freakonomics
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">hip libertairans?</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font><div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">chair: </font><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capitol_Federal_Savings_Bank">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capitol_Federal_Savings_Bank</a></div><div>
</div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">transcript</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><a href="http://freakonomics.com/podcast/payday-loans/"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">http://freakonomics.com/podcast/payday-loans/</font></a></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">suggest the ctr for responsible lending biased b/c of funding [i wonder if they asked about:}</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><p style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 20px; line-height: 22.5px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">As you find when you dig into just about any modern economic scenario, most people have at least one horse in every race, which makes it hard to separate advocacy and reality. So let’s go where <span style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">Freakonomics Radio</span> often goes when we want to find someone who does <span style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">not</span> have a horse in the race: to academia. Let’s ask some academic researchers if the payday-loan industry is really as nasty as it seems.</font></p><blockquote style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); margin: 0px auto 20px; padding: 15px; background: rgb(248, 247, 247); border-left: 6px solid rgb(120, 174, 48); width: 539.75px;"><p style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 20px; line-height: 22.5px;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">DeYOUNG: Most folks hear the word payday lending and they immediately think of evil lenders who are making poor people even poorer. I wouldn’t agree with that accusation. </font></span></p></blockquote><p style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 20px; line-height: 22.5px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Again, Bob DeYoung is from the University of Kansas.</font></p><blockquote style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); margin: 0px auto 20px; padding: 15px; background: rgb(248, 247, 247); border-left: 6px solid rgb(120, 174, 48); width: 539.75px;"><p style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 20px; line-height: 22.5px;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">DeYOUNG: My field of expertise is commercial banking and lending. So my interest and expertise in payday lending is a natural extension of consumer credit provided by financial institutions.</font></span></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 20px; line-height: 22.5px;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">DUBNER: And are you an academic through and through, or do you have other interests and endeavors?</font></span></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 20px; line-height: 22.5px;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">DeYOUNG: Well, I’m an academic through and through at this point. I spent the 15 years before I came to Kansas as a bank regulator at the Federal Reserve, the FDIC, and the Treasury Department.</font></span></p></blockquote><p style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 20px; line-height: 22.5px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">DeYoung, along with three co-authors, recently published <a href="http://libertystreeteconomics.newyorkfed.org/2015/10/reframing-the-debate-about-payday-lending.html" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); font-weight: bold; text-decoration-line: none;">an article</a> about payday loans on <span style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><a href="http://libertystreeteconomics.newyorkfed.org/" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); font-weight: bold; text-decoration-line: none;">Liberty Street Economics</a></span>. That’s a blog run by the <a href="https://www.newyorkfed.org/index.html" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); font-weight: bold; text-decoration-line: none;">Federal Reserve Bank of New York</a>. Another co-author, <strong style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><a href="https://www.newyorkfed.org/research/economists/morgan/index.html" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); text-decoration-line: none;">Donald Morgan</a></strong>, is an assistant vice president at the New York Fed. The article is titled “<a href="http://libertystreeteconomics.newyorkfed.org/2015/10/reframing-the-debate-about-payday-lending.html" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); font-weight: bold; text-decoration-line: none;">Reframing the Debate About Payday Lending</a>.”</font></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 20px; line-height: 22.5px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">It begins like this: “Except for the ten to twelve million people who use them every year, just about everybody hates payday loans. Their detractors include many law professors, consumer advocates, members of the clergy, journalists, policymakers, and even the President! But is all the enmity justified?”</font></p><blockquote style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); margin: 0px auto 20px; padding: 15px; background: rgb(248, 247, 247); border-left: 6px solid rgb(120, 174, 48); width: 539.75px;"><p style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 20px; line-height: 22.5px;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">DEYOUNG: I do have to say that the material in that piece is not necessarily the opinion of the New York Fed or the Federal Reserve System. </font></span></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 20px; line-height: 22.5px;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">DUBNER: Is that a standard disclaimer and if not, what’s the issue there?</font></span></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 20px; line-height: 22.5px;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">DEYOUNG: That’s a very standard disclaimer. The Federal Reserve System is rather unique among regulators across the world. They see the value in having their researchers exercise scientific and academic freedom because they know that inquiry is a good thing.</font></span></p></blockquote><p style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 20px; line-height: 22.5px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">But in DeYoung’s view, in the government’s rush to regulate — and maybe shut down — the payday-loan industry, there isn’t nearly enough inquiry going on.</font></p><blockquote style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); margin: 0px auto 20px; padding: 15px; background: rgb(248, 247, 247); border-left: 6px solid rgb(120, 174, 48); width: 539.75px;"><p style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 20px; line-height: 22.5px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">DeYOUNG: We need to do more research and try to figure out the best ways to regulate rather than regulations that are being pursued now that would eventually shut down the industry.</span> <span style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">I don’t want to come off as being an advocate of payday lenders. That’s not my position. My position is I want to make sure the users of payday loans who are using them responsibly and for who are made better off by them don’t lose access to this product.</span></font></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 20px; line-height: 22.5px;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">DUBNER: Now, Bob, the blog post is sort of a pop version of a meta-study, which rolls up other research on different pieces of the issue. Persuade me that the studies that you cite in the post aren’t merely the biased rantings of some ultra-right-wing pro-market-at-all-costs lunatics. And I realize that at least one of the primary studies was authored by yourself, so I guess I’m asking you to prove that you are not an ultra-right-wing pro-market-at-all-costs lunatic.</font></span></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 20px; line-height: 22.5px;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">DEYOUNG: Yes, I like to think of myself as an objective observer of social activity, as an economist. But there’s one section of the blog where we highlight mixed evidence. That in some cases having access to payday loans looks like on balance, it helps reduce financial distress at the household level. And we also point to, I believe, an equal number of studies in that section that find the exact opposite. And then of course there’s another section in the blog where we point directly to rollovers and rollovers is where the rubber hits the road on this. If we can somehow predict which folks will not be able to handle this product and would roll it over incessantly, then we could impress upon payday lenders not to make the loans to those people. This product, in fact, is particularly badly suited to predict this because the payday lender only gets a small number of pieces of information when she makes the loan, as opposed to the information that a regulated financial institution would collect. The expense of collecting that information, of underwriting the loan in the traditional way that a bank would, would be too high for the payday lender to offer the product. If we load up additional costs on the production function of these loans, the loans won’t be profitable any longer.</font></span></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 20px; line-height: 22.5px;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">On the critic side right now are the Center for Responsible Lending, who advocates a 36 percent cap on payday lending, which we know puts the industry out of business. The CFPB’s proposed policy is to require payday lenders to collect more information at the point of contact and that’s one of the expenses that if avoided allows payday lenders to actually be profitable, deliver the product. Now that’s, that’s not the only plank in the CFPB’s platform. They advocate limiting rollovers and cooling-off periods and the research does point out that in states where rollovers are limited, payday lenders have gotten around them by paying the loan off by refinancing. Just starting a separate loan with a separate loan number, evading the regulation. Of course that’s a regulation that was poorly written, if the payday lenders can evade it that easily.</font></span></p></blockquote><p style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 20px; line-height: 22.5px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">DeYoung argues that if you focus on the seemingly exorbitant annual interest rates of payday loans, you’re missing the point.</font></p><blockquote style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); margin: 0px auto 20px; padding: 15px; background: rgb(248, 247, 247); border-left: 6px solid rgb(120, 174, 48); width: 539.75px;"><p style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 20px; line-height: 22.5px;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">DeYOUNG: Borrowing money is like renting money. You get to use it two weeks and then you pay it back. You could rent a car for two weeks, right? You get to use that car. Well, if you calculate the annual percentage rate on that car rental — meaning that if you divide the amount you pay on that car by the value of that automobile — you get similarly high rates. So this isn’t about interest. This is about short-term use of a product that’s been lent to you. This is just arithmetic.</font></span></p></blockquote><p style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 20px; line-height: 22.5px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">And what about the targeting of minority customers, as charged by the Center for Responsible Lending?</font></p><blockquote style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); margin: 0px auto 20px; padding: 15px; background: rgb(248, 247, 247); border-left: 6px solid rgb(120, 174, 48); width: 539.75px;"><p style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 20px; line-height: 22.5px;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">DEYOUNG: <a href="http://www.federalreserve.gov/pubs/feds/2013/201381/201381pap.pdf" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); font-weight: bold; text-decoration-line: none;">Studies</a> that have looked at this have found that once you control for the demographics and income levels in these areas and these communities, the racial characteristics no longer drive the location decisions. As you might expect, business people don’t care what color their customers are, as long as their money’s green.</font></span></p></blockquote><p style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 20px; line-height: 22.5px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Furthermore, according to DeYoung’s own <a href="http://www.inderscience.com/info/inarticle.php?artid=58089" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); font-weight: bold; text-decoration-line: none;">research</a>, because the payday-loan industry is extremely competitive, the market tends to drive fees down. And while payday lenders get trashed by government regulators and activists, payday customers, he says, seem to tell a different story.</font></p><blockquote style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); margin: 0px auto 20px; padding: 15px; background: rgb(248, 247, 247); border-left: 6px solid rgb(120, 174, 48); width: 539.75px;"><p style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 20px; line-height: 22.5px;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">DEYOUNG: If we take an objective look at the folks who use payday lending, what we find is that most users of the product are very satisfied with the product. Survey results show that almost 90 percent of users of the product say that they’re either somewhat satisfied or very satisfied with the product afterwards.</font></span></p></blockquote><p style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 20px; line-height: 22.5px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Remember Sebastian McKamey from Chicago? The guy who got a $150 ticket for public smoking and had to take out a payday loan? He sounded OK with the experience.</font></p></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div><div><div class="bkWMgd" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div class="g" data-hveid="CAcQAA" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 26px;"><div data-hveid="CAcQAQ" data-ved="2ahUKEwiynOGBvbXiAhVSKqwKHW3MBfMQFSgAMAB6BAgHEAE"><div class="rc" style="position: relative;"><div class="r" style="margin: 0px; line-height: 1.54;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://freakonomics.com/podcast/payday-loans/" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=http://freakonomics.com/podcast/payday-loans/&ved=2ahUKEwiynOGBvbXiAhVSKqwKHW3MBfMQFjAAegQIBxAC" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" /></font><h3 class="LC20lb" style="font-weight: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; display: inline-block; line-height: 1.33;"><a href="http://freakonomics.com/podcast/payday-loans/" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=http://freakonomics.com/podcast/payday-loans/&ved=2ahUKEwiynOGBvbXiAhVSKqwKHW3MBfMQFjAAegQIBxAC" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" /></a><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://freakonomics.com/podcast/payday-loans/" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=http://freakonomics.com/podcast/payday-loans/&ved=2ahUKEwiynOGBvbXiAhVSKqwKHW3MBfMQFjAAegQIBxAC" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" /><a href="http://freakonomics.com/podcast/payday-loans/" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=http://freakonomics.com/podcast/payday-loans/&ved=2ahUKEwiynOGBvbXiAhVSKqwKHW3MBfMQFjAAegQIBxAC" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" /><a href="http://freakonomics.com/podcast/payday-loans/" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=http://freakonomics.com/podcast/payday-loans/&ved=2ahUKEwiynOGBvbXiAhVSKqwKHW3MBfMQFjAAegQIBxAC" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" /><a href="http://freakonomics.com/podcast/payday-loans/" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=http://freakonomics.com/podcast/payday-loans/&ved=2ahUKEwiynOGBvbXiAhVSKqwKHW3MBfMQFjAAegQIBxAC" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;">Are Payday Loans Really as Evil as People Say? (Ep ... - Freakonomics</a></font></h3>
<div class="TbwUpd" style="display: inline-block; line-height: 1.54; padding-bottom: 1px; padding-top: 1px;"><cite class="iUh30" style="font-style: normal; padding-top: 1px; line-height: 1.43;">freakonomics.com/podcast/payday-loans/</cite></div><div class="action-menu ab_ctl" style="display: inline; position: relative; margin: 1px 3px 0px; user-select: none; vertical-align: middle;"><a class="GHDvEf ab_button" href="https://www.google.com/search?q=freakonomics+paylay+loan&oq=freakonomics+paylay+loan&aqs=chrome..69i57.11735j0j4&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#" id="am-b0" aria-label="Result Options" aria-expanded="false" aria-haspopup="true" role="button" jsaction="m.tdd;keydown:m.hbke;keypress:m.mskpe" data-ved="2ahUKEwiynOGBvbXiAhVSKqwKHW3MBfMQ7B0wAHoECAcQAw" style="border-radius: 0px; cursor: default; font-weight: bold; height: 12px; line-height: 27px; margin: 1px 0px 2px; min-width: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: center; transition: none 0s ease 0s; user-select: none; background-image: none; border: 0px; box-shadow: 0px 0px 0px 0px; filter: none; width: 13px; text-decoration-line: none; display: inline-block;"><span class="mn-dwn-arw" style="border-color: rgb(0, 102, 33) transparent; border-style: solid; border-width: 5px 4px 0px; width: 0px; height: 0px; margin-left: 3px; top: 7.5px; margin-top: -4px; position: absolute; left: 0px;" /></a><div class="action-menu-panel ab_dropdown" role="menu" tabindex="-1" jsaction="keydown:m.hdke;mouseover:m.hdhne;mouseout:m.hdhue" data-ved="2ahUKEwiynOGBvbXiAhVSKqwKHW3MBfMQqR8wAHoECAcQBA" style="background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; border: 1px solid rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2); padding: 0px; position: absolute; right: auto; top: 12px; white-space: nowrap; z-index: 3; transition: opacity 0.218s ease 0s; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 2px 4px; left: 0px; visibility: hidden;"><ol style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px;"><li class="action-menu-item ab_dropdownitem" role="menuitem" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; list-style: none; user-select: none; cursor: pointer;"><a class="fl" href="http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:H3CsPOLxI8MJ:freakonomics.com/podcast/payday-loans/+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search%3Fq%3Dcache:H3CsPOLxI8MJ:freakonomics.com/podcast/payday-loans/%2B%26cd%3D1%26hl%3Den%26ct%3Dclnk%26gl%3Dus&ved=2ahUKEwiynOGBvbXiAhVSKqwKHW3MBfMQIDAAegQIBxAF" style="text-decoration-line: none; cursor: pointer; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;" /></li><li class="action-menu-item ab_dropdownitem" role="menuitem" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; list-style: none; user-select: none; cursor: pointer;"><a class="fl" href="https://www.google.com/search?q=related:freakonomics.com/podcast/payday-loans/+freakonomics+payday+loan&tbo=1&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiynOGBvbXiAhVSKqwKHW3MBfMQHzAAegQIBxAG" style="text-decoration-line: none; cursor: pointer; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;" /></li></ol></div></div></div><div class="s" style="max-width: 48em; line-height: 1.54;"><a class="fl" href="https://www.google.com/search?q=related:freakonomics.com/podcast/payday-loans/+freakonomics+payday+loan&tbo=1&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiynOGBvbXiAhVSKqwKHW3MBfMQHzAAegQIBxAG" style="text-decoration-line: none; cursor: pointer; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;"><span class="st" style="line-height: 1.54; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><span class="f" style="line-height: 1.54;">Apr 6, 2016 - </span>With annual interest rates around 400 percent, <span style="font-weight: bold;">payday loans</span> are called exploitative by critics. But the industry says those rates are necessary.</font></span></a></div></div></div><table class="nrgt" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="margin-left: 22px;"><tbody><tr class="mslg CK34J"><td style="padding-right: 6px; padding-top: 10px; vertical-align: top;"><div class="sld vsc" style="display: inline-block; position: relative; width: 294px; border: 1px solid transparent; border-radius: 2px; margin-top: 2px; padding: 3px 0px 3px 5px; transition: opacity 0.2s ease 0s;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="cNifBc"><h3 class="r" style="font-weight: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.33; overflow: hidden; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a class="l" href="http://freakonomics.com/podcast/payday-loans-really-evil-people-say/" data-ved="2ahUKEwiynOGBvbXiAhVSKqwKHW3MBfMQjBAwAXoECAcQCg" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=http://freakonomics.com/podcast/payday-loans-really-evil-people-say/&ved=2ahUKEwiynOGBvbXiAhVSKqwKHW3MBfMQjBAwAXoECAcQCg" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;">Are Payday Loans Really as ...</a></h3></span></font><div class="s" style="max-width: 48em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" /><div class="st" style="line-height: 1.54; overflow-wrap: break-word; overflow: hidden; width: 220px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">As the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau promotes ...
</font></font></font></font></div></div></div></td><td style="padding-right: 6px; padding-top: 10px; vertical-align: top;"><div class="sld vsc" style="display: inline-block; position: relative; width: 294px; border: 1px solid transparent; border-radius: 2px; margin-top: 2px; padding: 3px 0px 3px 5px; transition: opacity 0.2s ease 0s;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="cNifBc"><h3 class="r" style="font-weight: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.33; overflow: hidden; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a class="l" href="http://freakonomics.com/podcast/payday-loans/pc-payday/" data-ved="2ahUKEwiynOGBvbXiAhVSKqwKHW3MBfMQjBAwAnoECAcQDA" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=http://freakonomics.com/podcast/payday-loans/pc-payday/&ved=2ahUKEwiynOGBvbXiAhVSKqwKHW3MBfMQjBAwAnoECAcQDA" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;">PC Payday</a></h3></span></font><div class="s" style="max-width: 48em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" /><div class="st" style="line-height: 1.54; overflow-wrap: break-word; overflow: hidden; width: 220px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Previous PostAre Payday Loans Really as Evil as People Say ...
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<div class="TbwUpd" style="display: inline-block; line-height: 1.54; padding-bottom: 1px; padding-top: 1px;"><cite class="iUh30" style="font-style: normal; padding-top: 1px; line-height: 1.43;">freakonomics.com/podcast/industry_ties_to_academic_research/</cite></div><div class="action-menu ab_ctl" style="display: inline; position: relative; margin: 1px 3px 0px; user-select: none; vertical-align: middle;"><a class="GHDvEf ab_button" href="https://www.google.com/search?q=freakonomics+paylay+loan&oq=freakonomics+paylay+loan&aqs=chrome..69i57.11735j0j4&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#" id="am-b3" aria-label="Result Options" aria-expanded="false" aria-haspopup="true" role="button" jsaction="m.tdd;keydown:m.hbke;keypress:m.mskpe" data-ved="2ahUKEwiynOGBvbXiAhVSKqwKHW3MBfMQ7B0wA3oECAAQAg" style="border-radius: 0px; cursor: default; font-weight: bold; height: 12px; line-height: 27px; margin: 1px 0px 2px; min-width: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: center; transition: none 0s ease 0s; user-select: none; background-image: none; border: 0px; box-shadow: 0px 0px 0px 0px; filter: none; width: 13px; text-decoration-line: none; display: inline-block;"><span class="mn-dwn-arw" style="border-color: rgb(0, 102, 33) transparent; border-style: solid; border-width: 5px 4px 0px; width: 0px; height: 0px; margin-left: 3px; top: 7.5px; margin-top: -4px; position: absolute; left: 0px;" /></a><div class="action-menu-panel ab_dropdown" role="menu" tabindex="-1" jsaction="keydown:m.hdke;mouseover:m.hdhne;mouseout:m.hdhue" data-ved="2ahUKEwiynOGBvbXiAhVSKqwKHW3MBfMQqR8wA3oECAAQAw" style="background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; border: 1px solid rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2); padding: 0px; position: absolute; right: auto; top: 12px; white-space: nowrap; z-index: 3; transition: opacity 0.218s ease 0s; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 2px 4px; left: 0px; visibility: hidden;"><ol style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px;"><li class="action-menu-item ab_dropdownitem" role="menuitem" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; list-style: none; user-select: none; cursor: pointer;"><a class="fl" href="http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:6_MZ9KiQRQJ:freakonomics.com/podcast/industry_ties_to_academic_research/+&cd=4&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search%3Fq%3Dcache:_6_MZ9KiQRQJ:freakonomics.com/podcast/industry_ties_to_academic_research/%2B%26cd%3D4%26hl%3Den%26ct%3Dclnk%26gl%3Dus&ved=2ahUKEwiynOGBvbXiAhVSKqwKHW3MBfMQIDADegQIABAE" style="text-decoration-line: none; cursor: pointer; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;" /></li><li class="action-menu-item ab_dropdownitem" role="menuitem" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; list-style: none; user-select: none; cursor: pointer;"><a class="fl" href="https://www.google.com/search?q=related:freakonomics.com/podcast/industry_ties_to_academic_research/+freakonomics+payday+loan&tbo=1&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiynOGBvbXiAhVSKqwKHW3MBfMQHzADegQIABAF" style="text-decoration-line: none; cursor: pointer; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;" /></li></ol></div></div></div><div class="s" style="max-width: 48em; line-height: 1.54;"><a class="fl" href="https://www.google.com/search?q=related:freakonomics.com/podcast/industry_ties_to_academic_research/+freakonomics+payday+loan&tbo=1&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiynOGBvbXiAhVSKqwKHW3MBfMQHzADegQIABAF" style="text-decoration-line: none; cursor: pointer; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;"><span class="st" style="line-height: 1.54; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><span class="f" style="line-height: 1.54;">Apr 6, 2016 - </span>Our recent <span style="font-weight: bold;">Freakonomics</span> Radio episode “Are <span style="font-weight: bold;">Payday Loans</span> Really as Evil as People Say?” explores the arguments for and against payday ...</font></span></a></div></div></div></div></div></div><div><a class="fl" href="https://www.google.com/search?q=related:freakonomics.com/podcast/industry_ties_to_academic_research/+freakonomics+payday+loan&tbo=1&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiynOGBvbXiAhVSKqwKHW3MBfMQHzADegQIABAF" style="text-decoration-line: none; cursor: pointer; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"></font></a></div><div><a class="fl" href="https://www.google.com/search?q=related:freakonomics.com/podcast/industry_ties_to_academic_research/+freakonomics+payday+loan&tbo=1&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiynOGBvbXiAhVSKqwKHW3MBfMQHzADegQIABAF" style="text-decoration-line: none; cursor: pointer; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">
</font></a></div><div><a class="fl" href="https://www.google.com/search?q=related:freakonomics.com/podcast/industry_ties_to_academic_research/+freakonomics+payday+loan&tbo=1&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiynOGBvbXiAhVSKqwKHW3MBfMQHzADegQIABAF" style="text-decoration-line: none; cursor: pointer; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">ch 12: 2007 big year: inc truth,</font></a></div><div><a class="fl" href="https://www.google.com/search?q=related:freakonomics.com/podcast/industry_ties_to_academic_research/+freakonomics+payday+loan&tbo=1&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiynOGBvbXiAhVSKqwKHW3MBfMQHzADegQIABAF" style="text-decoration-line: none; cursor: pointer; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">
</font></a></div><div><a class="fl" href="https://www.google.com/search?q=related:freakonomics.com/podcast/industry_ties_to_academic_research/+freakonomics+payday+loan&tbo=1&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiynOGBvbXiAhVSKqwKHW3MBfMQHzADegQIABAF" style="text-decoration-line: none; cursor: pointer; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">IPCC ARA 4, Nobel</font></a></div><div><a class="fl" href="https://www.google.com/search?q=related:freakonomics.com/podcast/industry_ties_to_academic_research/+freakonomics+payday+loan&tbo=1&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiynOGBvbXiAhVSKqwKHW3MBfMQHzADegQIABAF" style="text-decoration-line: none; cursor: pointer; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">even Luntz 180 after 2002 memo</font></a></div><div><a class="fl" href="https://www.google.com/search?q=related:freakonomics.com/podcast/industry_ties_to_academic_research/+freakonomics+payday+loan&tbo=1&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiynOGBvbXiAhVSKqwKHW3MBfMQHzADegQIABAF" style="text-decoration-line: none; cursor: pointer; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">
</font></a></div><div><a class="fl" href="https://www.google.com/search?q=related:freakonomics.com/podcast/industry_ties_to_academic_research/+freakonomics+payday+loan&tbo=1&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiynOGBvbXiAhVSKqwKHW3MBfMQHzADegQIABAF" style="text-decoration-line: none; cursor: pointer; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">ARA ~ pillars of deniers</font></a></div><div><a class="fl" href="https://www.google.com/search?q=related:freakonomics.com/podcast/industry_ties_to_academic_research/+freakonomics+payday+loan&tbo=1&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiynOGBvbXiAhVSKqwKHW3MBfMQHzADegQIABAF" style="text-decoration-line: none; cursor: pointer; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">
</font></a></div><div><a class="fl" href="https://www.google.com/search?q=related:freakonomics.com/podcast/industry_ties_to_academic_research/+freakonomics+payday+loan&tbo=1&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiynOGBvbXiAhVSKqwKHW3MBfMQHzADegQIABAF" style="text-decoration-line: none; cursor: pointer; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">but 2008 Nature jrnl artl misrepped, --> GW stopped meme --> Geo Will Wapo op ed; <span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">superFreakonomics</span> 2009</font></a></div><div><a class="fl" href="https://www.google.com/search?q=related:freakonomics.com/podcast/industry_ties_to_academic_research/+freakonomics+payday+loan&tbo=1&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiynOGBvbXiAhVSKqwKHW3MBfMQHzADegQIABAF" style="text-decoration-line: none; cursor: pointer; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">
</font></a></div><div><a class="fl" href="https://www.google.com/search?q=related:freakonomics.com/podcast/industry_ties_to_academic_research/+freakonomics+payday+loan&tbo=1&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiynOGBvbXiAhVSKqwKHW3MBfMQHzADegQIABAF" style="text-decoration-line: none; cursor: pointer; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">Jrnl G res defreitas, carter amd ---</font></a></div><div><a class="fl" href="https://www.google.com/search?q=related:freakonomics.com/podcast/industry_ties_to_academic_research/+freakonomics+payday+loan&tbo=1&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiynOGBvbXiAhVSKqwKHW3MBfMQHzADegQIABAF" style="text-decoration-line: none; cursor: pointer; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">M&M PNAS</font></a></div><div><a class="fl" href="https://www.google.com/search?q=related:freakonomics.com/podcast/industry_ties_to_academic_research/+freakonomics+payday+loan&tbo=1&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiynOGBvbXiAhVSKqwKHW3MBfMQHzADegQIABAF" style="text-decoration-line: none; cursor: pointer; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">
</font></a></div><div><a class="fl" href="https://www.google.com/search?q=related:freakonomics.com/podcast/industry_ties_to_academic_research/+freakonomics+payday+loan&tbo=1&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiynOGBvbXiAhVSKqwKHW3MBfMQHzADegQIABAF" style="text-decoration-line: none; cursor: pointer; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">---</font></a></div></div><div><a class="fl" href="https://www.google.com/search?q=related:freakonomics.com/podcast/industry_ties_to_academic_research/+freakonomics+payday+loan&tbo=1&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiynOGBvbXiAhVSKqwKHW3MBfMQHzADegQIABAF" style="text-decoration-line: none; cursor: pointer; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">
</font></a><div><a class="fl" href="https://www.google.com/search?q=related:freakonomics.com/podcast/industry_ties_to_academic_research/+freakonomics+payday+loan&tbo=1&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiynOGBvbXiAhVSKqwKHW3MBfMQHzADegQIABAF" style="text-decoration-line: none; cursor: pointer; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;" /><h1 style="margin: 0px 0px 1px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; line-height: 27px; letter-spacing: -1px; text-align: justify; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a class="fl" href="https://www.google.com/search?q=related:freakonomics.com/podcast/industry_ties_to_academic_research/+freakonomics+payday+loan&tbo=1&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiynOGBvbXiAhVSKqwKHW3MBfMQHzADegQIABAF" style="text-decoration-line: none; cursor: pointer; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;" /><a class="fl" href="https://www.google.com/search?q=related:freakonomics.com/podcast/industry_ties_to_academic_research/+freakonomics+payday+loan&tbo=1&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiynOGBvbXiAhVSKqwKHW3MBfMQHzADegQIABAF" style="text-decoration-line: none; cursor: pointer; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;" /><a class="fl" href="https://www.google.com/search?q=related:freakonomics.com/podcast/industry_ties_to_academic_research/+freakonomics+payday+loan&tbo=1&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiynOGBvbXiAhVSKqwKHW3MBfMQHzADegQIABAF" style="text-decoration-line: none; cursor: pointer; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;" /><a class="fl" href="https://www.google.com/search?q=related:freakonomics.com/podcast/industry_ties_to_academic_research/+freakonomics+payday+loan&tbo=1&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiynOGBvbXiAhVSKqwKHW3MBfMQHzADegQIABAF" style="text-decoration-line: none; cursor: pointer; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">Steven D. Levitt</font></a></h1><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">
</font></div><h4 style="margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 20.625px; text-transform: uppercase; letter-spacing: -1px; text-align: justify; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">CO-AUTHOR OF #1 BESTSELLER <em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px;">FREAKONOMICS</em>; ECONOMICS PROFESSOR AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO</font></h4><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; line-height: 20px; text-align: justify; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /><h5 style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; line-height: 20.625px; text-align: justify;"><a class="fl" href="https://www.google.com/search?q=related:freakonomics.com/podcast/industry_ties_to_academic_research/+freakonomics+payday+loan&tbo=1&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiynOGBvbXiAhVSKqwKHW3MBfMQHzADegQIABAF" style="text-decoration-line: none; cursor: pointer; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;" /><a id="dd_start" style="font-weight: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; float: left; clear: both; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /><p class="first-child " dir="ltr" style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px;"><a id="dd_start" style="font-weight: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; float: left; clear: both; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /><a id="dd_start" style="font-weight: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; float: left; clear: both; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /><a id="dd_start" style="font-weight: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; float: left; clear: both; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /><a id="dd_start" style="font-weight: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; float: left; clear: both; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /><a id="dd_start" style="font-weight: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; float: left; clear: both; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /><a id="dd_start" style="font-weight: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; float: left; clear: both; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /><a id="dd_start" style="font-weight: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; float: left; clear: both; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /><a id="dd_start" style="font-weight: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; float: left; clear: both; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /><a id="dd_start" style="font-weight: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; float: left; clear: both; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /><a id="dd_start" style="font-weight: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; float: left; clear: both; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /><a id="dd_start" style="font-weight: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; float: left; clear: both; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /><a id="dd_start" style="font-weight: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; float: left; clear: both; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /><a id="dd_start" style="font-weight: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; float: left; clear: both; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /><a id="dd_start" style="font-weight: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; float: left; clear: both; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /><a id="dd_start" style="font-weight: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; float: left; clear: both; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /><a id="dd_start" style="font-weight: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; float: left; clear: both; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /><a id="dd_start" style="font-weight: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; float: left; clear: both; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /><a id="dd_start" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; float: left; clear: both;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="font-weight: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Named one of <em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px;">Time</em> magazine's "100 People Who Shape Our World,</span><span style="font-weight: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">" Steven Levitt, author of </span><em style="font-weight: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Freakonomics</em><span style="font-weight: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">, is generally assumed to be a harmless, quirky pop economist for trivia nerds. However, Levitt has a history of</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> attacking teachers' unions, <span style="font-weight: normal;">advocating for the privatization of prison labor, defending online gambling and occasionally crossing over the fringe-right line by promoting climate change denialism and, some have argued, racial eugenics. A dyed-in-the-wool Milton Friedman neoliberal from the same “Chicago Boys” network that brought you the "shock doctrine," Levitt’s idea of economics Utopia is a world in which "the market" solves all our problems and government is restricted to protecting property rights.</span></span></font></a><a id="dd_start" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; float: left; clear: both;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
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LEVITT</font></strong></h4><a id="dd_start" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; float: left; clear: both; line-height: 20px; text-align: justify; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /><ul style="margin: 0px 0px 20px -12px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; list-style: none; line-height: 20px; text-align: justify;"><a id="dd_start" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; float: left; clear: both; line-height: 20px; text-align: justify; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /><a id="dd_start" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; float: left; clear: both; line-height: 20px; text-align: justify; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /><a id="dd_start" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; float: left; clear: both; line-height: 20px; text-align: justify; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /><a id="dd_start" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; float: left; clear: both; line-height: 20px; text-align: justify; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /><a id="dd_start" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; float: left; clear: both; line-height: 20px; text-align: justify; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /><a id="dd_start" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; float: left; clear: both; line-height: 20px; text-align: justify; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /><a id="dd_start" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; float: left; clear: both; line-height: 20px; text-align: justify; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /><a id="dd_start" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; float: left; clear: both; line-height: 20px; text-align: justify; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /><a id="dd_start" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; float: left; clear: both; line-height: 20px; text-align: justify; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /><a id="dd_start" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; float: left; clear: both; line-height: 20px; text-align: justify; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /><a id="dd_start" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; float: left; clear: both; line-height: 20px; text-align: justify; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /><a id="dd_start" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; float: left; clear: both; line-height: 20px; text-align: justify; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /><a id="dd_start" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; float: left; clear: both; line-height: 20px; text-align: justify; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /><a id="dd_start" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; float: left; clear: both; line-height: 20px; text-align: justify; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /><a id="dd_start" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; float: left; clear: both; line-height: 20px; text-align: justify; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /><a id="dd_start" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; float: left; clear: both; line-height: 20px; text-align: justify; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /><a id="dd_start" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; float: left; clear: both; line-height: 20px; text-align: justify; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /><a id="dd_start" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; float: left; clear: both; line-height: 20px; text-align: justify; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /><li style="margin: 0px 0px 15px 30px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; list-style: disc;"><a id="dd_start" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; float: left; clear: both; line-height: 20px; text-align: justify; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /><a id="dd_start" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; float: left; clear: both; line-height: 20px; text-align: justify; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /><a id="dd_start" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; float: left; clear: both; line-height: 20px; text-align: justify; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /><a id="dd_start" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; float: left; clear: both; line-height: 20px; text-align: justify; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /><a id="dd_start" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; float: left; clear: both; line-height: 20px; text-align: justify; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /><a id="dd_start" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; float: left; clear: both; line-height: 20px; text-align: justify; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /><a id="dd_start" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; float: left; clear: both; line-height: 20px; text-align: justify; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /><a id="dd_start" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; float: left; clear: both; line-height: 20px; text-align: justify; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /><a id="dd_start" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; float: left; clear: both; line-height: 20px; text-align: justify; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /><a id="dd_start" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; float: left; clear: both; line-height: 20px; text-align: justify; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /><a id="dd_start" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; float: left; clear: both; line-height: 20px; text-align: justify; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /><a id="dd_start" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; float: left; clear: both; line-height: 20px; text-align: justify; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /><a id="dd_start" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; float: left; clear: both; line-height: 20px; text-align: justify; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /><a id="dd_start" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; float: left; clear: both; line-height: 20px; text-align: justify; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /><a id="dd_start" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; float: left; clear: both; line-height: 20px; text-align: justify; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /><a id="dd_start" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; float: left; clear: both; line-height: 20px; text-align: justify; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /><a id="dd_start" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; float: left; clear: both; line-height: 20px; text-align: justify; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /><a id="dd_start" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; float: left; clear: both; line-height: 20px; text-align: justify;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">While a PhD student at MIT, Levitt published a counter-intuitive masterpiece whitewashing corruption in politics by </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">"proving" that corporate campaign donations do not influence election outcomes.</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> Levitt argued that “campaign money has about one-tenth the impact as was commonly accepted,” according to a 2003 </span></font></a><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2003/08/03/magazine/probability-that-real-estate-agent-cheating-you-other-riddles-modern-life.html?pagewanted=print&src=pm" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; text-decoration: none; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px;">New York Times</em> <em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px;">Magazine</em> profile</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">—a stance that helped land him a </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">tenured job at the University of Chicago.</span></font></li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 15px 30px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; list-style: disc;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">At the University of Chicago, Levitt's mentor was </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Gary Becker,</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> another of the “Chicago Boys” who </span><a href="http://www.hoover.org/publications/hoover-digest/article/7743" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; text-decoration: none; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">supported Chilean dictator Augusto <b>Pinochet</b></a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><b>.</b> Gary Becker developed the theory of “human capital” which treats human labor as just another resource to extract profit from. Levitt's mentor also proposed the creation of a </span><a href="http://voices.washingtonpost.com/shortstack/2009/10/nobel_prize-winning_economist.html" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; text-decoration: none; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">deregulated human-organ commodities</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> exchange, arguing that it would actually help the poor. </span><a href="http://www.freakonomics.com/2011/04/13/gary-becker-takes-your-questions/" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; text-decoration: none; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Levitt said of Becker</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">, "More than any other economist, he has been my inspiration and role model."</span></font></li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 15px 30px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; list-style: disc;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">In 1999, Levitt co-authored a paper arguing that an increase in abortion rates for black women in the 1970s was <em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px;">the </em>reason for falling crime rates two decades later. "Basically, we had aborted the generation of criminals who would have been active in the 1990s," he told <em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px;">Esquire</em> magazine. His research led to accusations of racial eugenics, according to the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2001/04/14/arts/new-attention-for-the-idea-that-abortion-averts-crime.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; text-decoration: none;">New York Times</a>. The study has been </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">debunked and exposed in <a href="http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB113314261192407815-7O0CuSR0RArhWpc9pxaKd_paZU0_20051228.html?mod=tff_article" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; text-decoration: none;">numerous academic studies</a> over the years—one study by Federal Reserve economists proved Levitt used badly flawed<a href="http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB113314261192407815-7O0CuSR0RArhWpc9pxaKd_paZU0_20051228.html?mod=tff_article" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; text-decoration: none;"> data</a>, forcing Levitt to <a href="http://www.freakonomics.com/2005/11/28/everything-in-freakonomics-is-wrong/" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; text-decoration: none;">apologize</a> for the "embarrassing" errors. Nevertheless, Levitt <a href="http://www.freakonomics.com/2005/11/28/everything-in-freakonomics-is-wrong/" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; text-decoration: none;">stuck to his original conclusion</a> linking race and crime: fewer African-American children correlates to a drop in crime.</span></font></li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 15px 30px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; list-style: disc;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">In 1999, Levitt <a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/93853003/Steven-Levitt-Privatize-Prison-Labor-Paper#fullscreen" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; text-decoration: none;">presented a paper for privatizing prison labor</a> at a symposium hosted by a private prison consulting firm,</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> arguing: “I would privatize prison industry. As long as the government is in charge of prison industries, it will be difficult if not impossible to avoid decisions being made with political rather than economic justifications.” Thirteen years later, Levitt’s privatized-prison-labor dream is a reality: Some 1 million state inmates are slaving away for wages averaging between </span><a href="http://www.thenation.com/article/167473/locking-down-american-workforce" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; text-decoration: none; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">$0.93 and $4.73 a day</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">. African-Americans make up over </span><a href="http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=129379700" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; text-decoration: none; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">40% of the U.S. prison population</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">.</span></font></li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 15px 30px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; list-style: disc; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In 1995, Levitt <a href="http://www.nber.org/papers/w5119" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; text-decoration: none;">published a paper</a> which "proved" that packing prisoners into increasingly-overcrowded prison cells translates into a net $15,000 positive effect on society per overcrowded cell inmate.</font></li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 15px 30px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; list-style: disc;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Levitt has played a role in busting teachers' unions by <a href="http://sitemaker.umich.edu/bajacob/files/cheating.pdf" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; text-decoration: none;">devising a method</a> that claims to catch teachers cheating on standardized test results. </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Levitt took personal credit for firing at least a dozen teachers he claims to have “caught,” </span><a href="http://shameproject.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/levitt-teachers-firing-freakonomics.jpg" rel="lightbox[306]" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; text-decoration: none; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">gloating in his book <em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px;">Freakonomics </em></a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">that, as a result of his method, “Chicago Public School system began to fire its cheating teachers. The evidence was only strong enough to get rid of a dozen of them, but the many other cheaters had been duly warned.”</span></font></li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 15px 30px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; list-style: disc;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Levitt is a <a href="http://www.harrywalker.com/speaker/Steven-Levitt-ovations.cfm?Spea_ID=816" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; text-decoration: none;">paid corporate speaker regularly hired</a> by investment banks, financial services companies, venture capital firms as well as various anti-labor "human resource" outfits. One </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><b>corporate union-busting association, the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM)</b></span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><b>,</b> gushed over</span><a href="http://www.harrywalker.com/speaker/Steven-Levitt-ovations.cfm?Spea_ID=816" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; text-decoration: none; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> Levitt's performance</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">: "We received numerous compliments about your remarks from our attendees, well over 500 participants . . . We applaud the valuable work that you are doing." Recently, SHRM opposed legislation that would have made it easier for workers to join union and lobbied to defeat a law that would have protected women against gender-based wage discrimination.</span></font></li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 15px 30px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; list-style: disc;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Levitt's second book, <em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px;">Superfreakonomics</em>, contained a section that "debunked" climate-change science, asserting that CO2 does not cause global warming. One of the scientists cited and used to back up </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Levitt's climate-change denialism,</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> Jeffrey Severinghaus, accused Levitt of "flat-out misrepresentation" of his work, telling the </span><a href="http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2009/11/01/the_freakonomics_duo_tackles_climate_changeand_discovers_the_limits_of_cleverness/?page=full" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; text-decoration: none; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px;">Boston Globe</em></a><em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">, </em><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">“Asserting that CO2 doesn’t cause warming at this point is tantamount to saying cigarette smoking doesn’t cause cancer. It’s just laughable.” Levitt responded with a bizarre non-retraction: "The sentence may be poorly written, but I do not think it is factually inaccurate.”</span></font></li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 15px 30px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; list-style: disc; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In 2011, Levitt published a <a href="http://pricetheory.uchicago.edu/levitt/Papers/WSOP2011.pdf" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; text-decoration: none;">paper proving that poker</a> is a game of "skill" and not "luck," and used the Freakonomics website to advocate for legalized online gambling. The <em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px;">Chicago Tribune</em> noted that Levitt's support for the industry <a href="http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2011-05-24/business/ct-biz-0524-chicago-law-20110524_1_skill-or-luck-online-poker-chuck-humphrey" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; text-decoration: none;">coincided with a federal crackdown</a> on online gambling companies for fraud and money laundering, noting that Levitt's "research could not be more timely." Levitt did not disclose his financial relationship with the online gambling industry, which included <a href="http://www.freakonomics.com/2007/09/20/how-not-to-cheat/" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; text-decoration: none;">working to develop a set of tools</a> to catch cheaters for an online poker company in 2007.</font></li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 15px 30px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; list-style: disc; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Levitt came out in <a href="http://www.freakonomics.com/2012/01/23/we-need-more-people-in-government-like-this/" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; text-decoration: none;">support of the hugely unpopular Stop Online Piracy Act</a>(SOPA), RIAA-backed legislation that would have given U.S. law enforcement unprecedented power to shut down and censor websites without due process. The reason Levitt supported SOPA? Because he believes one of the few things that government should do <a id="dd_start" style="line-height: 20.625px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; clear: both;"> protecting property rights.</a></font></li></ul><div style="text-align: justify;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="line-height: 20px;">---</span></font></div></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="line-height: 20px;"><div>SHAME REPORTS</div><div>
</div><div>Freakonomics Author Steven Levitt Is An Anti-Labor, Pro-Prison Milton Friedman Extremist</div><div>Steven Levitt:<b> Enemy of Chicago School Teachers</b></div><div><b>
</b></div><div>Undisclosed Income</div><div>
</div><div>Levitt is a sought-after corporate speaker who regularly gets paid to entertain investment banks, financial services firms and union-busting "human resource" outfits like the Society for Human Resource Management.<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> Levitt produced timely research defending the online gambling industry, without disclosing that he worked to develop analytical tools for at least one online gambling company.</span></div><div>
</div><div>In 2009, Levitt started an opaque business consulting company called the Greatest Good. In 2011, Levitt charged $3,000 per hour for web-based business consulting.</div><div>
</div><div>Smoking Gun Quotes</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">"I almost always believe in free markets as the solution to problems"</span></div><div>
</div><div>—Freakonomics Blog; January 23, 2012</div><div>
</div><div>"I would privatize prison industry. As long as the government is in charge of prison industries, it will be difficult if not impossible to avoid decisions being made with political rather than economic justifications"</div><div>
</div><div>—From a 1999 paper presented at the prison labor symposium hosted by a private-prison consulting firm</div><div>
</div><div>"Fertility declines [due to legalized abortion] for black women are three times greater than for whites (12 percent compared with 4 percent). Given that homicide rates of black youths are roughly nine times higher than those of white youths, racial differences in the fertility effects of abortion are likely to translate into greater homicide reductions. Under the assumption that those black and white births eliminated by legalized abortion would have experienced the average criminal propensities of their respective races, then the predicted reduction in homicide is 8.9 percent."</div><div>
</div><div>—From a 2001 paper arguing that an increase in abortions among black women in the 1970s was the reason for lower crime rates in the 1990s</div><div>
</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">"Any religion . . . has its heretics, and global warming is no exception."</span></div><div>
</div><div>—From a section in SuperFreakonomics "that debunked" global warming science</div><div>
</div><div>WANT TO KNOW MORE?</div><div>
</div><div>Six Questions for Levitt and Dubner (More Superfreakonomics Blogging) -- Brad DeLong</div><div>Report on Prison Labor Symposium -- Corrections Today</div><div>Paper: The Economics of Inmate Labor Participation -- Professor Steven D. Levitt</div><div>Error-riddled ‘Superfreakonomics’: New book pushes global cooling myths, sheer illogic, and “patent nonsense” -- ThinkProgress</div></span></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
http://grist.org/article/2009-11-03-superfreakonomics-chapter-climate-change/
The two Steves knew exactly what they were doing when they sat down to
pen the final chapter of their sequel to their 2005 bestseller <a href="http://freakonomicsbook.com/freakonomics/about-freakonomics/"><em>Freakonomics</em></a>. In the now infamous chapter in the newly released <a href="http://freakonomicsbook.com/superfreakonomics/about-superfreakonomics/"><em>SuperFreakonomics</em></a>,
Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner manage to downplay the global warming
threat, compare climate change believers to religious fanatics, and
accept at face value the assertion by some pointy-headed geeks that they
can save the world on the cheap.
surprise, <em>SuperFreakonomics</em> set off a firestorm of criticism and angry rebuke. To <a href="http://grist.org/article/2009-10-13-new-book-superfreakonomics-pushes-global-cooling-myths/">quote Joe Romm</a>,
“the Superfreaks frame this chapter mostly as their (misguided) view of
the science versus the views of that famous non-scientist Al Gore (as
opposed to the views of all of the scientists who disagree with the crap
they are peddling). That straw man approach gives them the ‘high’
ground.”
</font><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The Steves feigned surprise Monday night before a crowd of 300
gathered at Seattle’s Town Hall. Why would anyone get upset about that
chapter? We’re not denying the climate change problem, they averred, nor
are we saying nothing should be done about it.</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">To the contrary, the Steves told the audience, when they suggested
that the costs of capping carbon emissions are greater than the costs of
potential geoengineering solutions, they’re just being good, objective
scientists. No, make that economists — the only truth tellers among the
social scientists, who get treated like pariahs because they make
morally agnostic observations about humanity, they said. Dismal science,
indeed.</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The truth is, there’s plenty to object to in <em>SuperFreakonomics</em>.
The whole tone of the climate chapter understates the threat and
overstates the potential for technology to save the day. Some examples:</font></p>
<ul><li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Leading off the chapter with the “global cooling” hysteria of the
1970s, which sends a not-so-subtle signal that scientists are wrong lots
of the time — so they might be wrong again on global warming (pp.
165-66).</font></li><li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Citing one economist’s analysis that there’s only a 5 percent chance
of the worst-case climate scenarios happening — so why invest billions
to fix an unlikely threat? (p. 169)</font></li><li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Making the “global warming as religion” comparison, as if climate science were just another meaningless sectarian rift (p. 170).</font></li><li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Worried about sea level rise? Relax. The climate models all
disagree, and the rise that will actually happen won’t be all that bad
(pp. 185-86).</font></li><li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Worried about a bunch of U.N. bureaucrats coming up with a draconian
solution? Don’t. Even if they do, world governments will behave like
“rational actors” and do whatever is in their short-term best interest.
China and India ain’t gonna put their development on hold (pp. 202-03).</font></li><li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">You’re still worried about the devastating effects of global
warming? Stop losing sleep. There are these smart dudes with Microsoft
riches working to solve the climate problem, MacGyver style (pp.
176-96).</font></li></ul>
<p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">That’s a pretty simplistic review of the first part of the global
warming chapter. But it’s no more simplistic than the authors’ breezy
survey of climate science and unquestioning regurgitation of the wild
geoengineering ideas being offered up Nathan Myrhvold and his Hall of
Justice pals at Bellevue-based <a href="http://www.intellectualventures.com/">Intellectual Ventures</a>. (<em>Motto: If you thought of it, we already patented it</em>.)</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">This point bears a bit more scrutiny. <em>Freakonomics</em> and its
sequel contain lots of counterintuitive observations based on measurable
data. The global warming chapter stands out because, well, it doesn’t
rest on data. Myrhvold says he and his pals can float a “garden hose to
the sky” to pump sulfur 18 miles high into the stratosphere, all for $20
million in upfront costs and $10 million annually to keep it running.
Uh huh.</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">And the IV brainiacs have super boats in mind that would spray ocean
water into the air to feed the formation of clouds, blocking more
sunlight from hitting the surface and being absorbed as heat. Sounds
great, but how many boats? What do they cost?</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Dubner event hinted salaciously that IV has solutions to ocean acidification in the works. Details, please!</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">These are fascinating ideas. But they’re just that — ideas based on
some pretty big leaps of faith, i.e. that these things can be
engineered, that someone will fund them, and, moreover, that the
solutions will actually do enough to cool the planet.</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">As Grist’s very own <a href="http://grist.org/article/2009-10-16-why-richard-branson-and-superfreakonomics-are-wrong-in-pictures/">David Roberts wrote a few weeks back</a>,
“Lesson: the problems humanity faces are systemic and interrelated. The
idea that sucking CO2 out of the atmosphere will save us is akin to the
hope that a math equation can be solved by erasing one of the numbers.”</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">OK, enough. The real point here is get beyond the bad in <em>SuperFreakonomics</em> and focus on two messages that deserve greater discussion in the world of climate wonkery.</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">First, Levitt and Dubner do what economists do best, and that’s note
that emissions from burning fossil fuels are a negative externality —
fancy economist speak for the fact that we don’t really pay the full
cost of relying on coal, oil, and gas. Power plants and their customers
around the world generally don’t pay anything now to deal with the
environmental impact of CO2 emissions and other bad stuff — heavy metals
in the emissions and ash, health effects of particulate pollution, etc.</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">And it’s an open question whether an international carbon-cap system
based on trading credits and buying offsets can genuinely cut carbon
emissions enough to reduce global warming that’s already predicted to
happen. At the end of the day, no matter what is decided at Copenhagen,
it’s still in too many people’s economic interests to keep burning
fossil fuels. It’s also right for Levitt and Dubner to note that cutting
carbon emissions won’t address methane from livestock or nitrous oxide
from fertilizer.</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Second, and just as significant, Levitt and Dubner are doing a real
service by talking about geoengineering and stressing that technology
and innovation are going to be a part of saving our asses — it won’t be
done through complex cap-and-trade schemes alone. As fancical and
unproven as the ideas proffered by Myrhvold and company are, eggheads
everywhere should be encouraged to think about them and figure out ways
to execute them. We might just need some wacky tech solutions to fend
off the worst effects of global warming while we transition the global
economy toward clean, renewable energy.</font>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">So, read the book. Take the Steves’ dismissive tone with a grain of
salt, but think hard about how we insert geoengineering into the climate
discussion, and heed their warning about the limits of public policy to
steer people away from the old ways of doing things.</font>
<strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">More on the super-freaking-hullabaloo …</font></strong></p>
<ul><li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Levitt’s <a href="http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/10/18/global-warming-in-superfreakonomics-the-anatomy-of-a-smear/">lengthy defense</a> of the global warming chapter.</font></li><li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Joe Romm’s <a href="http://climateprogress.org/category/economics/">lengthier dissection</a> of it.</font></li><li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><em>Boston Globe</em> writer <a href="http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2009/11/01/the_freakonomics_duo_tackles_climate_changeand_discovers_the_limits_of_cleverness/">Drake Bennett’s take</a>.</font></li></ul>
<p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong>Video:</strong> Stephen Dubner on <em>SuperFreakonomics</em>:</font></p>
<font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong>Video:</strong> Intellectual Ventures video on “garden hose to the sky”
==</font>
</div></div></div>