Econlinks: Kamelåså et al

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  Before I come up with my Econ Nobel forecast -- a week to go, stay tuned-- let us take a look to the 2010 Nobel Ig prizes related to Economics. The Economics Ig Nobel itself is perhaps not very unexpected this year--though not very creative either (I wonder whether Oliver Stone is behind this too; his latest movie gets pretty mediocre reviews-- IMDb, RottenTomatoes-- despite all the hype). The "Management" Nobel Ig reads much better (but I still need to check out that paper): "Alessandro Pluchino, Andrea Rapisarda, and Cesare Garofalo of the University of Catania, Italy, for demonstrating mathematically that organizations would become more efficient if they promoted people at random. REFERENCE: “The Peter Principle Revisited: A Computational Study,” Alessandro Pluchino, Andrea Rapisarda, and Cesare Garofalo, Physica A, vol. 389, no. 3, February 2010, pp. 467-72."

• Mankiw's excellent advice for all new college freshmen. Do learn some Economics, Statistics, and Finance, (ok, even Psychology, though this is second order) for your own sake... Couldn't have phrased it better.

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  He rocks no matter the topic, or context. Colbert for President (Stewart can make an ideal Vice-President).

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  What would happen if Lars von Trier were in charge with marketing Denmark. Not that the real (at least, intended, later withdrawn) ad  was much smarter. (With thanks to Fred for the links). If you ask me, the Danes should hire these Norvegians for the perfect branding job. Anyhow, good or bad PR, I am heading that way (momentarily with a headache in Schiphol's Crown Lounge). Inter alia, training a bit for future chilly times in Chicago.

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  And finally, keeping it in Scandinavian context: Magnus beat the world. And he got a date with Liv Taylor: I'd say that's worth the effort. See also his interview on the Pauw and Witteman Dutch TV show, before the world match (partly in Dutch, but you'll manage).



Nobel(s) '08

Far more important than the forthcoming US Presidential Election is the awarding of the Nobel titles this year. The official Nobel prizes will be awarded starting next Monday (see the schedule). As usually this blog's author is mostly (though not exclusively, eg. I've always followed the Physics prizes, too) interested in the Economics prize, which is to be awarded last, on Monday, October 13; my prediction should appear here at least a day before -- and no, unfortunately I don't get any private signals... :-). Meanwhile, see also the Thompson Reuters predictions (alternatives) for the Economics (and not only) 2008 winners.

On the wackier side of science, an Economist already won a "Nobel" this year. Namely, Dan Ariely just won the IG Nobel for Medicine: "the prize for medicine goes to the enterprising economist who found that expensive fake pills work better than cheap [fake] ones". At the same time, the IG Nobel for Economics was won by three evolutionary psychologists (ironically...), Geoffrey Miller, Joshua Tyber, and Brent Jordan, "for discovering that exotic dancers earn more when at peak fertility" (more here). See the list of all Nobel IG prizes this year; 'official site' here. And here's an article about the recent winners (via Greg Mankiw).

Antreprenoriat de succes in Nigeria: schema 419

Cu destul timp in urma (inainte de a avea blog personal...) ii spuneam lui Sorin, pentru pagini.com, despre Nobel Ig-uri si intre ele despre "antreprenorii" nigerieni care castigasera- in absentia, bineinteles- un Nobel Ig in literatura. Ei bine, pana acum am crezut ca intreprinderea nigerienilor nu poate fi foarte profitabila (cateva batranele ametite pe ici colo, maxim cateva sute de dolari castigati dupa mii de email-uri trimise, costand ceva efort), dar dupa ce am citit articolul acesta din The New Yorker, mi-am schimbat radical parerea: nigerienii nostri puteau linistit primi Nobelul Ig si in economie (sau psihologie, luand in considerare cum l-au invartit pe degete pe bietul psihoterapeut, PhD- sic!). Alarmant este ca numarul 'victimelor' a continuat sa creasca in timp, desi email scam-ul nigerian (numit des 'schema 419', dupa codul criminal anti-frauda nigerian) functioneaza de vreo 20 de ani: aproape 55.000 de plangeri inregistrate in 2005 in USA, la US Federal Trade Commission, de aproape 6 ori mai multe decat in 2001. Invitatie pentru alti "antreprenori", poate chiar o concurenta serioasa nigerienilor?