Hitchhiking Lives On — at Least for Cargo
Okay, so hitch-hiking has plainly faded away — at least for human beings. But what about for cargo? German trucking companies are facing a big problem, according to ScienceDaily: “Around 20 percent of trucks on German roads are traveling empty, at a huge cost to the transportation companies concerned.” Read More »
Smarter Kids at 10 Bucks a Pop
Our latest episode of Freakonomics Radio is about education reform — sort of. Most ed reform addresses the supply side of the equation. That is, what should teachers and schools be doing differently? But this story is about the demand side, the students themselves. What if there were a cheap, quick, and simple way to lift some students’ grades? Read More »
American Empire: Do We Still Live in a Uni-Polar World?
Is America’s back-seat role in Libya evidence that the age of its uni-polar power structure is over? And if so, what comes next? Read More »
Trouble in Higher Ed.
The Chronicle of Higher Education is running the second installment of an interesting two-part essay on the declining expectations and level of learning taking place among college undergrads. 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 