April 12, 2005
Freakonomics
Interesting book coming out called Freakonomics…
Here’s the description:
Which is more dangerous, a gun or a swimming pool? What do schoolteachers and sumo wrestlers have in common? Why do drug dealers still live with their moms? How much do parents really matter? What kind of impact did Roe v. Wade have on violent crime? … [Steven D. Levitt] is a much-heralded young scholar who studies the riddles of everyday life-from cheating and crime to sports and child-rearing - and whose conclusions regularly turn the conventional wisdom on its head.
Its so interesting to think about economics in the context of decision-making and human actions. Basically, the authors use data to discover surprising new things about people and how we function.
Very neat!
Did you see the article called What the Bagel Man Saw last year? Levitt wrote that article as well (with co-author Stephen J. Dubner)! In that article, Levitt describes a man who has a bagel business. The bagel man (who happened to have an advance degree in economics) would leave a box of bagels in the kitchen along with a box for money at each company he sold to.
Whether you pay for your bagel or not is basically Scout’s honor — no one is there to police you.
What did he discover?
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He has identified two great overriding predictors of a company’s honesty: morale and size. Paul F. has noted a strong correlation between high payment rates and an office where people seem to like their boss and their work.
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Weather, for instance, has a major effect on the payment rate. Unseasonably pleasant weather inspires people to pay a significantly higher rate. Unseasonably cold weather, meanwhile, makes people cheat prolifically; so does heavy rain and wind.
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But he will say that telecom companies have robbed him blind, and another bagel-delivery man found that law firms aren’t worth the trouble.
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He also says he believes that employees further up the corporate ladder cheat more than those down below…. Maybe, he says, the executives stole bagels out of a sense of entitlement. (Or maybe cheating is how they got to be executives.)
Dubner also wrote an article recently in the New York Times about a young economics professor at Harvard who has done very interesting work…
Roland G. Fryer Jr. is 27 years old and he is an assistant professor of economics at Harvard and he is black. Yes, 27 is young to be any kind of professor anywhere. But after what might charitably be called a slow start in the scholarly life, Fryer has been in a big hurry to catch up. He was in fact only 25 when he went on the job market, gaining offers from — well, just about everywhere. He abruptly ended his job search by accepting an invitation to join the Society of Fellows at Harvard, one of academia’s most prestigious research posts. This meant he wouldn’t be teaching anywhere for three years. The Harvard economics department told Fryer to take its offer anyway; he could have an office and defer his teaching obligation until the fellowship was done.
Anyway, check out the the author’s blog.. Neat stuff!
Related posts:
- How Not to Buy Happiness
Increases in income may cause temporary spikes in joy, but how can we increase our base level of happiness? - Bubble, Bubble Toil and Trouble
Why real estate agents sell their houses for more than they sell yours.
April 21st, 2005 at 8:45 pm
Levitt contends that legalizing abortion cut crime, but he conveniently skips over the awkward fact that the first generation born after legalization went on the worst teen murder spree in American history.
See “Pre-emptive Executions?” to learn what Levitt won’t tell you about the controversy:
http://amconmag.com/2005_05_09/feature.html
April 30th, 2005 at 5:05 pm
I haven’t gotten my copy of Freakanomics yet but I hope full weight of the influences of “Trickle Down Reaganomics” is explored in relation to crime rate, as well as the incentives of the unbridled US prison economy. Currently one of every 138 US citizens is in prison! Our young poor are harvested like a crop of so much wheat, to feed growing prison construction. The US, with 4% of the world population, has 25% of the world’s prisoners!..
April 30th, 2005 at 5:44 pm
Wow, that’s a shocking statistic… we certainly imprison a lot of people.
June 17th, 2005 at 6:45 pm
Maybe I missed this throughout my college education, but what is “Trickle Down Reaganomics?” Where can I get more information about this? Sounds kind of interesting, Thanks.
July 15th, 2005 at 4:15 am
OMG, you must be young.
Ok, in the wonderful 80’s the Reagan administration (I’ll assume that you’ve heard of them) cut taxes for wealthy and claimed that the wealthy were more important because, when they did well, it “trickled down*” and benefited the rest of the population. Of course the idea of a “trickle” gives you some feel for the actual impact that the tax cuts had (warning - personal opinion inserted.)
* see also “voodoo economics”
December 7th, 2006 at 9:17 pm
cool site
January 11th, 2007 at 5:45 pm
This book is lousy. Very bad indeed. Don’t buy it! There are no words to describe it.
January 11th, 2007 at 5:47 pm
É uma palhaçada! Isto não faz sentido. Os títulos não correspondem ao texto. Enganaram-se… Temos pena.
January 11th, 2007 at 5:50 pm
I hate my name. I wish I was called Mercado Abastecedor (translation: suppliar market)
November 16th, 2007 at 5:49 pm
Sports Illustrated
I couldn’t understand some parts of this article, but it sounds interesting
March 9th, 2008 at 5:13 pm
Different Types Of Swimming Pool Covers
In the United States, a huge number of people possess swimming pools. A swimming pool provides fun and excitement; however, it can also be dangerous. It only takes several seconds for a kid to drown. To prevent this from taking place, you should use a …