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Category Archives: Questions Rarely Asked
How easy is it to fix an NFL game?
Match fixing has occurred in soccer leagues around the world, so why should the NFL (or college football, for that matter) be any different? In fact, according to this devious report by Brian “The-Fix-Is-In” Touhy, it is much easier to “fix” or … Continue reading
Posted in Deception, Economics, Law, Questions Rarely Asked, Sports
Tagged bets, Match-fixing
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Chess piece survival rates
Someone on digg posted a variant of this question on Quora: “What are the chances of survival of individual chess pieces on average.” In reply, Oliver Brennan, a chess aficionado and computer programmer, posted this answer: Update (25 Oct. 2014): The excellent … Continue reading
John Suh is not a lawyer
He is, however, a graduate of the Harvard Business School and the CEO of LegalZoom. So, will new business models like LegalZoom and new technologies like Watson Debater make lawyers and law firms obsolete? We’ve just read Susan Beck’s excellent report “Emerging Technology … Continue reading
Who pays?
Eve Moneypenny and James Bond appear to commit a number of civil torts in this dramatic opening scene of the 2012 film Skyfall (filmed on location in Istanbul, Turkey). Is their employer, MI6, not liable to the various victims for any of the … Continue reading
Posted in Law, Property Rights, Questions Rarely Asked
Tagged Eve Moneypenny, James Bond, MI6, Principal-Agent Relationship
4 Comments
Should academic papers be published anonymously?
David Wood, a professor of accounting at BYU, recently gave a thoughtful talk at our home institution (UCF*) comparing and contrasting academic publishing across various fields, including accounting, economics, finance, psychology, and the natural sciences. (For its part, The Economist recently wrote … Continue reading
Are “nudges” ethical?
Moral philosopher Jeremy Waldron offers this powerful critique of “soft paternalism” or the use of state-sponsored “nudges” to change behavior (emphasis ours): … it may help to think about a slightly different sort of nudge—an informational nudge, where we manipulate the information given … Continue reading
Posted in Bayesian Reasoning, Deception, Law, Questions Rarely Asked
Tagged Jeremy Waldron, Risk, Soft Paternalism
4 Comments
Captain Kirk’s Constitution
What theory of constitutional interpretation does Captain Kirk subscribe to? Hat tip: Will Baude. Addendum: At the end of the film clip, Dr Spock logically asks: “… but does our involvement here also constitute a violation of the Prime Directive?” (Note: … Continue reading
Posted in Questions Rarely Asked, Science Fiction
Tagged Captain Kirk, Omega Glory, Star Trek
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Things that cost more than space exploration
Pop Quiz: What do presidential libraries, advertisements for prescription drugs, and pennies (yes, pennies!) have in common? They are all things that cost more than space exploration! (Hat tip: Tyler Cowen.)
When are you most productive?
In terms of writing and thinking, we are most productive in the mornings. We are in good company in this regard:
Posted in Art, Questions Rarely Asked, Time
Tagged Austin Frakt, Ernest Hemingway, Tyler Cowen
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Why isn’t “Constitution Day” a holiday?
Moreover, why do we celebrate “Labor Day” instead of Constitution Day? We propose the following: Instead of celebrating Labor Day on the first Monday of September, why not abolish this meaningless holiday and celebrate Constitution Day every Sept. 17 instead? (On that day in … Continue reading
prior probability 