Why Are Discount Stores Full of XS and XXL Clothes? (3)
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Justin Wolfers (40)
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Photo: sporkist My former Ph.D. student and frequent co-author Erik Snowberg sends along an interesting question: Why do discount clothing stores (like Nordstrom Rack - and clothing sales in general) have an excess of really small and really large sizes? I have to admit, I've always wondered. Erik continues: The typical answer seems to be that there are more [...]
Why Don't Economics Textbooks Focus on Financial Crises? (2)
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Stephen J. Dubner (88)
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That's the good question posed by the always-thoughtful David Warsh, proprietor of Economic Principals. Here is his lead: How peculiar is it that the leading introductory economics texts scarcely mention the cycles of manias, panics, and crashes that have been a familiar feature of global capitalism since its emergence in the 17th century? No propensity to bubble [...]
LoJack for Laptops (the Free Version) (5)
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Photo from the University of Washington. If you're reading this post on a laptop computer, rest easy. Your computer may have just become far less appealing to thieves. The University of Washington has released a free program that will track your laptop if it's stolen. If the program is installed on a computer with a built-in camera, [...]
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Frank said:
Free!? Everyone should have this on their laptops!
You Know It's Bad When There's a Surcharge on Your Cocaine (1)
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Photo: mandj98 Surcharges from gasoline-reliant businesses are common when gas prices spike (though prices have dropped slightly recently). But when cocaine dealers begin charging their clients for the gas they need to deliver the drugs, is it an indicator that the situation has become especially dire? Gas surcharges could, however, provide an opportunity for some dealers to [...]
Is the Best Defense a Random Offense? - Freakonomics - Opinion - New York Times Blog (4)
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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 the thought one step further and randomized the plays themselves - by scrapping the traditional starting formation and making every player a potential receiver (normally, only [...]
Untitled (2)
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The 8th installment in Bob Dylan's "bootleg" series is a two-disc set called Tell Tale Signs, and it is set to be released next Tuesday (October 7). But until then, you can listen to it for free on National Public Radio, here. Yep, free. But as I understand it, this only lasts until the official [...]
John Cochrane on Why the Bailout Plan Would Be a Disaster (13)
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Steven D. Levitt (62)
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My colleague John Cochrane has written an insightful piece on the bailout. In short, he believes that the Treasury plan needs to be shot, have a stake driven through its heart, and be buried. His arguments, posted on his website, are reprinted below: The Monster Returns By John H. Cochrane A Guest Post Like a monster from an old horror [...]
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Hari K Gottipati said:
Well written and showing the other side of the bailout package.
Manipulation in Political Prediction Markets (3)
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Justin Wolfers (40)
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My latest column in the W.S.J. assesses whether Intrade's political prediction markets have been distorted by market manipulation: Over recent weeks we've observed a pattern of large orders for Sen. McCain on Intrade … executed at times when liquidity is particularly scarce. These orders have caused markets to shift sharply, often against the broader political narrative. The [...]
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Kari said:
manipulation of the crowds
Economists and Bailouts: Mea Culpa (5)
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Justin Wolfers (40)
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I wrote yesterday about my dismay at the failure of Congress to pass the revised rescue package. It is time for economists to own our share of the blame. We have failed to explain in clear language just what it is that credit markets do, and hence why it is so important that we [...]
Debating the Future of Water (3)
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Stephen J. Dubner (88)
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If you’re looking to get your mind off the financial disaster and instead focus on another potential disaster — the worldwide water supply — you might want to check out The Economist’s online debate on the subject. From The Economist: It’ll be a two-week long, Oxford-style online debate on the topic of the global water crisis. As both an industrial input and a prerequisite of life, water has become extremely scarce for roughly a billion ...
In the Battle of the Sexes, Partisans Outearn Peacemakers (2)
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Photo: urban_data Call it a self-fulfilling stereotype. Men who believe a woman's place is in the home, rather than in the workplace, are likely to earn substantially more than men who believe women deserve equal pay for equal work. That's according to a new study, by University of Florida organizational psychologists Timothy Judge and Beth Livingston, [...]
Do Good Grades Predict Success? (8)
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Stephen J. Dubner (88)
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Stephen Dubner and Steven Levitt, authors of Freakonomics, keep the conversation going from their best-selling book that explores the hidden side of everything.
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Brian Keen said:
ThiThis article is in my wheelhouse of things I like to read. It makes a point at success being a nebulous term and what determines and defines it.
Amazing Customer Service (1)
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As my research agenda has turned lately to thinking more about business and how companies can maximize their profits, I've spent a lot of time pondering customer service. So far, this is the single best example of customer service I have ever heard about, courtesy of Zappos. The Zappos story will be difficult to beat, but I'm [...]
What Do U.S. Oil Production and Mick Jagger Have in Common? (3)
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Photo: hiabba They both peaked in the late 1960's. You can infer that, anyway, from this handy chart at the blog OverthinkingIt. They found a correlation between the decline in U.S. oil production and the decline in the quality of pop music, as measured by Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All [...]
Pennies: Enough Already! (3)
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Daniel Hamermesh (16)
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Photo: Odalaigh Whenever I travel in other wealthy countries, I am a bit embarrassed about the dollar bill's insignificance compared to other countries' smallest bills: a 5-pound note is worth $9; a 5-euro note is worth $7; a 1,000-yen note is worth $9. At the same time, no rich country has a coin as worthless as [...]
Economists on the Bailout (1)
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Justin Wolfers (40)
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The only thing that seems to be moving faster than the financial crisis is the policy debate. The latest development is a statement that summarizes what I think of as the emerging consensus from academic economists; it expresses concern about various aspects of both the Paulson plan in particular, and the policy process in general. Here's [...]
Erik Hurst on the Risks of Re-Regulation (2)
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Erik Hurst is one of the brightest stars among the "new breed" of macroeconomists. He's my go-to guy for trying to understand the complicated links between macroeconomics and how we actually live our lives. One of the great joys of being an academic economist is enjoying a vigorous debate over a beer. While Erik and [...]
A Decentralized Bailout - Freakonomics - Opinion - New York Times Blog (3)
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Lucian Bebchuk has a powerful idea for improving the government's purchase of troubled assets: "A Plan for Addressing the Financial Crisis." (It's fairly amazing that he's produced an article of this quality in such a short time.) The government wants to inject liquidity into the market by buying troubled assets. But how can we be sure [...]
How Big Is the Bailout? (5)
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The $700 billion "Paulson plan" (or "Hanky Panky") is big. In fact, $700 billion is such a startlingly large number that a surprisingly large amount of commentary has gotten it completely wrong. For instance, click here to see the results of a Google News search on "$700 million" and "bailout." It seems that [...]
