December 2010
The Price of Atheism
This post isn’t about hell and eternal damnation. It’s about kids. The religious seem to have more of them, regardless of their specific religion. Might they wipe non-believers out of the gene pool? The non-religious are being out-reproduced by people … Continue reading
The Price of Superstars
Will superstars destroy capitalism? Check out the excerpt from The Price of Everything in today’s Times. And have a happy holiday!
The Price of Corn
The Mexican government is using an original tactic to grapple with rising food prices: hedging. The Financial Times (Gated. You’ll need to register) reports that Mexico has insured against rises in the price of corn until the third quarter of … Continue reading
The price of good teachers
Parents, principals, education experts all seem to agree that teacher quality is the single most important determinant of a child’s education, considerably more important than class size. The Obama administration has taken this to heart, pushing to incorporate merit pay … Continue reading
The Value of Christmas Presents
Christmas is fast approaching. So it’s probably a good time to remind all of you that buying presents for your friends and family imposes a drag on the economy. If you really want to do good give cash instead. This … Continue reading
Measuring prices around the world
You don’t trust your government to provide reliable inflation data? Is the central bank tinkering with the numbers to help the president get re-elected? The number crunchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have come up with a way to … Continue reading
What’s the most popular cheap Chinese knockoff?
Shoes, according to counterfeit seizure statistics from American customs. But maybe this just means it’s easier to detect counterfeit Nike’s than, say, fake Hublots. Customs and Border Protection says 79% of counterfeit goods seized at the border came from China … Continue reading
The price of transporting the obese
By now we’ve all read about the billions of dollars in added health costs due to our rising obesity rate. But what about all the other costs associated with our expanding waistbands? About a third of the American population is … Continue reading