Also: why do we habituate to life’s greatest pleasures?
Congress has taken note of the shortage of donated organs, and has proposed an incentive to increase donation: a commemorative medal to honor organ donors. Alex Tabarrok at Marginal Revolution…
A USA Today investigation found what appears to be compelling evidence of teacher cheating in Washington, D.C., schools that were heralded as major successes due to test score increases. The…
…(whose full name, btw, was Frances Scott Key Fitzgerald, and was a distant relative of the composer of our national anthem). Fitzgerald is probably most commonly cited today as having…
Photo: Cliff In celebration of its 100-year anniversary, the American Economic Review asked six “eminent economists” (Kenneth J. Arrow, B. Douglas Bernheim, Martin S. Feldstein, Daniel L. McFadden, James M….
Evidence from Nazi Germany and 1940s America (and pretty much everywhere else) shows that discrimination is incredibly costly — to the victims, of course, but also the perpetrators. One modern…
…authors. This means ready availability of natriuretic peptide testing, prompt referral to a specialist and appropriately trained staff to manage the condition during and after hospital admission, they say.” [%comments]…
Last year on this blog, Ian Ayres wondered why, to truly keep their opponents guessing, football teams don’t pick plays at random. Two California high school football coaches have taken…
(Photo: Image Editor) Given the risk of dislocating an elbow while patting oneself on the back, we don’t usually print fan mail. But this one, from James J. Krefft (also…
When a hospital closes in a rural area, it’s a big deal. But are all patients affected equally? We look at new research on the unexpected outcomes of traveling farther…
…it’s already done. And then, because you’ve felt that satisfaction, you’re less motivated to do the actual hard work necessary.” Readers, what’s your experience with blabbing about your goals? [%comments]…
…no effect on family income. The authors found that more time with Mom led to lower high school dropout rates later on. Specifically, “increased time with the child led to…
…the AP’s David Sharp reporting on the complexities: The ballot is too complicated to be understood by the city’s voting machines, so only first-place votes will be announced on the…
Big investors are buying up local veterinary practices (and pretty much everything else). What does this mean for scruffy little Max* — and for the U.S. economy? (Part 1 of…
…in the government’s argument. Here’s an excerpt from the Dow Jones wire report: The Federal Competition Commission, or CFC, said the single price would be counterproductive to promoting reading and…
You wouldn’t think you could win a Nobel Prize for showing that humans tend to make irrational decisions. But that’s what Richard Thaler has done. The founder of behavioral economics…
Here’s the most recent guest bleg from Fred Shapiro, editor of the Yale Book of Quotations. His past blegs can be found here. Send us your own bleg requests here….
You wouldn’t think you could win a Nobel Prize for showing that humans tend to make irrational decisions. But that’s what Richard Thaler has done. In an interview from 2018,…
…prices, coming at a time when most Americans are tightening their belts, has led to a spike in demand for public transit — leading the Philadelphia Inquirer to wonder whether…
…to help cure a major disease, put money into a biotech mutual fund, which funds small biotech companies. These companies are at the frontier of major biotech research. The other…
It’s one thing to see a flame war break out on a Web site. But it can’t compare to actually hearing the flamer at work. That was the realization of…
…receive acknowledgments, including incentives for saving lives, why not show that same kindness to potential organ donors? It’s a much better and safer solution than black markets. [poll id=”7″]…
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…
…is the best investment you made in getting to where you are today? A: Opening 15 restaurants with my business partner Joe Bastianich. Q: What’s the best financial investment you’ve…
In the delightfully sophomoric movie Clerks 2, Randal tells Dante, “Odds are there’s someone out there who’s a better match for you than the girl you are about to marry.”…
…reader named Michael Jancsy writes in with an auction solution and a request for feedback: I recently designed an auction website [called “The Rent Is Too Damn Fair”] to help…
…Some people put forth quotes that were actually from newspaper comic strips instead. I am also interested in suggestions of the most famous lines from comic strips. Again, these could…
…the Chair of the Federal Reserve, but the job was instead given to Ben Bernanke. [Correction, added May 5: Apparently this video was done by MBA students for their skit…
…and Popular Mechanics likes it as a best holiday gift idea. As of this writing, SuperFreakonomics is the No. 5 best-seller on Amazon.com, and remains the nation’s best-selling business book,…
Behavioral economists say “regret lotteries” are powerful motivational tools. When Philadelphia tried one in 2021, the results were disappointing. Bapu looks at how incentives can backfire — and what we…
