Today is Friday the 13th, considered the ultimate day of bad luck in modern culture. While historians have yet to verify the root of the superstition, the Stress Management Center and Phobia Institute estimates that more than 17 million people are affected by fear on this day, causing up to $750 million in lost profits for stores, airlines, and other businesses.
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Stephen J. Dubner is an author and journalist who lives in New York City.
Steven D. Levitt is a professor of economics at the University of Chicago.
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, Jessica Hagy, Daniel Hamermesh, Sudhir Venkatesh, and Justin Wolfers.
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November 19
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What Would You Do in the Worst Case? A Freakonomics Quorum
Photo: Jamesfischer
These are the economic times that try men’s souls, and women’s too. In the past few months, a lot of people have seen their net worth fall substantially, and I’m sure more than a few have contemplated what would happen if they lost everything.
So we asked a group of people — Nick Mills, [...]
November 19
(28 comments)
FREAK Shots: Who Are You Calling Third-World?
Blog reader Nick Turner sent along this photo of a Body Shop ad in San Francisco:
Photo: Nick Turner
He was surprised that the ad guarantees fair-labor conditions for workers in Italy:
I thought fair-trade protections were for third-world workers. I
wonder how the Italians feel about this designation.
The ad didn’t outright call Italy third-world; but if it had, [...]
November 19
(153 comments)
Eric Oliver on the “Bigot Belt”
Eric Oliver is a colleague of mine at the University of Chicago. He is the author of the absolutely fantastic book Fat Politics: The Real Story Behind America’s Obesity Epidemic.
He has some new and interesting insights on the “Bigot Belt,” which he has generously written up for the Freakonomics blog.
The Bigot Belt
By Eric Oliver
A [...]
November 19
(23 comments)
Bacon Ice Cream and Intertemporal Choice
Photo: lilivanili and shawnzam
Yesterday I suggested that tastes may not be stable. And then last night, I had the chance to confront the data directly; my local restaurant was serving bacon ice cream.
Bacon: Delicious! Ice cream: My favorite! The combination of bacon and ice cream: a direct threat to my views of economics. [...]
November 19
(3 comments)
The FREAK-est Links
Here are the stats and algorithms that explain why Kevin Garnett is an MVP. (HT: Phil Notick) (Earlier)
Justin Wolfers’s alumni magazine dubs him “The Seeker.” (Earlier)
Who’s making the fat jokes?
Stanley Druckenmiller is happy he didn’t buy the Steelers.
Chicago’s schools have third-world math scores. (Earlier)
Stuff We Weren't Paid to Endorse
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)
From the Opinion Blogs
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.
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5 Comments
Friday the 13th bad luck origins stem from an incident at a camp at Crystal lake, where several campers were killed on that date- of note, the killer was female- one of only 3 recorded instances of a female serial killer- the weird thing was that her middle name was Wayne
— frankendufFriday the 13th is does not cause lost profits, it it bad luck because of lost prophets.
— discordianAre airline tickets cheaper for travel on Friday 13th? I’ve never checked. Also, this superstition is by no means universal; in Italy 17 is the unlucky number, which in my view kind of rules out any explanation to do with apostles and last suppers.
— Jeremy CherfasI read that the origins of Friday the 13th = bad luck date back to the Roman Empire when “federal taxes” were collected once a month (on the 13th) and “state/local taxes” were collected once a week on Friday. So on Friday the 13th was double tax day, therefore unlucky. Although there are many theories on this this is the earliest story of the origins I have come across.
— ava_victoriaI’d disagree with the lost $750m. Some (or most) of this revenue must have been recouperated on other days not to mention the extra revenue generated by Friday-the-13th-related activities such as pschothearpy and hospital visits for all those broken bones.
— bp