Too Many Opinions?
Based on today’s Duke Opinion Page, I’m beginning to wonder if I have too many opinions. Something my wife has been telling me for years!
Based on today’s Duke Opinion Page, I’m beginning to wonder if I have too many opinions. Something my wife has been telling me for years!
In recent posts, I’ve presented several interesting pictures of how arbitrary thresholds influence behavior. I showed how airplane pilots speed up flights to make on-time arrivals, but don’t speed up late flights that won’t make it on time. I’ve shown that the price of used cars changes when the mileage on the odometer passes arbitrary round…
In a recent post, I wrote about the fact that many physicians in the US do not accept new appointments with Medicaid enrollees. I was surprised to see it quickly garnered over 25,000 views. I guess it’s good to write posts that people read. But I fear that many people read it because it was…
The facts seem indisputable. After a courageous battle against cancer, Lance Armstrong inspired millions of people – bike aficionados and those who don’t know a pelleton from a crouton – by winning the Tour de France an unprecedented seven times in a row. As one of the millions who have been inspired by Lance –…
In a recent post, I reproduce the figure showing the “stickiness” of odometer readings, when it comes to the price of used cars. Much better to sell your car at 49,999 miles rather than 50,001 miles. But here’s another sticky threshold, that was reported on at 538.com. It shows that when airplane flights leave 40…
I came across an interesting quote in the New Yorker recently, reflecting on the US banking system. It reads: The power and the growth of power of our financial oligarchs comes from wielding the savings and credit capital of others. The fetters which bind the people are forged from the people’s own gold. Pretty timely thoughts,…
I could go on quoting Abraham Lincoln all day long, for he was one of the finest writers of his or any time. Here’s one very special quote, where Lincoln uses the metaphor of a snake to make distinctions between slavery itself being bad, versus policies to limit slavery to the south, versus policies to…