficient products, and new urban infrastructure….
In our second round of FREAK-quently Asked Questions, Steve Levitt answers some queries from listeners and readers.
