Who Are You Calling Third-World?

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Their book Freakonomics has sold 3 million copies worldwide. This blog, begun in 2005, is meant to keep the conversation going. Recurring guest bloggers include Ian Ayres, Daniel Hamermesh, Sudhir Venkatesh, and Justin Wolfers.

Annika Mengisen is the site editor.

“ I just found out that I got laid off about 10 minutes ago and ironically I check this blog; [this post] might be quite useful! ”

On a recent episode of the TV show Boston Legal, James Spader’s character gives a shout-out to Freakonomics, advising another character: “There’s a book. Freakonomics. Read it!”

Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything

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November 20
(3 comments)

Our Daily Bleg: Which Quotes Were Viral in 2008?

Our resident quote bleggar Fred Shapiro, editor of the Yale Book of Quotations, is back with another request. If you have a bleg of your own — it needn’t have anything to do with quotations — send it along here. Let me continue to solicit suggestions for The Yale Book of Quotations list of the top [...]

November 20
(8 comments)

Spamonomics

Since last Wednesday, the torrent of junk e-mail coursing through the internet has been slowed dramatically, with 40 percent or more of it cut off at the source.
The source of all that spam? San Jose, California. That’s where a group of servers responsible for much of the world’s spam had been operating until they were [...]

November 20
(27 comments)

Ron Paul Answers Your Questions, Part Two

Ron Paul
When we solicited your questions for Congressman Ron Paul shortly after the election, so many questions came in that we split Paul’s answers into two batches, the first of which was published last week.
Here is the second. Like the first batch, they are well-considered and interesting throughout; they will surely make many [...]

November 20
(3 comments)

Jenkem: Bringing the Levitt Family Together

I often get emails from blog readers asking me to shed light on some issue that, in the mind of the email writer, is a pressing social or economic issue. Sometimes it is a big issue like immigration or the financial crisis. More often it is something less mainstream, like election fraud or an unusual [...]

November 20
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Freddie Mac and Cheese

It’s not an entire film (and it’s not in French), but two more readers, Talya and Pavle, have sent in a video of their song “Fannie Mae Eat Freddie Mac and Cheese,” which uses “freakonomics” as a sort of mantra. We like.

1. Go to Hulu.com. 2. Choose Arrested Development. 3. Start with Season 1 and then watch every episode of all three seasons. 4. You can thank me later. (SJD)

I can scarcely tell a scarlet tanager from Scarlett O’Hara, but The Life of the Skies had me transfixed from the first page. Jonathan Rosen -- who happens to be a friend of mine -- writes with astounding insight, wit, and compassion. The story he tells here is the best kind of odyssey, an outward journey that ends up highlighting the beauty and daring that live inside of us. Here's a Times review of the book, and here's an earlier blog post about the book and the power of suggestion. (SJD)

Even if you don’t have a son fighting in Iraq, even if you don’t read poetry, even if you think you are immune to the power of a mother’s lament – pick up The Warrior and read it right away. Fran Richey has written some of the most powerful stories I’ve ever encountered. It is obvious that her life was changed by living these poems; yours may well be changed by reading them. (SJD)

Necessary Steps

Inching Along the Edge of the World

In his last walk of the series, the author manages to avoid stepping out into thin air.

Abstract City

New York Cheat Sheets

All New Yorkers develop tricks that allow them to stay ahead of the pack in daily life. Here I offer some of mine in a couple of handy charts.