Freakonomics

The Illogic of Farm Subsidies, and Other Agricultural Truths

Stephen J. Dubner — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 14:42:27 -0500

Daniel Sumner Last week we solicited your questions for agricultural economist Daniel Sumner. You responded with terrific questions, including some that sounded a bit like riddles: "How much would a gallon of milk cost tomorrow, in Chicago, if the dairy subsidies were eliminated today?" Sumner has answers for questions about organic produce, biofuels, the logic of locavores, whether [...]

Our Daily Bleg: Has Quality Declined or Is it Just My Old-Fogeyism?

Fred Shapiro — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 13:04:04 -0500

Our resident quote bleggar Fred Shapiro, editor of the Yale Book of Quotations, is back with another request. If you have a bleg of your own, send it along here. Thanks to everyone for the incredible outpouring of comments in response to last week's posting about 21st-century song lyrics. The responses will certainly be of some [...]

You Tell Us What Your Seat Is Worth

Daniel Hamermesh — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 12:42:26 -0500

Who hasn't heard an airline gate attendant announce, "We are in an overbooked situation and are offering $xxx to anyone willing to give up a seat and take a later flight?" The problem with this announcement for the airlines is that there is often a rush of people supplying seats - the $xxx is [...]

Keep the Cheap Wine Flowing

Steven D. Levitt — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 09:58:42 -0500

I blogged last week about blind wine tastings - my own casual experiments as well as some more serious academic ones. The bottom line is that in blind wine tastings, there is a zero or even slightly negative correlation between the ratings of regular people and the price of the wine they are drinking; for [...]

Where Do People Still Use Cassette Tapes?

Freakonomics — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 08:37:08 -0500

The answer: in prisons, where CDs are routinely banned because they can be shattered and the shards refined into shivs. MP3 players are unavailable in most prisons, as are, one imagines, turntables. California-based entrepreneur Bob Paris got the idea five years ago to sell cassettes by mail to the 2.3 million people locked up in [...]

Fryer On Black in America

Freakonomics — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 15:30:52 -0500

Roland Fryer will appear on CNN's Black in America series tonight and tomorrow night at 8 p.m.

Google Should Give You Some of Its Ad Revenue

Ian Ayres — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 13:43:03 -0500

Here's a link to a Marketplace radio commentary that aired yesterday in which I argue that search engines should give you a cut of their ad revenue when you click through on an ad. Microsoft's cashback system pays you if you click through and buy. But just the act of consuming the ad should have [...]

Indexed: It's Spreading

Jessica Hagy — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 11:59:15 -0500

Here's the latest Indexed post. Jessica's past posts can be found here, her own blog here, and her book here.

Don't Throw Away Your Capitalism Just Yet

Stephen J. Dubner — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 10:33:23 -0500

The turbulence of the U.S. economy has lots of people railing against capitalism itself, and with good reason: capitalism is inherently turbulent. That's why the legendary economist Joseph Schumpeter called it "creative destruction." Not only must eggs be broken to make an omelet, but sometimes people may decide they want their omelets made with no [...]

FREAK Shots: There's No Kanye Pill

Freakonomics — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 09:32:22 -0500

We've talked about advertising that's too honest. According to the Online Legal Dictionary, for an ad to be considered false, it has to: Make a false statement of fact about a good or service (Airborne falsely claiming its product can cure or prevent colds). Or "deceive or have the potential to deceive a substantial portion of [...]

A Unified Korea Is Depressing

Daniel Hamermesh — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 08:37:20 -0500

I had depressing conversations with several Korean economists about the possibility of eventual Korean unification. Unlike Germany, where the East was only 1/4 the size of the West, and where GDP/capita in the West was perhaps only double that of the East, North Korea's population is over 1/3 that of the South, and the South [...]

That's What She Said

Stephen J. Dubner — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 13:22:46 -0500

No, I am not talking about TV catchphrases, from The Office or elsewhere. I had the good fortune this morning to appear on The Takeway (talking about financial illiteracy) beside Mary Robinson, the former President of Ireland and U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights. She was speaking about surging food prices around the world and the [...]

Is Aviation Security Cost-Effective?

Freakonomics — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 12:18:16 -0500

Since 9/11, the U.S. has spent $6 billion a year on aviation security to prevent a similar attack. The two most direct efforts to prevent airliner hijackings have been the hardening of cockpit doors and increased presence of air marshals on flights. These measures alone have cost the government and airlines $1 billion a year. [...]

What Is the Most Racist City in America?

Sudhir Venkatesh — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 10:52:56 -0500

On one level, quantifying racism doesn't make much sense. From the standpoint of individual experience, two people who suffer discrimination based on their ethnic status might feel equally violated even if the incident differs. Who can say one experienced "more racism" if both feel hurt? But let's consider the question at the macro level. Specifically, what [...]

Prospects for the Freakonomics Documentary

Stephen J. Dubner — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 09:59:13 -0500

Koleman Strumpf, an economist at the University of Kansas School of Business whose research you've encountered previously on this blog, wrote in to say he'd noticed some interesting trading activity over at the Hollywood Stock Exchange. I will give my take after Koleman's post. Prospects for the Freakonomics Documentary A Guest Post by Koleman Strumpf Blog readers may recall [...]