An Economist Thinking About Love
…co-author, and we’ve written a bunch of papers (and op-eds) together, taking the economic approach to understanding the family. As her sometimes co-author, I was pleased to hear of her…
Medicine has evolved from a calling into an industry, adept at dispensing procedures and pills (and gigantic bills), but less good at actual health. Most reformers call for big, bold…
…co-author, and we’ve written a bunch of papers (and op-eds) together, taking the economic approach to understanding the family. As her sometimes co-author, I was pleased to hear of her…
Sure, we all like to hear compliments. But if you’re truly looking to get better at something, it’s the negative feedback that will get you there.
…greater lengths to avoid losses than they will to experience the equivalent gain. (Danny Kahneman, author of Thinking, Fast and Slow , Amos Tversky, and Dick Thaler, co-author of Nudge,…
Verbal tic or strategic rejoinder? Whatever the case: it’s rare to come across an interview these days where at least one question isn’t a “great” one….
…blog The Big Picture and is the author of Bailout Nation. “Three decades of “Radical Deregulation” freed banks to engage in all manner of reckless behavior. Leaving the status quo…
You know the saying: a winner never quits and a quitter never wins. To which Freakonomics Radio says … Are you sure?…
…Space — the microphone is turned toward him. His Freakonomics friend and co-author Stephen Dubner checks in on the wisdom Levitt has extracted from his interviews, finds out why Levitt…
Curses and other superstitions may have no basis in reality, but that doesn’t stop us from believing.
It used to be at the center of our conversations about politics and society. Scott Hershovitz is the author of Nasty, Brutish, and Short, in which he argues that philosophy…
It used to be at the center of our conversations about politics and society. Scott Hershovitz (author of Nasty, Brutish, and Short) argues that philosophy still has a lot to…
“What breed is she?” Every owner of a mixed-breed dog is eventually asked this when out on a walk. But how much do dogs’ breeds — and genes — really…
Claudia Goldin is the newest winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics. We spoke with her in 2016 about why women earn so much less than men — and how…
How a pain-in-the-neck girl from rural Virginia came to run the most powerful university in the world.
Ken Ono is a math prodigy whose skills have helped produce a Hollywood movie and made Olympic swimmers faster. The number theorist tells Steve why he sees mathematics as art…
Fareed Zakaria says yes. But it’s not just political revolution — it’s economic, technological, even emotional. He doesn’t offer easy solutions but he does offer some hope….
…the one doing the 2nd best work is a dollar not given to the one doing the best work! Bad Giving Habit #4: Fooling yourself that you give what you…
…all in the title. (Thanks again, Linda Jines.) Check out Lulu Titlescorer, a fairly addictive little website that attempts to calculate whether a book’s title will make it a best-seller….
…(the only years for which we have data), only two books have spent more time on the New York Times non-fiction best-seller list without ever reaching No. 1. That’s right….
It’s time to do away with feel-good stories, gut hunches, and magical thinking.
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…
The good news is that Freakonomics won the Golden Chazzie Award for best non-fiction book. The bad news is that I never heard of the Golden Chazzie Awards. Or any…
When Stephen Dubner learned that Dallas–Fort Worth will soon overtake Chicago as the third-biggest metro area in the U.S., he got on a plane to find out why. Despite getting…
…we gave of the World Cup might not have been the best one, even though the age effect is very strong in the national youth squads that feed many World…
The last two years I’ve run an “externality” contest in my giant intro class, offering $5 to the student who comes up with the best example. Both positive and negative…
…–Andrew Ward A. It’s unfortunate that this is the reality of our situation. Players continue to prepare for the worst and hope for the best. Our best leverage right now…
This guy is offering to be your best friend, for a price, via eBay. He lives in New York City and calls himself Rent-a-Pal: “The lucky Winning Bidder and RENTAPAL…
I’m always suspicious of companies who tout how environmentally friendly they are, when being green happens to coincide with cost savings for the firm. The best example is the ubiquitous…
The U.S. spent the past few decades waiting for China to act like the global citizen it said it wanted to be. The waiting may be over.
How can you strive for excellence without overworking yourself? Why is perfectionism on the rise? And is Angela part of the problem?…
