ATMs making bank tellers obsolete is thought by some to be a foretelling of a grim future where humans find that they can no longer compete with machines for jobs. Turns out that ATMs haven’t actually been that bad for bank tellers, according to Timothy Taylor:

• After ATMs arrived the number of bank tellers actually slightly increased.
• This was in part because with ATMs banks could have a greater number of smaller branches. While each branch didn’t employ many tellers, the greater number of branches boosted the overall employment figures.
• Bank tellers also evolved to provide higher value services such as solving financial problems, creating demand for a new type of employee.
• This example indicates that instead of worrying about a lack of jobs in the future, we should actually be worried about people not having the skills for the types of jobs that will be created in the Second Machine Age.

See a chart showing how the number of tellers and ATMs have changed through the years, what we should make of all this, and more over here.

Source: Conversable Economist

Via: Marginal Revolution

Allison Elkin wrote about the next frontier for online adult entertainment: product placement.

• With the rise of free online video sharing sites, creators of adult videos have found it increasingly difficult to make money.
• Now those in the industry are finding that they can increase revenue by promoting brands.
• One sugar-daddy dating site used adult video stars to endorse their site. They also appointed an experienced adult video actress to run the company.
• Other videographers have found that there’s demand to include branded cigarettes, lubricants, condoms, and, in one case, an energy drink.

Read more about the shift here.

Source: Vice

Juliet Eilperin wrote about the statements that American Presidents release commemorating the dead:

• There are no formal rules to who a President does and doesn’t honour upon their passing.
• Reagan, for example, limited his accolades to individuals who had held office, and the Hollywood figures he had personally known.
• Obama is freer with his statements, frequently recognizing cultural leaders such as Leonard Nimoy, Star Trek’s Spock.
• Analysis shows that over a quarter of the dead that Obama has recognized were African American. As a proportion the second George Bush recognized less than half as many.
• Obama has also released more statements upon the passing of Latinos, Asian Americans, and Native Americans.
• George Bush, in contrast, was more likely to commemorate religious leaders, dignitaries, and even Presidential pets.
• The statements themselves are often written by aides, but the President will often review, perhaps edit, and then sign off on them.
• The messages are rarely written in advance. Each death leads to a scramble to put some words together.
• At times there is confusion over whether or not the President should say something. Bill Clinton ultimately decided to say nothing upon the passing of Kurt Cobain, afraid that doing so could spur copycat suicides.

The full article includes many more details including how Nixon’s death was approached, interesting figures that have been recognized by Presidents past and present, and other fascinating tidbits of information. You should read it here.

Source: The Washington Post

John Surico looked at how psychics stay in business in some of the most expensive neighbourhoods in New York City:

• Psychics charge anywhere between $25 for ten minutes of reading to $300 an hour.
• Their business model is set up to entice you into asking for additional insights – requiring additional money.
• The psychics also seem to benefit from repeat customers who come to find out more about their future.
• A client might also be enticed back by the offer of a different set of services – the reading of tarot cards, instead of palm reading, for example.
• Interviews indicate that some psychics – which are predominantly female – are supported by the main breadwinner’s of the family.
• Others seem to have day jobs that they primarily focus on, using psychic readings as a source of side income.
• Masters of the occult seem to thrive in times of war and economic depression. People want reassurance about their future, or they want investment tips from those who may have the sight.

Surico visited multiple psychics to form his insights. You can find more descriptions of what he found here.

Source: Vice

Greece has a tax evasion problem, and while many think of it as a problem within the elite oligarchy, the upper middle class contributes helps drive it wrote Mike Bird:

• Generally banks set up loans so that an individual would spend no more than 30% of their monthly income paying that them back.
• In Greece the average is 82%.
• For some professional classes such as lawyers, doctors, or those that provide financial services, more than 100% of reported income is spent paying back loans.
• This is largely because reported income is falsely under-stated to reduce income taxes.
• Banks know this, and when deciding whether or not to give out loans, they have models to take into account an individual’s job and their reported income. They can then calculate their probable actual income.

Read more about the problem of tax evasion in Greece here.

Source: Business Insider

Via: Marginal Revolution

Phil Edwards looked at how the folks behind the Guinness Book of World Records are changing how they do business:

• 20% of Guinness’ revenues now come from “consulting services”.
• What this means is that it helps companies come up with records they can break and then sends over judges to adjudicate. The resulting media attention is worth several hundreds of thousands of dollars.
• The book’s parent company has also experimented with museums similar to those that house the exhibits from Ripley’s Believe It or Not!
• Changes in business strategy are being driven in part by the decline of the book industry – although 1 million books outlining the latest records are still sold every year.
• There is also increased competition, from sites like RecordSetter where people can make and break their own records.

Read about how The Guinness Book of World Records has become a bastion of native advertising, why many of its records are tailor made for internet culture, and more over here.

Source: Vox

Jeremy Kahn delved into the fascinating Chinese pigeon racing scene:

• China’s rich are taking an interest in the sport. Pigeons start hundreds of kilometers away with an electronic device. The pigeon with the highest average speed – not the one who makes it to the finish line first – wins.
• A win can mean a prize of up to €2.5 million.
• 10% of pigeons don’t make it through the race due to predatory hawks, and pirates that wait along the race route to capture the birds and resell or ransom them.
• Scandal erupted in one race after a bird tested positive for performance enhancing drugs including cocaine.
• The sport is so popular that one Chinese businessman paid a record €310,000 for a pigeon.
• While fast the pigeon is far too valuable to race. Instead its main purpose is now to breed and create the next generation of racing pigeons.

Read what animal rights activists have to say, which country produces the best pigeons, how to tell if a pigeon will be fast, and more over here.

Source: Bloomberg

Cracked took a look at some unexpected origin stories:

• Cosmopolitan magazine started off as a conservative magazine aimed at families. Editor Helen Brown turned it into the sexually liberal publication that we all know today in the 60s.
• Shell, the oil company, got its start literally selling decorative sea shells.
• The Secret Service – the agency currently charged with protecting the President of the United States – was created to fight counterfeit money. A host of assassinations convinced the government that they needed them to protect the President instead.
• The stock market got its start in coffee houses, which were popular gathering places for rich businessmen.

Read other origin stories, and more history behind each of them, here.

Source: Cracked