Where are all the Asian ladies?

A nice example of applied economics making a difference. The issue (and the title of the article) is: What happened to 100 million missing Women? In Asian countries the ratio of men to women is much higher than it is elsewhere. The existing evidence, presented by economist Anartya Sen, indicated that it was a cutlural phenomena - these countries were mistreating their lady friends. But was it culture or (also) something else?

Excerpt from the article:

Sen had used the measurement tools of economics to uncover a jarring mystery and to accuse a culprit-misogyny. But now another economist has reached a startlingly different conclusion. Emily Oster is an economics graduate student at Harvard who started running regression analyses when she was 10 (both her parents are economists) and is particularly interested in studying disease. She first learned of the 'missing women' theory while she was an undergraduate. Then one day last summer, while doing some poolside reading in Las Vegas-the book was Baruch Blumberg's Hepatitis B: The Hunt for a Killer Virus-she discovered a strange fact. In a series of small-scale medical studies in Greece, Greenland, and elsewhere, researchers had found that a pregnant woman with hepatitis B is far more likely to have a baby boy than a baby girl. It wasn't clear why-it may be that a female fetus is more likely to be miscarried when exposed to the virus.

Read the rest. It is a fascinating article. Link

To love, honour and overrate

New research in psychology has uncovered what appears to be a self-deception mechanism that lies behind "successful marriages." An excerpt:

The secret, it seems, is to see your partner as a lot nicer than he or she really is.

The latest research, just about to be published in the academic journal Social Behaviour and Personality, measures a phenomenon referred to as "marital aggrandisement".

Marital aggrandisement entails an idealised appraisal of one's spouse and marriage to the exclusion of any negative beliefs and perceptions. Those who aggrandise their marriages tend to endorse items on personality tests that are extremely unlikely to be completely true, for example, "My spouse doesn't make me angry" or "I do not recall arguments with my spouse".

I wonder how they identify/define a "successful marriage"? Anyone who says their spouse doesn't make them angry or that they don't recall an argument with their spouse is NOT deceiving themselves; deception, I would think, requires a more subtle distinction. So, if the article accurately characterizes the study, it would seem that it captures a correlation between one's willingness to blatantly lie about something fundamental in their marriage and the "success" of their marriage. Link

Update: results of a similarly noteworthy study are summarized here.

Hannah Margo

It is official: Larry Margolis is a dad! His daughter, Hannah, arrived Weds. afternoon. The mother (sorry, I'm not good with names) is fine. For the unaware, thats a picture of Nancy, Larry's mom, whom I have not seen in ages. Doesn't she look great.

In U.S. Report, Brutal Details of 2 Afghan Inmates' Deaths

This profoundly sad and disturbing story begins as follows:

Even as the young Afghan man was dying before them, his American jailers continued to torment him.

and only gets progressively worse. Link

Now thats a fire

Its that time of year again, and this guy offers some useful advice: "Everything You Thought You Knew About Grilling Is Wrong."

All I need now is a functioning grill. (hint: June 24 is fast approaching!)

Tropical storm headed straight for Cayman

Here we go again:

Two weeks before the start of the official 2005 hurricane season, it seems that Mother Nature is no respecter of man-made calendars as Tropical Storm Adrian, which formed in the Pacific on Tuesday, moves on an unusual track, taking it across Central America and into the northwest Caribbean.

Normally systems in the eastern Pacific are of no concern to the Caribbean, but this one is unusual because Pacific storms generally move west-northwest, according to hurricane specialist Richard Pasch at the National Hurricane Center in Miami.

Link

Update: This is what CI gov says..No Threat.

Countach this? Well, yes, Euge you can!

Can you see Euge and Marty B rolling in a
Lamborghini Countach 5000QV? No, me neither.

However, from an affordability standpoint, its not per se out of the question. Check this out: Exotic cars for the average guy!

The Wallace Wall

This time is was Ben that stepped up. The Free Press sums up the game last night:

It was just one game, but it sure was a beating.

Twas indeed. Link

Hail 'Sheed!

Pistons take game four to even up the series at two apiece. Back to the Palace for game 5.

Wallace had his best game of this best-of seven series, scoring 17 points, grabbing 12 rebounds and blocking five shots and helping the Pistons to the predicted victory over the Pacers at Conseco Fieldhouse, 89-76.

I wonder if this psychology (of calling your shot) really has an effect, or whether its, you know, shitalk? Link

Becker-Posner Blog

I'll spare you the details on why I think the blog by econ prof/nobelist Gary Becker and Judge/law prof Richard Posner is required reading. Instead the short answer. For starters, don't let the law and economics discussions distract you. In my opinion, one need not care about such things to enjoy their writing. If you enjoy keen insight, then I think you're set; this is a blog worth reading.

Based on my observation, the key to smarts is insight and if you don't believe me, Becker and Posner will convince you. What I mean by insight is an ability to draw a clear, and even obvious, distinction from something that is previously unclear. Case in point is a post by Gary Becker on plagiarism. The following appears in the opening paragraph:

Plagiarism is the reverse of counterfeiting activities. Plagiarists try to take credit for the work of others, while counterfeiters credit others for their own work.

It may not be an important point, but it is a clever insight nonetheless. Link

Update: I've been corrected. The blog is NOT sufficiently insightful to compensate for its droll econ and law bla bla. I agree. Despite its immense insightfulness, you do need at least a modicum of interest in econ and law to enjoy it.

"Competition: An Inspirational Marketing Tool," by Eric Waarts

I have not read the article in its entirety, so I cannot yet comment on it's substance. But I do enjoy the opening quotation in the paper:

Two hunters are walking in a forest, when they suddenly come face to face with a savage, hungry-looking bear. One of the hunters quickly puts on a pair of sneakers, whereupon the other hunter asks, ‘Why are you doing that? The bear can outrun us anyway, can’t he?’ To which the first hunter replies,‘But I don’t have to run faster than the bear, I only have to run faster than you!’

Does not this effectively capture the important incentive properties of competition, and the abject amorality of these incentives? No wonder they call economics the dismal science. Link

Warsh on JBC 2005 winner Daron Acemoglu

Three weeks ago Acemoglu was named winner of the John Bates Clark Medal, awarded every two years to the American economist under 40 judged to have made the greatest contribution to economics. David Warsh offers a nice discussion of his work, in a user friendly (non-economist) sort of way. Link

Excerpt:

The committee that gave the 38-year-old Acemoglu the Clark medal last week described him as "extremely broad and productive," noting that in the course of a dozen years he had made significant contributions to the study of labor markets before moving on to "especially innovative" ideas about the role of institutions in development and political economy.

Extremely productive, indeed. But it is the quality of his production that is amazing. As a proxy on quality, check out this list of his publications and note (not just the volume) but the Journals where his work appears. For the uninitiated, simply count the number that appear in the Quarterly Journal of Economics. Three or four in this journal over a career is impressive.

Band Banned From Performing 'Louie Louie'

Dad will be chagrined to learn that his beloved song "Louie, Louie" has been stricken from a Benton Harbor middle school's band play list. Fortunately, he will have his CD collection of various Louie, Louie renditions to fall back on. Link.

The article concludes with an interesting factoid that I bet Euge was not even aware of: "...the FBI spent two years investigating the lyrics before declaring they not only were not obscene but also were 'unintelligible at any speed.'"

Two guys arrested on obscenity charges for building giant snow cock in their front yard

There are some interesting legal issues here, and no, this is not an article from the Onion.
Link

Update: to satiate Allison's curiosity, behold...

Are mothers underappreciated?

This article by Achenbach in last Sunday's WaPo is very funny. Its about his experiences following his wife's departure on a week-long vacation. I must confess, I relate to some (not all!) of what he says, which is in fact a compliment to Steph. With a tenure of less than five years, I'd say Steph has come close to mastering homemakery. Anyway, here are two humorous excerpts:

About halfway through my tenure, I discovered that the objects strewn all over the house had failed to move. They were stunningly inertial. What had been cast down on Sunday remained there on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday. Since the children were never going to pick anything up, I realized that it was up to me to learn once and for all how to ignore the debris.
...
By Friday I noticed that the clothes weren't laundered. The laundry has always been done on a regular basis. It's not entirely clear how that happens. I open drawers and find clean clothes, neatly folded. I'm pretty sure this is all done through miracle fibers. You wear a garment, toss it in the hamper, and the miracle fiber apparently manages to clean itself and fold itself and then transport itself back to your drawer. But the system broke down, the fibers stopped working, and the kids complained about the lack of clean clothes. I told them (as any sane parent would) to fetch clothes out of the hamper.

Report: U.S. Foreign Policy Hurting American Students' Chances Of Getting Laid Abroad

Nuf sed. Link

Detroit up 3-1, back home for game 5

Pistons get it done, thanks to Wallace and Billups down the stretch. It is kind of interesting to note the different emphasis on who was the real hero. Albom says it was Wallace (Link). While Reuters and NYT say it was Billups (Link to NYT article). Either way, Albom sums it up nicely:

Billups and Wallace are the kind of players that make Detroit so dangerous, because they keep a pilot light going even on off-nights, and all you need to do is throw the switch, even late, and ... whummmph!

While exciting, I wish they'd throw that switch a little earlier in the game. Lets see if they close the series tomorrow night.