A reader, “Unsure” asks Dan Ariely, the author of Predictably Irrational, for advice: she wants to jump into bed with a guy [George] that she really likes, but wonders whether she should I make him wait. “After all, there must be some reason that all those books and magazines (not to mention my mother) champion Read More
Somewhere in a musty box in my mom’s garage is, hopefully, a red folder with pages and pages of notes I took as an undergraduate abroad in London in a class called “Economics of the Public Sector.” (I can’t promise it’s actually there, because the decisions I make on what old papers to keep and Read More
This month’s pick, All You Can Eat: How Hungry Is America is a recommendation from shani-o who writes: “In the book, Berg touches on the role racism has played in starvation of both whites and blacks in the 60s, notes the varying policies presidential administrations have enacted to fight hunger, and gives an excellent primer on Read More
Many of you may not spend your time listening to your local Congressman or -woman or Senator repeating talking points while they’re on their August recess, but I can tell you that Democrats are selling health care reform, and any government plan it may involve, as another “choice” for Americans. What can be more American Read More
(x-posted at U.S. of J and the League of Ordinary Gentlemen) When you get the chance, you should check out Kai Wright’s terrific piece in the American Prospect on the decline of the black middle class. The short of it is that widespread “wealth poverty” among middle-class black families (”By 2007, black families had a dime Read More
quadmoniker: I’m going to endorse the “Cash for Clunkers” program. Setting aside the sound policy that started it — getting cautious consumers back to the showrooms and getting the least efficient cars off the road to lower emissions — this magical rebate program got my mom a new car. I love my mom, but getting Read More
Average Bro points to a program in North Carolina that pays teenage girls a dollar a day to not get pregnant. The group College-Bound Sisters was founded at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro by Hazel Brown, a maternity nurse who thought too many teens were having babies. Brown said she hopes the program, Read More
Per our earlier discussion on $100,000 teacher salaries, I thought this post by Dr. Bitch was worth mentioning: Sure, there are great natural teachers who do amazing things despite mediocre salaries, piles of administrative trivia driven by legislatures and/or fears of litigation, and the broad popular belief that teaching is easy and that therefore everyone Read More
Chalk this up to male ignorance or whatever, but reading this in a Big Money piece on the dominance of budget-wedding retailer David’s Bridal made me curse out loud: While the recession hasn’t deterred couples from tying the knot, it has shrunken their budgets substantially. The average cost of getting married in the United States Read More
How does it feel to live in Kobe’s world? And without any further delay, your reading material from the weekend: 1. William G. Bowen, who served as the president of Princeton from 1972 (Sonia Sotomayor’s freshman year) to 1988, is also one of the most outspoken supporters of affirmative action policies in higher education. “One Read More
