Warren Buffett recently said that the U.S. government should raise the taxes of the wealthiest Americans. Obviously, Warren Buffett is one of the more famous members of this group as he often appears near the top of world’s richest people lists. One may expect that the reaction by others to this remark would be positive as he is offering to give up more of his own money. However, the reaction by many members of the media has been to criticize him. This response seems curious as it appears that Warren Buffett is acting unselfishly. So what do you think of Warren Buffett’s suggestion? Is he acting unselfishly or is there some hidden motive?

Source: Freakonomics Blog

The American Kennel Club is claiming that the recession has caused a dognapping wave in the U.S. They have reported 224 stolen pets so far as opposed to 150 at the same time last year. However, it would seem that a recession would give people a reason not to own a dog rather than to steal one. Dogs can cost money to care for, something more difficult to find in a recession. In addition, it can also be very low-cost or even free to adopt or buy a new pet, which raises the question of why someone would risk stealing a dog rather than legally obtaining one. Therefore, you have to question how these statistics are found because they seem to go against economic theory, but nonetheless it makes for an interesting story.

Source: Slate

Allison Linn at Life Inc recently looked at how devastating a hurricane is compared to other forms of natural disasters. She concludes that “Americans should be bracing…a costly clean-up bill.” Some of the more interesting points from her analysis include:

• Hurricanes are the most expensive type of disaster. Over the past twenty years, natural disasters have seen insurance companies pay out $349.3 billion. About half of that ($153.7 billion) consists of claims directly relating to hurricanes.
• Tornadoes come second.
• Hurricanes cause so much damage because they affect such a wide area.

Source: Life Inc.

LetGive, a company that fuses together mobile technology and charitable activities has released an app for the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch that pledges $0.25 to charity every time you hit snooze on your alarm. It’s an excellent way to use economic incentives to help you get out of bed in the morning. You can find it over here.

Source: LetGive

Via: Mashable, Freakonomics

Should all employee wages be made public? Daniel Indiviglio at The Atlantic considered some of the issues involved.

• Salary transparency in some groups but not others might lead to greater income inequality. The rationale is that those that have perfect information about each other’s income compare themselves to each other and expect salaries that are higher than their peers.
• Pay transparency might also encourage those who make lower than average salaries to go out and search for better jobs.
• Salary transparency might not always be legal.

To read more about internet solutions to the problem as well as California’s experience with full income disclosure laws click here.

Source: The Atlantic

Via: Marginal Revolution

As the price of gold continues to climb higher and higher (as investors continue to seek safety from the markets), it is having the effect of increasing crimes targeted at acquiring gold. This is a somewhat predictable development as thieves are obviously drawn to things of value and as the value of one thing rises, it can usually be expected that thieves will begin to target it more. Already, 110 instances of gold chains being stolen have been reported in one part of Los Angeles. Oakland has reported similar behavior. In addition, jewelry shops have experienced an increased number of break-ins in L.A. This trend hasn’t only been experienced in the U.S. either. Iraq also had some high profile gold heists and gold miners in Guyana have been killed as well. Will these kinds of crimes decrease when gold loses some of its value? Or will the price of gold just keep setting new records? Obviously, we can hope that these crimes will come to an end, but in the meantime, it may be a good idea to keep that gold in a safe place!

Source: Freakonomics Blog

It appears that the old business model for quality TV shows is coming to an end. As the article notes, there was a time when network television dominated and had the highest quality programing. However, the times changed and the pay-TV model took over. This model, known as cable, gave rise to some of the most popular shows on television such as “The Sopranos” on HBO. However, this model is now appearing outdated with the advent of Hulu, Netflix, Amazon and the many places people go to on the internet to watch their favorite shows. So what may happen in the future? What will these companies have to do to continue making money to pay for quality TV shows? The answer to that question is unclear, but it may include individual channels marketing themselves rather than relying on cable distribution companies doing this for them. Viewers want more control and options over what they watch and how companies respond to this could be very interesting.

Source: The Economist

During the past recession, many people worked less hours due to either unemployment or underemployment. So what did they do with that extra free time? Well, it appears that they used it mostly for leisure activities. It was allocated to sleeping more than anything (20%). Other leisure activities was a close second (15%) and watching TV was also near the top of the list (12%). There were also some interesting differences between men and women. Men spent 19% of their extra free time watching TV while women only spent 13% of their time doing so. Women also spent more time catching up on sleep than men (24% to 12%).

Source: Freakonomics Blog