I picked up a good read the other day and seeing as there hasn't been much activity this month I thought I'd share some of it with the shake.
'Freakonomics' is written by a NY Times Magazine journalist and an Economist and essentially looks at examples of 'cool' microeconomic case studies. So they take a topic like, 'Why do drug dealers still live with their moms', and use data and eco principles to explain it.
A common amusement to me is the naming of children. 'Parents' who pick a name they like but then give it some supposed pizzazz (by choice or accident) with a bit of misspelling. Think Konna, Destinee, Ashly, Britany and so on. These guys got data allowing them to link a child's name with their mother's years of education. Here's a list of the top 8 'Jasmines' in ascending order of Maternal Education. (Data taken from every child born in California after 1961)
1. Jazmine (11.94 years)
2. Jazmyne (12.08)
3. Jazzmin (12.14)
4. Jazzmine (12.16)
5. Jasmyne (12.18)
6. Jasmina (12.50)
7. Jazmyn (12.77)
8. Jasmine (12.88)
I know it is an obvious and expected conclusion, but it is just good to see it as clearly as that with actual evidence.
If you were curious about the drug dealer case- They were able to get the financial books of a gang and analyse the breakdown of payments throughout the system. The reason that they still live at home is purely financial. Despite risking their lives, (25% of the actual dealers on the street will die due to 'work') standard henchmen (who make up the majority of the group) will earn just $3.30 an hour. If they make it to be the player in their local area then they can make around $100,000 a year (that's tax-free of course...) but such players are hesitant to divide this among the henchmen. As the leader of the gang in question J.T. said so eloquently, "You got all these niggers below you who want your job, you dig? So you know, you try to take care of them, but you know, you also have to show them you the boss. You gotta get yours first, or else you ain't no leader. If you start taking losses, they see you as weak and shit."
So what's the moral to this disjointed book suggestion? Ummm, don't get into drug dealing, get an education. You'll only end up with two girls named Jazmyne and Jazmine, and a massive debt.
If you want to read more, here's a version of the book in PDF form.
4 comments:
you can't go past Anfernee for names spelt by people still high on morphine
Found this:
"Anfernee "Penny" Hardaway was born July 18, 1972 in Memphis, Tennessee. Anfernee "Penny" Hardaway got the name Anfernee because his mom couldn't say Anthony and the doctor wrote down Anfernee when he asked Anfernee's mother her baby's name."
Thanks for posting Lachy. I've been legally homeless for a week and a half now - I'm having enough trouble feeding myself, let alone post. Also, could someone tell Adelaide United to get better at soccer if they're gonna be in Grand Finals... I've been copping a lot of flack today.
Somebody had to, it has been too long. We were doing so well for a while there.
Yeah so I figured I could do one of two things- keep pestering Cam to post (at least once a month maybe???) or add another member to the Klan. More soon on one of those fronts.
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