Perhaps a nice weekend stop on the continent. The Town Where European Parliament Waste and Dysfunction Will Get You A Bargain Vacation (Slate)
Category: Economics
Efficiency wages extraordinaire
Wonderful example of efficiency wages’ need for worse alternatives. How Costco saves taxpayers money (Fortune) Although that’s not the point of the story, it is rich with detail.
Myanmar’s money
Links to stories from Planet Money, with parallel quotes from Lonely Planet’s Practical travel information on Money and costs in Myanmar/Burma. Why (Almost) No One In Myanmar Wanted My Money “Some hotels, shops and government ferry clerks give change in…
Beards, Dilbert, and economists
It’s not just a rant about the Congressional appointee approval process, but a carefully description of our representatives’ limited understanding of economics. When a Nobel Prize Isn’t Enough (NYTimes) Hat tip to Jodi Beggs—the source if this post’s title as…
The show goes on
Live performances that hold up well also — do well! The Show Goes On (The Economist)
Long-term unemployment: new insight
New results in the cottage industry of sending out fake resumes (not just labor, but macro, too). A Hire Truth (Tim Harford) Is there a profit opportunity here? Or might the market know best?
Golden Balls, Split-or-Steal, and other TV games
Some of the best game shows come from the U.K., don’t they? Golden Balls, Game Theory, … (scroll down to read the earlier post first) Notice the differences between this game and the Prisoners’ Dilemma. Additional reading, culled quickly: Split or…
TED & TEDx
“As humans, we want to be perfect and in control. We like knowing more than we enjoy learning.” When TED Lost Control of Its Crowd (HBR)
Revenue sharing
It may seem like the ultimate in incentive-based, market-driven compensation, but it’s really an intriguing example of communal action. Why we pay all our employees a share of revenue (HBR) There should be rampant free-riding, but it appears to be…
Blogging for a living
“Andrew Sullivan the blogger now has an incentive to write posts that work for Andrew Sullivan the businessman.” Andrew Sullivan Is Doing Fine (Planet Money)