Eric Scheske

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Economics

Thrashing Barbie

Mildly interesting study: > Barbie, that plastic icon of girlhood fantasy play, is routinely tortured by children, research has found. > The methods of mutilation are varied and creative, ranging from scalping to decapitation, burning, breaking and even microwaving, according to academics from the University of Bath. > The findings

Virtual Economy

The Economist takes a look at the on-line gaming world that has spawned a real world economic sector. Link [http://www.economist.com/books/displaystory.cfm?story_id=5300059]. Excerpt: > Millions of people now spend several hours a week immersed in “massively multiplayer online role-playing games” (MMORPGs). These are

Good News for Me

> In the era of the $10-plus movie ticket and $3,000-a- month studio apartment, it was inevitable: A top-notch lawyer is charging $1,000 an hour. > Benjamin Civiletti, who served as attorney general under President Jimmy Carter, is the first lawyer known to reach the four-digit hourly rate,

Credit Street

The New York Times points out this morning [http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/11/national/11credit.html?hp&ex=1134363600&en=ab89cbe431f36eb0&ei=5094&partner=homepage] that people who file for bankruptcy are inundated with credit card offers (it's always been this way,

Lotto Winnings Buy A Lot of Pabst

The boorish person who earns a lot of money doesn't become demure. In fact, he becomes more boorish. Likewise, the low class person who wins the lottery stays low class and, it appears, becomes even more low class. NYT Link [http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/05/national/

Detroit in Even Bigger Trouble?

Sebastian Mallaby at WaPo says India and other formerly-third world countries are ready to jump into the automobile market [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/04/AR2005120401094.html] . Can our car makers continue to pay factory workers $30 an hour and executives tens of millions? > In

Revisited Yet Again: Does Abortion Reduce Crime?

The debate about correlation between abortion and crimes continues. This time, in the Wall Street Journal [http://online.wsj.com/public/article_print/SB113314261192407815-R9vuq3EXAQIdQHvUx9yXwYodMXo_20061128.html] : > The "Freakonomics" chapter on abortion grew out of statistical studies Mr. Levitt and a co-author, Yale Law School Prof. John Donohue,

Bush Goes to Commie Church

> In his first public appearance, even before the welcoming ceremony at the Great Hall of the People, Bush attended a service at a state-sanctioned Protestant church to send a message about free expression of faith in a country that harshly smothers it. The president has been offended by the

The American Dream

NYT has a good piece about all those self-help be-a-millionaire books that have been flooding the market for years [http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/12/business/12money.html]. Under the article lies the fundamental strength and weakness of America: its obsession with money. It builds our economy and tears

The Anti-Debt Crusader

NYT writes about a radio personality worth hearing [http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/30/magazine/30phenom.html?pagewanted=1]: > Well before the new bankruptcy law that went into effect on Oct. 17 made it harder for most Americans to wipe out credit-card debt, [Dave] Ramsey was waging a