The Malthusian trap is “a return to
The Malthusian trap is “a return to subsistence-level conditions as a result of agricultural production being eventually outstripped by growth in population”.
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Hot on the heels of Muhammad Yunus
Hot on the heels of Muhammad Yunus receiving the Nobel Peace Prize for 2006, the New Yorker has an overview of the various approaches to microfinance and microcredit.
Video of a Steven Levitt talk on
Video of a Steven Levitt talk on the economics of gangs and why gangbanger is not such a good vocation (for one thing, the job pays less than McDonald’s). The board of directors stuff made me think of the co-op on The Wire.
The economic case against philanthropy: charity is
The economic case against philanthropy: charity is selfish. “Those organizing fund-raising drives for the United Way tend to be disproportionately real estate agents, insurance brokers, car dealers, and other people with something to sell.”
Tyler Cowen takes a closer look at
Tyler Cowen takes a closer look at the recent “600,000 deaths in Iraq” claim. “We all know that the political world judges Iraq by the absolute badness of what is going on (which means Bush critics find a higher number to fit their priors), but that is an incorrect standard. We should judge the marginal product of U.S. action, relative to what else could have happened. In that latter and more accurate notion of a cost-benefit test, U.S. actions probably appear worst when deaths are rising over time, and hitting very high levels in the future.”
Interesting story from Steven Levitt: stuck in
Interesting story from Steven Levitt: stuck in a Vegas poker tournament with a $3000 first prize but needing to go to the airport to catch the last flight of the night, he starts playing very aggressively in order to win big or lose everything so that he can leave. (via gulfstream)
A pair of economists looked at the
A pair of economists looked at the number of parking tickets accrued by diplomats at the UN (tickets for which they are not charged) to determine each country’s corruption level. “Since, as their study reports, there is ‘essentially zero legal enforcement of diplomatic parking violations,’ the authors hypothesized that any cross-national variation in parking-violation rates should flow from culture alone.” The worst offenders were the Kuwaitis, followed by Egypt. Diplomats from Canada, Israel, Norway, Sweden, and Denmark had 0 parking tickets. Here’s the whole paper. (thx, susan)
For those unlucky enough not to get
For those unlucky enough not to get a slot, running in a marathon can be achieved by buying somone else’s bib or just photocopying a friend’s. Bibs for the upcoming NYC marathon are going for a few hundred dollars on eBay and Craigslist. (via clusterflock)
Malcolm Gladwell on how the demographics of
Malcolm Gladwell on how the demographics of companies affects their financial health. At the time of its bankruptcy in 2001, Bethlehem Steel “had twelve thousand active employees and ninety thousand retirees and their spouses drawing benefits. It had reached what might be a record-setting dependency ratio of 7.5 pensioners for every worker.” More from Gladwell on the piece here and here.
Fascinating charts of how the US Senate
Fascinating charts of how the US Senate votes on issues from a liberal-conservative perspective and a social issues perspective. More charts here. You’ll notice that the lines on the graphs are mostly straight up and down which means “it’s all economic; all the noise about social issues never actually flows thru into the legislative agenda.” That is, the Senate decides issues, even social issues, based mostly on economics.
Play Money
During the depths of the dot com bust, Julian Dibbell looked online for a job and found one as a commodities trader in the Ultima Online virtual world. During one particularly productive month, he made almost US$4000. Dibbell has a book coming out about the experience, Play Money: Or, How I Quit My Day Job and Made Millions Trading Virtual Loot. In addition to being available at bookstores in meatspace, Play Money will also be on sale in the virtual world of Second Life in the currency of that world (Linden dollars). From the press release:
In-game versions of Play Money designed by Second Life coder/publisher Falk Bergman are available for L$750. These copies can be signed by Dibbell at his in-Second Life interview with journalist Wagner James Au on July 27th. For the Second Life resident who needs something a bit more tactile, L$6250 buys a real-life copy of Play Money, shipped with care to the buyer’s real life address, in addition to the standard in-game version.
(At the time of this press release, Linden dollars are trading at approximately L$300.00 to the US$1.00. Adjusted to US dollars, an online copy costs US$2.50, and the price of a real-life copy bought in-game is around US$20.85.)
Dibbell will be signing his virtual books in Second Life on July 27th. Caterina read Play Money and has some thoughts on its relation to her work/play at Ludicorp. And here’s a preview of Chinese Gold Farmers, a documentary on gold farming sweatshops in China.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art is raising
The Metropolitan Museum of Art is raising its ticket price to $20 (from $15). The fee is recommended…you can pay nothing if you wish.
Will Moore’s Law slow down due to
Will Moore’s Law slow down due to a lack of research funds? I’ve wondered for awhile whether Moore’s Law didn’t have more to do with the economics of the semiconductor industry than with engineering limits.
Larger portions of food cause people to
Larger portions of food cause people to eat more. Anyone who has eaten at Chili’s and observed the girth of their clientele already knows this. Related: I remember seeing some research that showed as the size of an HTML textarea increases, the more words people write in it. (via mr)
Update: A self-refilling soup bowl experiment suggests that “visual cues of portion size may influence intake”. (thx, justin) Also, adding lanes to heavily traveled roadways increases traffic; that is, supply increases demand.
Research shows that the lifetime earnings of
Research shows that the lifetime earnings of graduates who enter the job market during recessions are lower than their boom-time colleagues. “Even a decade or more later, the class of 1988 was still earning significantly less. They missed the plum jobs right out of the gate and never recovered.”
The Coca-Cola index
Big Mac index, meet the Coca-Cola index. The more wealthy, democratic, and the higher the quality of life, the more likely a country’s inhabitants are to drink Coke. See also Starbucks as economic indicator.
The World Bank has a comprehensive package
The World Bank has a comprehensive package on World Cup 2006 and its relation to economics, including an economic analysis of who’s gonna win and how the Cup influences economies in the winning/losing countries.
Update: Goldman Sachs has a 50+ page report on World Cup 2006 and economics [PDF link] as well. (thx, beau)
A quick study shows that stocks of
A quick study shows that stocks of simply named companies do better than those of more complexly named companies. Even companies with pronounceable ticker symbols did better than those with unpronounceable symbols.
Social, political, economic, cultural, historical, and technological
Social, political, economic, cultural, historical, and technological timelines of the world from 1750 to 2100. Having all the timelines in one view is nice, but the zoomable interface is clunky.
Lottery idea: instead of earmarking revenues for
Lottery idea: instead of earmarking revenues for education, why not use the money for individual retirement accounts? The piece includes this startling fact: “Some 20 million Americans spend at least $1,000 a year on lottery tickets”. !!!!
At the current exchange rate, over 50% of
At the current exchange rate, over 50% of the transactions in Lindens (the unit of currency in the game Second Life) are for US$0.07 or less. Micropayments, anyone?
Absurd luxury markets…”some khaki pants are
Absurd luxury markets…“some khaki pants are now selling for AS MUCH AS $1055” (emphasis mine). Holy shit.
The NY Times article by Steven Levitt
The NY Times article by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner about talent is still on the most emailed list a week after it went up on the site…and it’s the second-most emailed story over the last month. Also of note is how politically oriented the most blogged list is compared to the most emailed list.
Design: e2 is an upcoming 6-part PBS
Design: e2 is an upcoming 6-part PBS special on the environment and the economy.
“The cluster effect is the effect of
“The cluster effect is the effect of buyers and sellers of a particular good or service congregating in a certain place and hence inducing other buyers and sellers to relocate there as well.”
Economist Thomas J. Holmes studies the diffusion
Economist Thomas J. Holmes studies the diffusion of Wal-Mart across the US (here’s a video showing the retailer’s spread). Here’s Holmes discussing how density considerations affect where Wal-Mart places their stores.
Friends and finances in 21st century America: “
Friends and finances in 21st century America: “More friends and acquaintances are now finding themselves at different points on the financial spectrum, scholars and sociologists say, thanks to broad social changes like meritocracy-based higher education, diversity in the workplace and a disparity of incomes among professions.”
James Surowiecki fills us in on a
James Surowiecki fills us in on a new investment opportunity, housing futures. “If housing futures work the way they’re supposed to, they will shift risk from those who are less able to bear it (individual homeowners with hefty mortgages) to those who are more willing to (speculators looking for a big upside on their investments). In the process, they will effectively provide a form of house-price insurance.”
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