Gawker
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freakoutnomics
Fear 'The Swedish Model'
Oh no! Not the Swedish model! Look carefully at that terrifying blue and yellow Nordic Cross; it is our generation's hammer and sickle. More »
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By PareeneComment by BookishLookish: The food in Sweden is very good. Also, Pareene, you had the chance to show us some half-naked boys (which your... 11 Responses | Other threads
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freakoutnomics
Madoff's Most Fashionable Victim
Robert Jaffe, a VP at Cohmad Securities who hooked up Palm Beach socialites to Bernie Madoff's awesome investment scheme, was a fashionable gentleman—"at one time named [high-end clothier] Louis Boston’s best customer," reports WWD. Now?
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By SheilaComment by Hydroceph: I love snappy leather wingtips. Does this mean i'm lying? 4 Responses | Other threads
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freakoutnomics
Did Facebook cause the New Depression?
Want a scapegoat for the economic crisis? Mark Zuckerberg looks pretty good right now. Facebook's young CEO dreams of a world where we instantly know each others' emotions. To our peril, we're already pretty close.
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By Owen Thomas
Comment by abmw: I went on a date to Big Sur - it was to be our first overnight encounter. I remember a... 2 Responses | Other threads
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freakoutnomics
Why Walmart won't ruin the iPhone
Remember how Oprah once threatened to ruin the life of novelist Jonathan Franzen by selecting his book for her club and thereby making him lots and lots of money? Walmart might do the same to Apple's iPhone!
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By Owen ThomasComment by CaptainFantastic: It's been a while since iPhones were upscale. 2 Responses | Other threads
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rhetoric
Democrats Deceiving America With "Words"
America hated the first "bailout," according to pollsters. Until pollsters described it without using the term "bailout," which made Americans much more supportive of it. So Barack Obama's multi-billion dollar economy-saving expenditure plans were soon referred to as "stimulus packages," which connotes happy visions of Bush sending everyone checks for a few hundred bucks. But now that isn't good enough for whiny Americans either! So please enjoy your economic recovery program, everyone! More »
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By PareeneComment by BadUncle: "Stimulus Package" sounds like a polite euphemism for a French tickler. 2 Responses | Other threads
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sex wars
Gigolos Doing Better than Mistresses During Recession
Now that you're just rich instead of super-rich, you're gonna find out if your mistress really loves you. Will she stick around even if you can't keep her in the manner to which she is accustomed? The WSJ cited a new survey [of 191 people worth over $20 mil] in which "more than 80% of multimillionaires who had extra-marital lovers planned to cut back on their gifts and allowances... only 12% of the multimillionaire cheaters said they plan to give up on their lovers altogether for financial reasons." The survey also showed that rich ladies are less likely to cut back or drop their lovers than rich men, even when they're losing money. This is another example of What It Really Means In America As Told To Some Narrow Niche Of Society.
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By SheilaComment by SisterMaryMartha: Note to men planning to downsize altogether. She was never your lover if you were paying for it. 5 Responses | Other threads
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art
Metallica Drummer and His Basquiat Save Christie's
The art world is suffering from diminished expectations for the obvious reasons. At last night's Christie's auction, their much-vaunted Francis Bacon work "Study for Self-Portrait"—estimated to go for $40 mil—didn't sell. In fact, nobody even bid, the NYT reported. It was like an Ebay auction from hell! (Last May, a Bacon sold for a $86 mil.) Thank goodness for Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich and his precious Basquiat. His painting, Untitled (Boxer) sold for $13.5 million to a mysterious phone bidder. The New York Observer pointed out last week that Ulrich wanted to sell it for between $12 and $16 mil and didn't even ask for a guarantee; the painting was "bought in 1999 for just a couple million dollars." Oh, and Lehman CEO Dick Fuld didn't get as much as he wanted for the sale of his drawings collection. Tough luck—try Ebay. More »
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By SheilaComment by anonymousryan: Is it just me, or does anyone else hate 1980s New York art? Basquiat and especially Haring just really annoy... 15 Responses | Other threads
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books
Novelist Keith Gessen Totally Schools Us on the Ruble
Oy, chto budet! Sad young literary novelist Keith "Konstya" Gessen, self-exiled to his motherland of Russia, usually confines his rantings to n+1, little-read novels that we make fun of, and his Tumblr. But today, he wrote a Diary column about how the financial crisis is affecting Russia for the London Review of Books. And guess what—we can't even tease him for being pompous and self-important, as is the custom, because we know nothing about how the financial crisis affects Russia. So! We'll publish an excerpt, snark-free, because although we might have an understanding of advanced capitalism as it relates to blog networks or diminished tipping at strip clubs and dive bars, we have no idea about the ruble. Keith, consider this your lucky day. More »
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By SheilaComment by RoosiDesi: Well, considering that I've been living in Russia for a while now, I should pitch in: 1. Moscow is NOT Russia.... 2 Responses | Other threads
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freakoutnomics
Financial Crisis a Boon to the Quack Professions
Ever get so desperate that you'll visit a psychic or voodoo lady to divine a money ritual? (There was once an unfortunate incident with a santeria priest in Brooklyn that we won't get into here....) It's not just for working-stiff Take Five players and superstitious viejas anymore. Professionals are obviously freaking about market turmoil, and many are visiting hypnotists, says the WSJ. Previously, the Journal (reported by Mary Pilon, our former pie-charting Intern Mary) said: "Yesterday I spoke with a stockbroker who has been running six miles a day. Another is popping aspirin. Some are slinking to happy hour after closing bell." So here's one market that's experiencing a recession boon: hypnotists, psychics, and other snake-oil salesmen: More »
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By SheilaComment by lawyergay: Today, I visited the eerie and macabre lair of a quack professional known as a caseworker in the Massachusetts Department... 13 Responses | Other threads
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freakoutnomics
Gawker Moe Looks So Much Happier Now That She's Been Laid Off!
Sometimes, don't you wish you didn't have to get out of bed every morning, and could just wander the city all day, window shopping and drinking at whatever goddamned hour you choose? Time Out has a roundup about where recently laid-off media and finance proles go to drink, and they featured our former writer, the totally unjustly fired Moe. Look how happy and healthy she looks in the photo, due not to some South Beach vacation but from being away from the cancerous glow of her computer screen and the repetitive-stress injuries of typeblogging. It's almost enough to make us want to get fired. More »
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By SheilaComment by BullfightsOnAcid: I'm going to say it since everyone else is thinking it. That's Tori Spelling. 10 Responses | Other threads
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layoff horror stories
Tales from the Unemployment Line
If there's anything more random and inane than work, it's the very randomness and inanity in which we are laid off and/or fired from our jobs. Today is the third installment of Layoff Horror Stories (send yours, or your tales of unemployment-related ennui and depression, to tips@gawker.com—have you put on pants today?) We're about to hear from someone who was informed of their downsizing by the office building's doorman, a layoff that ended up in "one giant ass-fuck, basically," and listen to a rumor that some Conde Nasties have recently resigned themselves to freelancing... web freelancing.
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By SheilaComment by subpar: Can someone write about how the Bloods are going to slash my face this Halloween? For serious. Is it initiation... 7 Responses | Other threads
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layoff horror stories
"And Now I'm a Receptionist" (You're Fired)
Good morning! In the midst of recovering from the Dow's freakoutpanicmeltdown ("This recession is already deeper than the 2001 downturn," intones today's Times), we have another round of layoff... horror stories. There's a "classic banking fuckup" that almost ended in a "trading floor riot," a post-9/11 husband-and-wife double-whammy, and a person who has been downsized three times in eleven months. In other words, "Last year's [company] holiday card required the removal of 13; this year it's 15." More »
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By SheilaComment by overunderover: I was once unceremoniously canned (perp walk and everything!) from a mid-six figure position, premised on my political affiliation, though... 9 Responses | Other threads
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media
The Media Gods Are Angry
We called it the Great Magazine Die-Off, but it is the work of an angry Media God. We should take this time to reflect what we have done to irritate him so, for He is smiting us, laying off people in great multitudes, and killing magazines. He's about to pair us up two-by-two and load us all onto a big boat (the seas of the Internet?), so that he can flood the media and destroy it in order to save it. Radar was the sacrificial lamb, and we hope that He accepted that sacrifice—but let's be honest, CosmoGirl and 02138 deserved to die. (Was it advertorials? Is He mad about advertorials?) We can only hope that the great flood that is now upon us will wash away the media-sin, and desperately try to cling to the ark. After 150 days, we'll wait for a dove to return with an olive branch in its beak. We're hoping the bird won't have the face of Arianna Huffington—or the mark of the Daily Beast.
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By SheilaComment by BookishLookish: Sheila, since you employed the Noah's ark/antediluvian metaphor, does that mean we only need to save TWO crap-ass women's fashion... 6 Responses | Other threads
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freakoutnomics
The Recession Hits Home
This is from dating columnist and startup Nonsociety lifestreamer Julia Allison's Twitter. Welcome to how the other half lives! (Her salary at Star last year was $100K—just so you know.)
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By SheilaComment by Unfun: Color me surprised that their derivative website featuring only their insufferable selves is not getting sufficient funding in this day... 14 Responses | Other threads
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art
Teetering World Market Somehow Affects Multimillion-dollar Art
Surprise! In response to the recent financial panicmeltdowncrash, people are being more cautious about spending millions of dollars on works of art. It's not a disaster yet—although sales were slow and "softened" at London's recent Sotheby's and Christie's auctions (as well as at last week's Frieze Art Fair), there are still big works selling for big prices. Weirdly, American buyers were up by 20% this year. However, collectors used to the over-the-moon sales that have dominated the art market for the past few years will have to lower their standards "by as much as a third." Or, as an art dealer put it in today's Wall Street Journal: "Before, collectors had to take whatever art they could get from dealers and auction houses, but now those collectors are saying, 'Kneel down and ask nicely.'" Bet they're enjoying that.
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By SheilaComment by El_Feo: I'm peripherally involved with the art market and I think an economic downturn will be really good for the quality... 6 Responses | Other threads
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freakoutnomics
The Playboy Playmate Recession Theory: Bullshit
More tenuously-concluded recession sex! Two "econometricians" looked through 46 years of Playboy's Playmate of the Year cover models, and compared their physical attributes with the year's economy. Their findings: "Consistent with Environmental Security Hypothesis predictions, when social and economic conditions were difficult, older, heavier, taller Playboy Playmates of the Year... were selected." During hard times, they concluded, men prefer women who are better fit for "production" than "reproduction." All bullshit, we'd say there is no connection. Here's why: More » -
freakoutnomics
Déjà Vu: the Panic of 1873
A Wall Street panicmeltdown? We've been through this before. Tired of 1930s breadline comparisons, Jennifer 8. Lee takes us back to the Panic of 1873 on the NYT's City Room. Some historians think it's eerily comparable to the current situation: it "came after a building boom created by easily obtainable mortgages and an ensuing banking crisis." The Stock Exchange had to close for the first time ever to control the crisis, and a four-year depression ensued. What did the Times headlines look like at the time? Panic, although not quite as hysterical as the Post and the Daily News's "You're gonna need a bigger mattress!" and "Your $$ Burned." More » -
In Brief
Money-making tips, for laid-off bankers on down. [Copyranter]
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freakoutnomics
Books Will Teach You How to Manage the Money That Wall Street Will Piss Away Anyway
Bookstores are stocking up on finance books after the meltdowncrisis, reports the WSJ. Doing its patriotic duty, Borders has even helpfully "creat[ed] front-of-store displays featuring finance or personal-finance titles in all 522 superstores nationwide." Because they care. Re: those finance books: hey, you know what? It's not us proles that need the personal-finance books. More »
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By SheilaComment by Mr-Mr: All these financial books are a bunch of bs. They're no different to the "get rich quick" infomercial schemes... 1 Responses | Other threads
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In Brief
BREAKING
Dow down, cheating husbands up! ""Since early spring, maybe late winter, there's just been an increase, and I believe it might have something to do with the economy." You don't say. [Daily News; related]
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By SheilaComment by Trixie from Toronto: Explain that to me. Losing money so you embark upon something that's going to require hotel bills, florists, dirty weekends... 4 Responses | Other threads
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sumner redstone
The First Media Mogul Casualty
Looks like old Viacom chief Sumner Redstone is the first media mogul to take a significant hit from the present awful economic climate for media companies (Pictured: Viacom's stock chart for the last year). And by "significant hit," we mean "being forced to sell $400 million worth of stock." More »
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Comment by frenchkiss101: What's next after downgrading from actual employees to perma-lancers? "Voluntary Servituders"? 1 Responses | Other threads
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freakoutnomics
A Guide to Your Recession-Weekend Oblivion
The weekend looms, but hard times are already upon us. We made a handy guide on how to have fun and fight for your rights to party (and survive!) during the financial freakout. Ready for a rent party?
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By SheilaComment by Richard Lawson: I suggest doing what I'm doing this weekend: Run home to your parents' house that's in a different state and have... 12 Responses | Other threads
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gawker emigration guide
Why Not Try Dubai?
If the U.S. sinks into a depression, you might want to think about spending the next ten years elsewhere. Why suffer needlessly? Our new series will explain, Maher-style, where you might want to go next. This week: what about Dubai? It's a super-developed port city in the United Arab Emirates. Full of expats, it's a Disneyland of weird architecture built on oil revenues. More »
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By SheilaComment by hypocriteoath: well what if you were skiing on their indoor ski-slope [seriously, they have one there] during Ramadan and you bit... 8 Responses | Other threads
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freakoutnomics
What California Can Teach Us About The Crisis
California has always fostered a kind of insane optimism that strikes outsiders as absurd and delusional and actually kind of sick. My favorite symbol of this, when I lived there, was Rent A Wheel, where you could "rent to own" chrome rims for your tires, your job is your credit etc. etc., for an eminently reasonable $200 a month. This was not the sort of business model I could see thriving back East, but there was something weirdly charming about that, and the charm was contagious, and probably enabled some regrettable apparel purchases. Well, today the rest of the country officially caught the contagion; because the nation's financial institutions are suddenly too spooked to lend money to anyone but Hank Paulson, the state of California can't borrow money, and Governor Schwarzenegger is hitting up Hank Paulson to the tune of seven billion dollars. California, much like its citizenry, has one of the worst credit ratings in the nation. It's the double-edged sword of that sunny optimism, which badly needs to be redirected and channeled toward the national interest and perhaps other pursuits like surfing.
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By MoeComment by TheHonJudgeSmails: Crazy ass Joe Biden said last night that he and Obama support legislation to allow courts to not merely adjust... 19 Responses | Other threads
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panic roundup
Market Crisis So Not Averted (!!!)
Today this guy I know ruminated about why white bloggers employ so many goddarn exclamation points. I didn't really read it because I have ADD and assume everyone else does too so when I do actually bother employing punctuation at all it is usually for the purpose of impressing upon everyone the total urgency of whatever it was I just wrote and what better way to achieve that than an exclamation point!? (Or four!!!!!!) But hey wait, I actually know where I picked up this silly habit — another white blogger! Back from before they called them blogs, tho. There was this ZOMG-tacular writer Andy Serwer who wrote a daily stock market column on the Fortune website called "Street Life." It made no sense!!!! Except to me. (The synthetic constant proportion portfolio insurance of online commentary!) So you can blame that guy for everything, including the credit crisis! Anyway it's in Andy's honor (he still writes a blog, but it's no longer crazy because he is on teevee now) that I wrote the evening's Panic Roundup in the Steez De Serwer. (Shall I call it "Manic Panic"?)
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By MoeComment by lucasuperior: I'm gonna need another martini for this one 6 Responses | Other threads
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advertising
'Hungry, Wall Street?' The Sexy Porn Voice Of Capitalism's Collapse
Much has been made of all the embarrassing commercials for financial institutions punctuating all the news coverage of said financial institutions' simultaneous collapse. (cf. AIG's "Strength To Be There.") But this hypnotic marketing masterwork touting a small Italian takeout chain is the commercial of the collapse. It runs on CNBC approximately 3,894 times a day if you're a local Time Warner customer. Last night I heard it in a dream. Narrated by someone who obviously used to work in phone sex, it channels the Id of the distressed investment banker. Over and over and over. In a voice so preposterously orgasmy she could just straight up be saying "Hey bankers, you will gain a per capita average of 17 pounds stress-eating shitty Italian takeout as you work hundred hour weeks under the constant threat of being 'downsized' along with your rapidly evaporating net worths" and it would still be pretty effective and also, a lot cheaper than a whore. More »
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By MoeComment by overunderover: Now I have that damn "Blinds to Go" jingle in my head. Dammit! (shakes fist) Local commercials!!! 3 Responses | Other threads
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panic roundup
So What Changed Since Last Time Congress Voted On The Bailout?
In a matter of minutes (or anyway, units of time) the Senate is expected to vote on a bailout package. Much like the bailout package that just got voted down the other day and sent all your stocks back in time to September 11. So what's changed since then? We've been sorta paying attention. Here's a comprehensive roundup!
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By MoeComment by MisterHippity: Hi Moe. A question: Is there anything about about Jock Itch in the new bailoout package? I sure hope so. Because... 2 Responses | Other threads
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journalismism
During Troubled Times, an Entire Nation Prefers Mac n' Cheese
Back from 2001 downturn, it's the "comfort food during a recession" trend piece! Hey, writers, if you're assigned this topic, here's a peg: an "exclusive all night diner" is to open in dazed, freakoutnomic Manhattan: "Socialista mastermind Armin Amiri has decided to open an all-night diner—with a guest list from 11 p.m. to 4 a.m.," reports the Observer. Filling the hole left by the democratic late-night Florent with "upscale diner food"? Irritating, but it might be perfect for the market right now: based on the sheer number of trend pieces, it is evident that people love (or can only afford) mac and cheese during hard times. Don't believe us? More »
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By SheilaComment by Spirit Fingers: As a true southerner and a certified Mac & Cheese connoisseur, as is a prerequisite, I take offense to bread... 13 Responses | Other threads
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freakoutnomics
That's It, Neocons! Big Government Will Pay Off Those Big Loans On Your Big Cars, But No More Big "Ideas"
"Not once did we consider asking Washington to bail out the Sun," proclaimed the conservative New York newspaper in a deathbed editorial this morning that cited the importance of adhering to its highminded free-market "principles." But it turns out that they did almost precisely that kind of! See, some of the Sun's capitalist backers had a bunch of money invested in the private equity firm Cerberus, which controls the auto financing firms Chrysler Financial and GMAC. (And also, owns Chrysler itself, which was also a bad idea.) Auto financing firms are sitting on truckloads of car loans gone bad in no small part because people can't get home equity loans to pay them off like they used to, which is (a major reason) why the whole auto industry has gone to shit. So…guess which struggling private equity firm was about to get some major R-O-L-A-I-D-S from that big communist bailout bill all those ideological comrades of the Sun just voted down? More »
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By MoeComment by muhnkee_2 - jaloping from sunny sao paulo: i think its time for the end of trickle down, and time for trickle up, just give every US taxpager... 4 Responses | Other threads
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frankly my dear
Big Gay Barney Frank Apologizes For "Offending" Republicans
Apparently there's some meme that 12 Republicans were ready to vote for the bailout package but Democrats' "bedside manner" or something put them off. (UPDATE: Oh Christ, this?) Anyway, House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank took a question about this at the Bailout Fail press conference just now and tranched it a new one. Everyone in the room laughed because the room is filled with politicians and journalists and seriously what do they give a shit about the economy, Barney Frank just won himself a 14th term and we will no doubt be seeing more of him. (Gawker day editor Alex Pareene's response: a more succinct "Barney Frank <3!") Swoon, on so many levels! Dow down 603 at close.* More »
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By MoeComment by lawyergay: The Democrats are so bad at this "politics" thing that it's actually getting boring. Who brings a bill like this... 14 Responses | Other threads
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freakoutnomics
5 Lessons About What Happened To The Economy You Didn't Learn From CNBC
Everyone wants to figure out what happened to the market last fortnight! Which is why the week of September 14 marked the highest ratings in CNBC's nineteen year history, the New York Times reported today in a story about how people keep tuning in to the business news network looking for answers on What It All Means only to get hooked because CNBC anchors have no idea What It All Means. It is all just moving so goddamn fast! (Like um, while I was getting a picture for this post, the House voted down the bailout package, what do you know…) Between the squawking and spinning and bank failing, no one had a chance to acknowledge the real ideological shift underway among just about everyone who bothers thinking about that sort of crap. Listicle time again! I read all the deep, probing stories over the weekend about What Actually Happened And Who Profited Off That so you wouldn't have to. More »
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By MoeComment by katastic: Hey y'all! The DOW just dropped four hundred points in ten minutes! Wheeeee! Break out your cardboard shanties! 8 Responses | Other threads
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freakoutnomics
What The "Subprime Poetry Crisis" Means For The Overheated Metaphor Market
Last night at a poetry reading marking the release of the 2008 Best American Poetry anthology the distinguished poet and Finding Forrester star Charles Bernstein delivered a stirring plea for swift intervention to stave off the subprime poetry crisis. "As we know, lax composition practices since the advent of modernism led to irresponsible poets and irresponsible readers," he said. "Simply put, too many poets composed works they could not justify." (Read the whole thing; it is awesome.) But it made me anxious! At the risk of pronouncing a subprime trend post by adding this news to that of the subprime mortgage crisis and the subprime celebrity crisis I personally underwrote, I am going to leap a few logical conclusions ahead and ponder whether this liquidity crunch has begotten too many issuances of new metaphors. More »
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By MoeComment by wretched_of_the_mirth: If they had more asshats, they wouldn't need the 700 billion hexameter wailout. Simple F=I=N=A=N=C=E P=O=E=T=R=Y. Why 1904, though? Wouldn't scrapping... 1 Responses | Other threads
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freakoutnomics
Guess We Were Right to Rent Instead of Buy After All
Broke, bitter renters were so totally right about renting instead of buying when we signed that lease back in October—in light of the financial meltdowncrisis. Not that we are renting instead of buying by choice, but whatever! We won by default, and when you're not rich, you gotta take your victories where you can find them. At least all our money is tied up in unsecured credit card debt instead of real estate! More »
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By SheilaComment by SybilDisobedience: @ADismalScience: The other half and I bought a house last year. It was a good time for us - the... 7 Responses | Other threads
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field guide
Everyone Has A Sudden Hatecrush On Hank Paulson
It is a stunning reversal of fortune of the sort his old investment bank just narrowly averted thanks to Warren Buffet and the government to which he to which he does not have to pay any of those "tax dollars" he is throwing around to save his old neighborhood! But yes, sources are now informing us Billionairish bald man Hank Paulson is officially hot. Just yesterday we were still thinking the Treasury Secretary and Most Important Man in America Right Now looked creepy and mechanical compared to his furry little Fed Chief partner in congressional rage collection. Then suddenly today our very own commenters are telling us that no, actually, he is hot. As with all the really significant developments in this market collapse, Daily Intel started this trend when they posted a shirtless photo of Hank circa 1973. But look, he got the job done. Unless Republicans succeed in botching the plan he will save Wall Street. Very fast. So who is this guy? More »
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By MoeComment by Dagrolord: Hold the presses. This just in- [www.cnn.com] 10 Responses | Other threads
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freakoutnomics
5 Reasons This Depression Really Is Going To Be Fun!
We're not even officially in a recession, and already the culture czars over at New York have dubbed the economic crisis precipitated by our financial system's collapse The Greatest Depression! Such hyperbole, I know! So what makes the tag feel so goddamn right? Other than the fact that I think it is really great I don't have to write about subprime celebrities anymore? I found five things that are basically all the same thing and formed a little listicle!
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By MoeComment by Smitros: The algorithm sentence in Point 4 is brilliant. It's like people learned nothing from the failures of the Black-Scholes model and... 12 Responses | Other threads
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freakoutnomics
Some Rogue Trader Illegally Shorting Barack Obama Contracts!
Hey mister ever heard of the LAW??! Okay, so if you want to really hurt your brain, try to figure out why some rogue trader(s) on the fun "bet on anything" site InTrade would be purposely spending good money to drive the price of Barack Obama Victory stock down? To a price that anyone who pays attention to the prices of Obama contracts on all the various meaningless virtual internet stock markets could easily tell you was a suspiciously low one that in any sane rational world would be quickly bid back up by arbitrageurs?? FiveThirtyEight suspects a "degenerate idiot" who obviously doesn't take the efficiency of liquid markets seriously enough. More » -
freakoutnomics
Let's Turn Everything Into a Comment On the Economy!
From the Mailbag: "Here’s a tip for you: I was just down on 27th Street for a meeting and thought you might like to know… [strip club] Scores West is reopening (tomorrow or Thursday) as a 'juice bar' because they still can’t get a liquor license. There’s a sign up outside the door right now." That means they can (legally, technically) dance "bottomless," yay! Here, let's write the generic media response: Which is better: a topless strip club with alcohol, or a naked one without? And what does it mean for Wall Street? (Answer: it doesn't mean anything; as Moe already pointed out, the ask-a-stripper angle on the freakonomic meltdown is so, so tired.)
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By SheilaComment by relunctant entity: Are strip clubs going to be profitable when we're all bartering for food and shelter? 6 Responses | Other threads
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tasteful, slate!
Uplifting Economic Indicator!
The "suicide index" is still very low compared to 1929 and with those farmers in India. Maybe money does buy diminishing marginal happiness? [Slate]
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By MoeComment by ADismalScience: The main difference between then and now? The shame is gone. 3 Responses | Other threads
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herogram
Senator Chris Dodd, Puffy Loser Hero Of Capitalism's Collapse?
If you haven't been spellbound by the (HUGELY telegenic) drama consuming the nation's new financial capital over the past 36 hours, here's a big takeaway you missed: Chris Dodd is the Wonk Stud Du Jour. Chris Dodd, senator from Connecticut — Connecticut, Hedge Fund Capital of the Galaxy. Chris Dodd, onetime waitress-thrower and suitor of Carrie Fisher and Bianca Jagger who more recently became disparaged as Chris Dodd, official Friend of (and recipient of a cut-rate mortgages from) former Countrywide Financial CEO Angelo "Moz" Mozilo. Chris Dodd had a big bug crawl across his head during a debate last summer, but that has nothing to do with why he may turn out to be a most unlikely hero of this epic market meltdown. Which is to say: could Chris Dodd be so beholden to capitalists he actually understands what they do?
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By MoeComment by SlantedAndDisenchanted: There's also this important point made by Dodd: Senator Christopher J. Dodd, Democrat of Connecticut and chairman of the Senate banking... 7 Responses | Other threads
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freakoutnomics
We Will Train These Foreigners to Tip If It Kills Us
Foreign tourists claiming ignorance of the crude American tradition of tipping is such bullshit. Whenever I go to a foreign country, the first thing I look up in the guidebook is the place's tipping customs. That's not so difficult, right? After all, nothing is more awkward than doing it wrong. More »
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By SheilaComment by Mr. Kim Gordons Panties: What about when you're an American, in England where they don't tip, but your server is clearly also an American?... 25 Responses | Other threads
freakoutnomics
New York, 8:28 PM
Thu Jul 2
46 posts in the last 24 hours
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Transformers blows up this weekend. Need to know more? io9 gets down and dirty with the superbots.
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Gizmodo's just reviewed two great smartphones, the Palm Pre and the iPhone 3GS. Here's a guide to help you decide which is better for you.
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The Life of Steve Jobs - So far.
Original material is licensed under a Creative Commons License permitting non-commercial sharing with attribution.
