It Is An Eagle You Want On The Golf Course, Not A Hawk
Professional golfer Tripp Isenhour is learning this subtle distinction the hard way….
Professional golfer Tripp Isenhour is learning this subtle distinction the hard way….
Standing in line represents a particularly sloppy — and frustrating — way for supply and demand to meet. Why haven’t we found a better way to get what we want?…
Photo: Kenneth Lu The globalization of the economics profession is remarkable. I was chatting with a new Ph.D. from the Technical University of Dortmund, Germany. He did his undergraduate work…
…don’t the computer companies compete on boot-speed? Q: Considering the carelessness with which the government (state and federal) and commercial enterprises treat our confidential information, is it essentially a waste…
When researchers analyzed which day of the week most F.D.A. drug-safety alerts are released — and what it means for public health — they were stunned. So, what can we…
I’m currently in Sweden, spending a couple of weeks at Stockholm University’s Institute for International Economic Studies. It is really a remarkable place. “The Institute” was founded under the directorship…
…a professional and a mom, with customer service interactions. She never berates, never loses her cool, and in this case she explicitly said she wasn’t asking for anything, no refund…
…a donor. The common thread was that learning “happens.” Instead, Michael decided to spend a year with me understanding poverty in urban America — I’m not sure that’s a much…
Every language has its taboo words (which many people use all the time). But the list of forbidden words is always changing — and those changes tell us some surprising…
…were blasted from a local parking lot that was typically overrun with loitering teens.” We blogged about this a while back; for the most part, the Manilow Method worked. [%comments]…
…this proposal.) Generally, the league should worry that inter-city competition would favor the larger cities where a superstar can be adulated by more fans. (This is a literal example of…
We’re not sure what that creature cavorting on the sidelines is — but it doesn’t come cheap. Zachary Crockett gets the ballpark figures on everyone’s favorite ballpark figures….
…I pride myself on providing prompt, professional service. But I’ve always wondered how much the quality of service impacts the tip. Despite the notion that the tip reflects the quality…
…sentiment is as strong as ever. There is a vicious cycle at play. When famous people complain about the price of fame, non-famous people complain about famous people’s complaints. Shouldn’t…
…who was known by his nickname, Tizza. A hard-charging sort, he played competitive rugby for 19 years, including 235 games for Manly Rugby Union, an Australian professional team near Sydney….
…to a phenomenon he calls “FOMO” (Fear of Missing Out): “Especially [in] New York, you have friends and you’re hanging out and it’s like, ‘Did you see that new exhibit…
This week’s episode of Freakonomics Radio takes a look at Pope Francis’s critique of the free-market system in “Evangelii Gaudium” (“The Joy of the Gospel”), his first apostolic exhortation….
Economists spend immense amounts of time ranking journals, partly to decide on monetary and non-monetary professional rewards, partly as pure gossip. There is some imperfect agreement on rankings. Given that…
…swath of people can follow the Benjamin Franklin strategy and endow a delayed chair. Franklin famously bequeathed about $4,000 in 1790 to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Franklin: instructed that [his…
Two articles in Harvard magazine remind me why I am so optimistic about scientific breakthroughs making the world a better place: 1. Researchers including Wayne Marasco may have found the…
…true story of too-attractive academics. They reap the benefits of the beauty premium–attractive people tend to be better rewarded by the job market–but find being gorgeous a professional burden. [%comments]…
…who could create a Go computer program that could even play as well as a weak amateur. Some random Japanese company had established the award. Go is one of the…
Five things you don’t know about the N.F.L. labor standoff….
…understands hockey well can explain this startling fact? [Addendum: Leonard Newman, an associate professor of psychology at Syracuse University, sent along a fascinating paper from a 1984 volume of the…
Every language has its taboo words (which many people use all the time). But the list of forbidden words is always changing — and those changes tell us some surprising…
…college sports – although apparently immense – pale in comparison to what we see in professional sports. And that leads one to wonder how a coach in college can command…
National cholesterol levels fall to “ideal” range. (Earlier) A survey on the ethics of book reviewing. (Earlier) Hedge fund buys professional soccer team. (Earlier) Corporate battle underway over rest stop…
Kevin Hassett, chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, explains the thinking behind the controversial new Republican tax package — and why its critics are wrong. (Next week, we’ll hear…
…considering, as the Tour de France practically grinds to a halt as one after another top competitor is removed from the race under suspicion of doping, whether we might just…
There’s a revolution underway in economics. It’s not due to the financial crisis, but rather something more mundane: Data, and computing power. At least that’s the claim that Betsey Stevenson…
