The FREAK-est Links. One banned wrestler wants to clean up the world of sumo. (HT: Judith Ronat) (Earlier) What happens to a cop when he goes to prison? (HT: Brad) (Earlier) Data services from some "driven nerds." In uncertain times, do something safe and fun with your money.

Save or Splurge?. The financial crisis has generated huge amounts of talk about macro issues, but it also engenders a complex problem for a typical consumer: With increased uncertainty, should I save more against an uncertain future - or should I spend now in order to enjoy consumption before my savings are wiped out, or at least reduced, [...]

N.B.E.R. Economists on the Candidates' Economic Plans. Apparently, The Economist magazine doesn't think a survey of economists by Dilbert creator Scott Adams is sufficient, so they've done their own. Via e-mail, The Economist contacted all the economists in the National Bureau of Economic Research (N.B.E.R.) - a sample that would include just about every top economist in the United States - [...]

What Would George Do?. A loyal reader from Britain sends along a redesigned U.S. dollar bill to reflect the state of the economy: Our reader didn't know the provenance of this artwork, but considering that the Treasury secretary's signature on the bill belongs to the late Lloyd Bentsen, I'd have to guess that this doctored bill is a remnant from [...]

Bob Dylan Understands the Weak Economy. The 8th installment in Bob Dylan's "bootleg" series is a two-disc set called Tell Tale Signs, and it is set to be released next Tuesday (October 7). But until then, you can listen to it for free on National Public Radio, here. Yep, free. But as I understand it, this only lasts until the official [...]

FREAK Shots: Foie Splurge. My friend who reviews New York City cafes came across this at Bouchon Bakery in the Time Warner Center: Photo: Ana Dane According to Bouchon's website: "Some people wish for their pets to take as much pleasure in food as they themselves do." But are excesses like this actually selling right now? A recent survey by American Express [...]

My Daughter's Reading List. My 8-year-old daughter Amanda has the stack of books on her desk that she plans to read next: The Princess Tales: Princess Sonora and the Long Sleep, by Gail Carson Levine Half Magic, by Edward Eager Magic Tree House: Carnival at Candlelight, by Mary Pope Osborne The Cricket in Times Square, by George Selden The Borrowers, by Mary Norton The Ugly [...]

Is Voting Dangerous for Your Health?. Photo: psd A couple years ago, we wrote a column called "Why Vote?" It didn't advocate for people to not vote; it just argued that, because of the way the world works, there's very little value in a single person's voting. But according to Donald Redelmeier, a professor of medicine at the University of Toronto, voting might [...]

Free Super-Crunching Software. I probably have an unhealthy attraction to the powers of Excel. I taught my daughter how to use it when she was 7. When I teach corporate finance, I try to make sure that my law students come away from the course knowing how to crunch in Excel. It would be embarrassing to teach students [...]

Is the Best Defense a Random Offense?. Last year on this blog, Ian Ayres wondered why, to truly keep their opponents guessing, football teams don't pick plays at random. Two California high school football coaches have taken the thought one step further and randomized the plays themselves - by scrapping the traditional starting formation and making every player a potential receiver (normally, only [...]

You Know It's Bad When There's a Surcharge on Your Cocaine. Photo: mandj98 Surcharges from gasoline-reliant businesses are common when gas prices spike (though prices have dropped slightly recently). But when cocaine dealers begin charging their clients for the gas they need to deliver the drugs, is it an indicator that the situation has become especially dire? Gas surcharges could, however, provide an opportunity for some dealers to [...]

Martin Feldstein on the Financial Crisis. Writing in The Wall Street Journal, highly respected economist Martin Feldstein proposes that the government provide low-interest loans to consumers in return for mortgage debt. These government loans would not be secured by the borrower's home. The loan would need to be paid back even if the home goes into foreclosure and would not [...]

Is JungleSmash the New Madison Avenue?. I love social experiments, and I love how the internet is a force for disintermediation, and I love Mad Men too, so I am really prepared to love JungleSmash as well. JungleSmash is a little experiment from my friend James Altucher, whom I've written about here and here. From JungleSmash James also started Stockpickr.com, the first user-generated [...]

LoJack for Laptops (the Free Version). Photo from the University of Washington. If you're reading this post on a laptop computer, rest easy. Your computer may have just become far less appealing to thieves. The University of Washington has released a free program that will track your laptop if it's stolen. If the program is installed on a computer with a built-in camera, [...]

Voting With Eyeballs. Barry Nalebuff and I just published a column in Forbes proposing a simple way to fund a substantial chunk of the presidential campaigns. It starts with the simple proposition that lots of people watched the political conventions - and eyeballs have value: Photo: net efekt Shortly after the Olympics pulled in an average of 27.5 million viewers [...]