"Football Freakonomics:" Is Momentum a Myth?
…taste of what he found in the data: since 2007, immediately after a long kickoff or punt return, NFL teams are nearly four times as likely to score a touchdown…
…taste of what he found in the data: since 2007, immediately after a long kickoff or punt return, NFL teams are nearly four times as likely to score a touchdown…
Margarine vs. butter: one of history’s hottest rivalries? (Photo: Flickr) In the early 1900s, the U.S. government regulated a new product, called margarine, so heavily that it prompted the rise…
…Q: A comprehensive study on the link between diet and cancer was just released by the American Institute for Cancer Research. Do you have any comment on it? A: The…
On Monday, Aaron Edlin and I published a cri de coeur op-ed in the New York Times calling for a Brandeis tax, an automatic tax that would put the brakes…
A look at whether spite pays — and if it even exists.
A few days ago, we blogged about a college kid who got kicked out of class for citing Freakonomics. Now comes even worse news — from a reader who claims…
…enrichment of those who would try to satisfy those appetites outside the law: the bootleggers of the 1920’s and the drug syndicates of today. But the common aspect that suggests,…
In just a few weeks, the novel coronavirus has undone a century’s worth of our economic and social habits. What consequences will this have on our future — and is…
…then immediately cross the street, before the crossing light changes. The pedestrian probably reasons a) “I have a right to press the button”; and b) having pushed it, I now…
Have you ever heard of Chef Jeff Henderson? Until a few weeks ago, I hadn’t either. That’s when our publicist mentioned him and his new book. (We have the same…
…never much into that. I understand that news organizations value the scoop but I do question how valuable such scoops really are — especially these days, when the first-mover often…
…more recent research. Here is the latest round. David Chowes asked: I do know that YOU BET YOUR LIFE was edited and some of Groucho’s remarks were in some way…
Why are these sudsy roadside stops one of the fastest growing industries in America? Zachary Crockett takes a look under the hood….
A look at whether spite pays — and if it even exists.
…got its start in 1913: Congress immediately passes the Revenue Act of 1913, creating the first permanent income tax. No one really notices because the vast majority of incomes are…
In which we argue that failure should not only be tolerated but celebrated.
…late. Students will stop taking out the loans traditional Universities expect them to. And when they do tuition will come down. And when prices come down Universities will have to…
…in West Bengal; program participants were given a “small productive asset” (a cow, a goat, or some chickens) and a small stipend to encourage participants not to immediately eat the…
…focusing on Tebow’s completion rate, look at when he completes passes. He averages just 69 yards of passing during the first three quarters of games, but then 81.6 yards in…
…any other subject). He is prone to composing spontaneous poems, so I pretended that I was trying to pick out a rhyme that he would be apt to come up…
…chain QuikTrip, and a Spanish supermarket chain called Mercadona. These companies have much higher labor costs than their competitors. They pay their employees more; they have more full-time workers and…
The Biosphere 2 project in the Arizona desert, begun in the early 1990’s, was supposed to have been the largest functioning sealed environment ever created. But it failed almost immediately…
…tragedy of the commons and public goods games after that, then commitment devices, credible and non-credible threats, and the strategy and tactics of controlling one’s own behavior. (For those who…
One of the cool features we’ve added to the new blog is the “Surprise Me” button that allows you to randomly sample our archive of blog posts. You’ll find it…
…news of its strong second quarter earnings, Abercrombie’s stock price tanked, immediately opening the day at $66.23. We’ll dub this the “Situation Subsidy,” since it’s an example of someone being…
Takeru Kobayashi revolutionized the sport of competitive eating. What can the rest of us learn from his breakthrough?
…to timing: it peaks right before birth, and drops immediately afterward. The study’s authors point out that removing restrictions on adoption by same-sex and foreign couples would increase adoption matching.[%comments]…
…from the government who, I presume, find it cheaper to pay the entry fee for clubbers in the company of designated drivers than have them in the hospitals. To me,…
…wrong path, develop anxiety around imaginary medical issues, or even demand that the doctor test him for something he thinks he may have. In an era of rising costs and…
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…
