Freakonomics

Mothers and the Model T

By ERIC A. MORRIS — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 11:54:36 PST

Last post I started a series on the different ways men and women travel. The disparities are many, and go back a long way; after all, Eve and not Adam took the first family grocery-shopping trip, and Noah, not his anonymous wife, built and drove the first recorded vehicle. In the days of the walking city, women (at least middle- and upper-class women) largely stayed close to home; walking long distances down filthy, chaotic, and dangerous streets was simply seen as unladylike.

How Did Israel Become "Start-Up Nation"?

By DWYER GUNN — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 11:25:57 PST

Since the onset of the current financial crisis, political and economic pundits have loudly proclaimed the end of American economic dominance. U.S. policymakers are struggling to revive the economy, establish new industrial competencies, and remain globally competitive. Meanwhile, in a small, young, constantly embattled country across the globe, old-fashioned entrepreneurialism is alive and well. Israel, just 60 years old and with a population of 7.1 million, has emerged as a model of entrepreneurialism that countries at all stages of development have tried to replicate.

Cities, Before and After

By FREAKONOMICS — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 07:57:43 PST

A site called Oobject features juxtaposed shots of cities before and after major events like war, natural disasters, and "property speculation."

Monetizing Frustration

By IAN AYRES — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 06:54:03 PST

When I'm upset about the minor annoyances of life, I sometimes find it helpful to think of the price I'd charge for enduring the annoyance. For example, when my wallet was stolen, I wondered how many dollars would someone have had to pay me to consent to the taking.

Community Pirating

By FREAKONOMICS — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 11:30:03 PST

After jump-starting the economies of Somali fishing towns, local pirates are taking their local business further by setting up "stock exchanges" that host 72 pirate gangs or "maritime companies," a Reuters article reports.

ClimateGate as Rorschach Test

By STEPHEN J. DUBNER — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 06:25:31 PST

In the 10 days since we first blogged about "ClimateGate" - the unauthorized release of e-mails and other material from the Climate Research Unit (C.R.U.) at East Anglia University in Norwich, England - it's become strikingly clear that one's view of the issue is deeply colored by his or her incoming biases. No surprise there, but still, the demarcation is clear. One of the best indicators: when you stumble onto a blog post about the topic, you can tell which way the wind is blowing simply by looking at the banner ad at the top of the site: if it's for an M.B.A. in Sustainable Business, you're going to hear one thing about ClimateGate; if the ad shows Al Gore with a Pinocchio nose, meanwhile - well, you get the idea.

Chicken Eggs and Swine Flu

By FREAKONOMICS — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 08:39:11 PST

Jason Kottke explains how the H1N1 vaccine is made - including the step where part of the virus is injected into eggs, where it incubates for two to three days before being removed.

Quotes Uncovered: Finally, the Whole Nine Yards

By FRED SHAPIRO — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 08:23:38 PST

Today I will give my long-awaited response to the many questions about the leading phraseological enigma of our time, namely the origin of the phrase "the whole nine yards." I am sorry to disappoint by having no definitive answer, but the reality is that many of the major etymological riddles have no known answer.

Can Gerbils Read Maps?

By FREAKONOMICS — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 06:51:36 PST

National borders may sometimes seem like arbitrary lines drawn on a map, but a new study from the University of Haifa reveals that those borders mean something to the resident animal populations.

Uncertainty and the Fed

By JUSTIN WOLFERS — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 08:26:05 PST

There's a strange view out there that with unemployment above ten percent, and inflation nascent, the Fed should be thinking about raising interest rates. Yesterday Philadelphia Fed President Charles Plosser attempted to explain his view:

Looking for a Biological Basis for Violence

By STEVEN D. LEVITT — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 09:39:58 PST

Gautam Naik provides an interesting and cleverly written piece on the search for a biological basis of violent behavior.

Is the Paradox of Choice Not So Paradoxical After All?

By STEPHEN J. DUBNER — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 07:58:43 PST

The psychologist Barry Schwartz's book The Paradox of Choice (here's his TED talk on the topic) was, for me at least, very persuasive. It made a compelling if counterintuitive argument: even though many people (economists especially) argue that more choice is almost always a good thing, Schwartz argued that too much choice is actually a bad thing, causing decision paralysis and unhappiness.

No Need to Reinvent the Nudge

By FREAKONOMICS — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 06:43:50 PST

A Boston Globe article explains how "positive deviance" - a way to change behavior by using "nudges" that already exist in a community, rather than imposing them from the outside - substantially decreased malnutrition in a Vienamese village: researchers observed children who looked more nourished than others, found that their families were feeding them crabs - considered a low-class food - and encouraged neighbors to follow the family's good example.

When the Weather Puts Food on Your Table

By STEPHEN J. DUBNER — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 11:00:31 PST

A lot of industries are obviously weather-dependent - agriculture, tourism, etc. - but I hadn't known that the traditional production of roofing slate in the U.K. was also at the mercy of the weather. Here is but one of many fascinating things you can learn from Simon Winchester's excellent book The Map That Changed the World, about the proto-geologist William Smith:

The Dangers of a Live Twitter Feed

By FREAKONOMICS — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 10:17:04 PST

It seems to make all the sense in the world. You are WPMI-TV, the NBC affiliate that covers southern Alabama and some of the Florida Panhandle, and you rent a big electronic billboard to promote your nightly news and weather team.