Price Confusion

Research finds that customers have, ironically, a harder time choosing between similar products (e.g. cereal) if the products are priced the same.When prices were different, products were seen as similar, making it easier to select one product. But identical prices made the products seem less similar.

IQ Not Directly Related to Economic Development

Research finds that "differences in the timing of agriculture transition and the histories of States, not population IQ differences, predict international development differences before the colonial era. " Average IQ of populations seems to be related to various stages of nations' modernization, not due to economic development.

Want a Better Job? Get a Simple Name

Research reveals that people with easy to pronounce names have better job and political futures. Attorneys with easier names were promoted quicker and political hopefuls with easier names had better chances of getting elected. Ease of pronunciation, not name length or cultural origin, was the controlling factor.

Health Related to Small Business

A study shows that counties with more small businesses tend to have lower rates of mortality, obesity, and diabetes; counties with more large retailers tend to be higher. More "small business" communities exhibit higher likelihood of anti-smoking legislation, promoting community health programs, and supporting local farmers' markets.

"A place like this has a can-do climate, a practical problem-solving approach in which a community takes control of its own destiny," says lead author Troy C. Blanchard.

Students and Incentives

Student performance in low-performing schools was tested against promises of financial and non-financial incentives for good grades. The results:

1. Size matters: Students were willing to work much harder at $80/hour, but not at $40/hour
2. Punishment > Reward: Rewards were most powerful if framed as losses, demonstrating our stronger attachment to what we possess
3. Non-financial incentives (e.g. trophies) worked best with youth
4. Immediacy is everything: Promises of future rewards was largely ineffective

Financial Crisis Explained

Easy to follow video on the financial crisis.

Toddler Economics

Steven Levitt's toddler outsmarts his incentive scheme when being potty-trained - a lesson for governments.

eBay Lessens Looting

When eBay began, archaeologists were scared that online buying and selling antiquities would increase stealing and trafficking of archaeological treasures. Contrary to expectations, eBay's existence has lessened looting because 1) eBay created a market for cheap fakes which lowered the incentive to steal real artifacts and 2) Collectors are more wary of buying on-line.