Shekhar Bhatia reports on the latest industry to be outsourced from England to India: Child Birth.

• Couples and singles pay up to £25,000 to have children through surrogate mothers in India.
• Estimates suggests that 2,000 such births happened in 2011.
• The entire industry is estimated by Indian authorities to be worth £1.5 billion each year and is growing rapidly.
• The clinics are unregulated and the legality of the practice is questionable.

To read more about why people are opting to go down this path, the regulations that are being proposed, why trying to get British citizenship is difficult, and the “womb to rent” culture that may spring up, click here.

Source: The Telegraph

Via: Marginal Revolution

Harvard is trying out a program in its business school that is a departure from its usual case study discussions reports John A. Byrne. Highlights of his article include:

• Harvard offered its incoming class of 900 MBA students $3,000 in seed capital to brainstorm business ideas.
• Students then had to develop their ideas and pitch it to other students. A stock exchange was set up where students were given $100,000 of virtual money to invest in the ideas that they thought had potential.
• Teams were then given an opportunity to refine their ideas, and the market was opened up again.
• Those ideas that were received well by this virtual market were then actual projects that the teams pursued.
• One idea had so much potential that the team was able to attract outside investors.
• Some of the ideas include a company that sells premium undergarments for men, and an application that allows Jewish mothers to set their children up for dates.

To read more about what happens to the failed business ideas, why Harvard doesn’t want the next Facebook to come out of this, how much the program costs the school, some of the other ideas that were successful, and how one student was able to make $2.4 million of virtual money click here.

Source: CNN

Via: Newmark’s Door

The World Geography created “a list of countries that are not like other countries.” Some of the highlights include:

• Canada has more than 60% of the world’s lakes. In fact, it has so many that the exact number has never been counted.
• The country of Indonesia is made up of over 17,500 islands. Only 6,000 are inhabited.
• 99% of Libya is a desert – more than any other country in the world.
• Mongolia has the lowest population density with just 4.4 people per square mile.
• Ukraine is the fastest disappearing country – its population is decreasing by 0.8% a year, and between now and 2050 it is expected to lose 28% of its population.

To read many more, and to find out which country has 15% of the world’s coral reefs, which country is in the jungle, the country that is below sea level, the only country-continent in the world, and the country that only gets around a thousand visitors a year, click here.

Source: The World Geography

Via: Newmark’s Door

High Point University has engaged in a daring new initiative to attract students by resembling a theme park and a corporate campus writes Carol Matlack. Highlights of the article include:

• Nido Qubein has led an attempted turnaround of High Point University by leveraging the university’s assets to invest in new infrastructure and thus hopefully buy credibility.
• Less than 10% of the universities in the United States are considered ‘medallion’ institutions. Qubein is not the first to try and buy his way into the club.
• However his method is unique. Rather than using the $700 million to attract top academic talent, Qubein is spending money to add luxuries to the campus in a bid to attract rich students – who can then pay for the luxury amenities.
• Features include schools with marble floors, first-run movie theaters, dorms with plasma-screen televisions and hot tubs.
• Qubein plans a total of $2.1 billion in campus improvements by 2020.
• The university that has now acquired a preppy image offers classes in dressing for job interviews and writing business letters.
• The campus is trying to discourage students from living off-campus by buying all of the off-campus apartments.
• High Point University’s annual operating budget is $77 million but it is estimated to add $418 million every year to the sleepy mill town in which it is located.
• The University has added new majors such as International Relations.
• To attract students High Point University offers scholarships – but only if students and parents visit the university first. The hope is that visitors will be so impressed that they’ll choose to go even if they don’t win the scholarships.

To read about the somewhat suspicious links between High Point University, and Qubein’s own business interests, how his salary has increased, what a tuition at the university looks like, why the success of the university might have come at the expense of black students, how academic standards may have slipped, why piercings and tattoos are discouraged, how flyers are banned, and why Qubein compares his students to Godiva chocolates, click here.

Edit: To read a rebuttal of some of these points please scroll down to the comments below.

Source: BusinessWeek

Via: Marginal Revolution

In his forthcoming book: Unintended Consequences: Why Everything You’ve Been Told About the Economy Is Wrong Edward Conard makes the provocative argument that income inequality is actually a good thing. It’s a book that will likely spark a fair amount of debate as the election season draws near. Adam Davidson had the opportunity to sit with him and discuss his argument. Highlights include:

• Income inequality is a sign of a healthy, functioning economy.
• The super-rich spend only a small proportion of their income on personal comforts. The majority of their money goes into investments.
• Estimates suggest that for every dollar invested, society gains $5, although Conad believes that the ratio is closer to $20:$1.
• Computers, for example, have made their inventors and innovators extremely rich. But they have also greatly benefitted society. Similar stories can be told about a wide range of industries including agriculture.
• Therefore income inequality actually benefits the middle class. If there was even greater income inequality then even more people would be investing and society would come out on top as a whole.

To read a comprehensive criticism of the argument, why this might become the most hated book of the year, what Conrad thinks about Art History majors, why he doesn’t like lawyers, Conrad’s mathematics inspired dating advice, why he thinks that Warren Buffet is stealing from the middle class, and what this all means for the 2012 elections, click here.

Source: New York Times

Via: Marginal Revolution

Nathalie Rothschild described the latest trend in Sweden: Lunch time Rave Parties:

• In 2010 a group of friends decided that they wanted to spend their lunch hour dancing and started doing so in the office garage. Soon more and more people started to join in.
• The movement is now called “Lunch Beat” and can be organized by anybody. Some of the rules include:
  • The event must start promptly at 12 and end at 1.
  • A takeaway meal must be offered and is included in the ticket price.
  • No drugs or alcohol.
• The organizers say that by completely removing employees from the workplace they help employees forget about work and come back refreshed and re-energized.
• Observers say there is no sexual tension at the rave-like events. It is more of a fun alternative to a lunchtime workout.
• Some companies now buy tickets to these events for their employees as a perk.

To read more about what the Lunch Beat events are like, why Sweden is different from Denmark and the Netherlands, the success of a Belgian version of the movement, why participants say they enjoy it, what the Swedish language council has to say about it, and why organizers want dancers not gawkers, click here.

Source: Slate

Audrey Tempelsman explored the growing market for meteorites:

• Starting in the 90s the market price of meteorites began to soar.
• Some attribute this to the rise of the internet and its ability to create online markets that are easily accessible by all.
• Others suggest that value started to rise because there were a string of high-profile auctions and news stories that discussed the stunning amounts that meteorites could sell for.
• Meteorites from Mars can be worth $1,000 a gram. Only 61 out of 41,000 meteorite specimens are from Mars.
• Different countries have different laws about meteorites. In the United States it belongs to the owner of the land where it crashed. In Japan it’s finders-keepers. In India meteorites must be handed over to museums.

To read more about the market for meteorites, the legality of purchasing them, why the Natural History Museum is being left behind, the laws that make Antarctica a good place to hunt for meteorites, the role that NASA plays, and why the “good guys” out in the world are so important, click here.

Source: The Naked Scientists

Via: Marginal Revolution

A lot of contemporary research focuses on how the identity of the CEO affects the direction of a company, writes L.V. Anderson. What do researchers have to say about military CEOs? Highlights of the report include:

• Between 1980 and 2006 30% of CEOs in America’s top companies had some experience with the military. This was primarily because of the draft and the Vietnam and Korean wars.
• Military CEOs are only half as likely to engage in fraud when compared to non-military experience CEOs. This is especially true when pressure is highest and industry profitability is lowest. Civilian CEOs are almost five times more likely to doctor the books then.
• In general companies with military CEOs perform better during harsh economic times.
• However military CEOs perform worse when economic times are good.
• This is perhaps because they are less risk-taking, which, while creating stability, means that they don’t capitalize on opportunities when they come.
• Military CEOs spent up to 20% less on R&D than their civilian counterparts.
• On balance, if you consider both the good and bad years, military CEOs perform slightly worse than civilian ones.

To read many more details including why fraud might just be a burden that society has to bear, the merits of having an MBA, the methodology of the study, some famous case studies, and what business schools should try to foster, click here.

Source: Slate