Centives

The Economist looked at the market for cross border election consulting:

• Expert pollsters, strategists, and media analysts are hired by candidates in large countries to help them win elections.
• However when the home country is going through a lull in between elections these same experts market themselves to countries abroad.
• The trade flows both ways between developed and developing countries. South American experts have helped American candidates appeal to Hispanic voters.
• At times you can tell a lot about a candidate based on the type of experts they hire. Pro-Russian candidates in ex-Soviet countries prefer Russian consultants, while their opposition usually prefer American ones.
• At times foreign consultants can be seen as unpatriotic – perhaps this is why Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu hinted that American forces were trying to unseat him in Israel’s most recent election.
• What he failed to mention was that American strategists had also been hired by his party to help (successfully) win the campaign.

Read why Boris Yeltsin had to go through his daughter to get campaign advice, how consultants helped Hugo Chavez win Venezuelan elections despite his cancer diagnosis, how Americans are influencing Britain’s upcoming election, and more over here.

Source: The Economist

The authors of Into the Black: The Inside Story of Metallica, 1991-2014 provided some insights about the metal band’s finances in an interview with Jamie Blaine:

• In the book the authors write that since the year 2010 the band has likely lost more money than it has made.
• This is in part due to the Orion Music + More travelling musical festival set up by the band, which ended up being a financial disaster.
• They also worked on a movie, Metallica – Through the Never. The cost of making it ballooned to $32 million and it is thought to have recouped just a fraction of that.
• Keeping in mind the costs of staff, crew, and other expenses, the band has probably spent more than it has earned.
• The band likely tours Europe in the summers more out of the necessity to earn a few (million) bucks than by choice.

Read more of the interview to get a deeper insight into the band, its history, and its future here.

Source: The Weeklings

Via: Supajam, Ultimate Guitar

Scott Mayerowitz explained the importance of model airplanes in the airline industry:

• Models of commercial airplanes – typically between one and two feet long – are used to initiate sales conversations or close deals.
• They can pique the interest of the buyer. Executives will go in to make a sale with high quality models of the planes they’re trying to sell.
• They’ll then leave the planes with the potential target as they’re more memorable than simple business cards, and unlike other gifts, usually are displayed prominently instead of locked in a closet.
• Airbus, one of the two leading aircraft manufacturers, took in orders for about 1,500 airplanes last year and ordered 30,000 models of its aircraft.
• The models first became popular after World War 2 when companies tried to encourage travelers to try flying on an airplane.
• The models – often with an interior cut out – helped potential passengers understand what the flying experience would be like.
• One major company sells models costing up to $1,500 each. All in all it sells 15,000 models, generating revenues of $10 million a year.

Read more about the practice, see some photos showing how the models are made, and find out other details here.

Source: Associated Press

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