It’s Hard to Learn if You Can’t See the Blackboard
Our most recent podcast is about a pair of economists giving out free eye glasses to kids in China. Between 10 and 15 percent of kids needed glasses; but of those, only two percent had them. Turns out, this is a problem in New York City too. Read More »
Kids and Costs: A Guest Post on Twins by Bryan Caplan
Economists usually assume that doubling output more than doubles costs; or as textbooks say, there are increasing marginal costs. So economists naturally expect twins to be more than double the effort, stress, and out-of-pocket cost of a singleton. Read More »
Levitt Makes the NYT Sunday Crossword Puzzle
Fans of the New York Times Sunday crossword might have come across a Freak-y clue this weekend. Check out clue 102 “Across”: 102. Steven who co-wrote “Freakonomics” The letters of Levitt’s name were used to spell the following “Down” words: 93. Sword lilies, for short : GLADS 94. Send, as a check : REMIT 95. Read More »
Why Did the Monkey Steal?
There’s a crime wave at London Zoo. We’ve blogged in the past about monkeys that can do amazing things: use money, be rational actors, even learn grammar. Add to that list baby Bolivian monkeys who have taken to stealing sunglasses from visitors. But, say their keepers, the monkeys’ motives have nothing to do profit-maximizing. Read More »
and 
. If you haven’t seen it yet, the movie features Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner, and was made by a dream team of documentary directors. Paste Magazine named it one of the 