Why I Like Writing About Economists
…with the economist Steve Levitt. This is a whole new bag, and here’s why. A non-fiction writer like me, trained equally in journalism and literature, is constrained by what his…
Also: are the most memorable stories less likely to be true?
Also: how can we stop confusing correlation with causation?
The endless pursuit of G.D.P., argues the economist Kate Raworth, shortchanges too many people and also trashes the planet. Economic theory, she says, “needs to be rewritten” — and Raworth…
Aisle upon aisle of fresh produce, cheap meat, and sugary cereal — a delicious embodiment of free-market capitalism, right? Not quite. The supermarket was in fact the endpoint of the…
How pharma greed, government subsidies, and a push to make pain the “fifth vital sign” kicked off a crisis that costs $80 billion a year and has killed hundreds of…
John Mackey, the C.E.O. of Whole Foods, has learned the perils of speaking his mind. But he still says what he thinks about everything from “conscious leadership” to the behavioral…
She was the sixteenth employee at Google — a company once based in her garage — and now she’s the C.E.O. of its best-known subsidiary, YouTube. But despite being one…
A conversation with the Shark Tank star, entrepreneur, and Dallas Mavericks owner recorded for the Freakonomics Radio series “The Hidden Side of Sports.”…
After eight years and more than 300 episodes, it was time to either 1) quit, or 2) make the show bigger and better. We voted for number 2. Here’s a…
…with the economist Steve Levitt. This is a whole new bag, and here’s why. A non-fiction writer like me, trained equally in journalism and literature, is constrained by what his…
…of 9:00 p.m. EDT on April 9, it was #15 on Amazon.) Its authors are happily mystified. This spike seems attributable to a very nice interview of Steve Levitt by…
…and margarine that landed in the Supreme Court. Our panelists are: Steve Levitt, my Freakonomics friend and co-author, who didn’t quite fit-in with sports teams. Bridget Gainer, Cook County commissioner,…
He’s been U.S. Treasury Secretary, a chief economist for the Obama White House and the World Bank, and president of Harvard. He’s one of the most brilliant economists of his…
For years, economists promised that global free trade would be mostly win-win. Now they admit the pace of change has been “traumatic.” This has already led to a political insurrection…
In this busy time of year, we could all use some tips on how to get more done in less time. First, however, a warning: there’s a big difference between…
The human foot is an evolutionary masterpiece, far more functional than we give it credit for. So why do we encase it in “a coffin” (as one foot scholar calls…
How a pain-in-the-neck girl from rural Virginia came to run the most powerful university in the world.
Sure, we all want to make good personal decisions, but it doesn’t always work out. That’s where “temptation bundling” comes in.
What do NASCAR drivers, Glenn Beck, and the hit men of the N.F.L. have in common?
He was handed the keys to the global economy just as it started heading off a cliff. Fortunately, he’d seen this movie before.
When it comes to generating ideas and asking questions it can be really fruitful to have the mentality of an 8-year-old.
America’s favorite statistical guru answers our FREAK-quently Asked Questions, and more.
Conventional programs tend to be expensive, onerous, and ineffective. Could something as simple (and cheap) as cognitive behavioral therapy do the trick?
The next chapter in the adventures of Dubner and Levitt has begun. Listen to a preview of what’s to come for the fall season of Freakonomics Radio….
In this episode, we speculate what would happen if economists got to run the world. Hear from a high-end call girl; an Estonian who ran his country according to the…
You know the saying: A winner never quits and a quitter never wins. To which Freakonomics Radio says … Are you sure?…
You know the saying: a winner never quits and a quitter never wins. To which Freakonomics Radio says … Are you sure?…
We are constantly wowed by new technologies and policies meant to make childbirth better. But beware the unintended consequences.
