Centives

The original Cars film had a 74% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, making it the lowest rated Disney Pixar Film. Why then did Pixar choose to make a sequel for Cars instead of the other highly rated films that they’ve produced? It’s because of the merchandizing argue Chmielewski and Keegan at the Los Angeles Times.

While the movie won’t do as well in theaters, it will generate a lot of money in licensing fees from toys and cartoons for Pixar. Read more over here.

Source: LA Times

Time Magazine
reports that Greece, the country that has become the epicenter of the Eurozone austerity crisis, has seen a significant increase in the number of patients seeking psychiatric help. Greece has long prided itself on having the lowest suicide rate in Europe. This may well change with a rise in the number of suicides, mostly focused in Athens, the country’s business center. The article also notes that the stress might not just be due to financial problems brought on by austerity. The blow to the Greek national identity and an international media that has painted Greece as a country full of cheaters has also played a significant role. Read more over here.

Source: Time Magazine

Arstechnica reported on a publication called Journal of Virtual Worlds Research that is focused on understanding the sociology of digital worlds such as World of Warcraft and Second Life.

A few interesting things from Arstechnica’s report include:

• Intimacy formations in real and virtual worlds have striking similarities.
• The National Science Foundation awarded a $100,000 grant for further research in this field.
• The distinction between online and offline socialization isn’t always clear. Instead of choosing to play alone at home players often go to play games at certain cyber cafes where they know there’ll be able to meet all their real world friends.
• Certain cyber cafés in China offer foot massages while gamers continue with their quests.
• World of Warcraft’s total population is twice as large as Scotland’s.

Read the full article to find out more about things such as a Second Life made for the blind and the link between President Obama and gaming ethics.

Source: Arstechnica

Economists have suggested that one way to solve the shortage in organs is to create an open market where buyers and sellers can come together and agree on a price for the organs. It seems that China is seriously considering this idea. While the ethics of such a market are hotly debated Slate notes that other, smaller countries have flirted with compensation – both monetary and otherwise – for organ donation. They include:

• Singapore provides a health care subsidy for individuals who agree to donate their organs
• Israel gives donors priority on the organ donation list if they ever need an organ
• Iran pays cash for to kidney donors

Read more about the efforts of other countries and China’s experiment over here.

Source: Slate

The Economist reported on the strong correlation between the United States’ obesity rate and the distance that an average driver drives. They suggested (with caveats) that the increase in the amount that Americans drive might be causing high obesity rates. Justin Wolfers at Freakonomcis was unsatisfied with this argument and noted that his age was a better explanatory variable for the rise in obesity rates. He went on to argue that the correlation between miles driven and rates of obesity was incidental.

We should get a better sense of whose right in 2014 when America’s obesity rate is predicted to decline (due to a decrease in average miles driven), despite a (predicted) increase in Wolfer’s age.

Source: The Economist, Freakonomics

Focus produced an infographic on the current state of venture capital. Some of the highlights include:

• Internet businesses receive 39% of all venture capital
• Just before the tech bubble burst venture capital funding reached its peak in 2000
• California accounts for 73% of the money invested in green energy solutions

Read more about the advantage that Massachusetts has because of the presence of MIT and Harvard and other interesting things about venture capital here.

Source: Focus

College News recently created a guide for students looking to build their credit score. You can read the entire guide over here. Some tips include:

• Having a strong credit rating is important and the only way to build credit is to use credit.
• Keep your credit balance under 30% of your total credit limit and pay it off on time each month.
• If you know an adult with a good credit rating ask them to co-sign your loan, or get a supplementary credit card from their bank.
• Get a credit card as soon as you turn 21. Banks are more likely to give you one because they assume your parents will rescue you if you are unable to repay your debts. After you graduate banks might be less confident about your prospects in case of a financial emergency.
• Keep a number of different types of loans open.
• Talk to the credit reporting company and have any mistakes fixed immediately.

There are a lot more tips at College News

Source: College News

Economist’s make a distinction between normal goods and inferior goods. Normal goods are the type that you buy more of as you get richer (such as four course meals at the Ritz Carlton) and inferior goods are those that you buy less of as your income increases (think Ramen noodles). So, are kids normal goods or inferior goods? As people get richer do they choose to have more or fewer kids?

Freakonomics concludes that no matter how you look at it, whether by country, or by history, and controlling for factors such as the advent of contraceptives; it is clear that children are an inferior good. You can read their analysis over here.

Source: Freakonomics

The idea that the Fed’s QE2 program has caused a rise in commodity prices has gained a lot of traction in recent times. Marc Chandler on The Street argues otherwise. He notes that commodities are not homogenous and argues that monetary policy is too blunt a tool to explain the different price changes in various commodity indices. Chandler also contends that significant investment actors such as pension funds would not invest in commodities in lieu of corporate bonds or other more traditional investment vehicles. Finally he suggests that a depreciated dollar caused by the Fed’s unprecedented policies is not causing the higher prices seen at home. He cites the unstable correlation between commodity prices and fluctuations in currency values as evidence for that argument. Read his entire article here.

Source: The Street

In this article Bill Ridgers discusses some of the strange things that affect the types of decisions we make. Some interesting points include:

• There is evidence to suggest that we make better decisions if we have really full bladders
• Judges are more likely to grant a pardon to an individual if they have just eaten a full meal, rather than if they are at the end of their sessions.
• What an interviewer is holding can affect how well the interview progresses. If an interviewer is holding a heavy clipboard then they are likely to view the job applicant as having more gravitas. If they are holding a lighter clipboard then they’re more likely to view the job candidate as flaky.
• Sitting on a hard chair while negotiating the price of a car will make you negotiate harder.
• You’re more likely to associate a person with warmth if you’re holding a warm drink in your hand when you meet them instead of a cold drink.
• Sleep deprivation makes you more of a risk taker

Read the article for more.

Source: Intelligent Life Magazine

Via: Freakonomics