What happens when you combine a $100 student payment with a teacher bonus for high A.P. grades, better lab equipment, free tutoring, Saturday classes and extra teacher training? At one Boston school, the results for the A.P. Statistics exam were:…
A Water Shortage During Brazil’s World Cup
A major source of Sao Paulo, Brazil’s water supply has shrunk. Down to 14.7% of its capacity, the Cantareira Basin supplies almost half the area’s water. With little rain until recently (and it’s the rainy season from December to March)…
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Feminism
Our Monday Gender Issue: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Nigerian writer, former MacArthur genius, National Book Critics Circle Award winner, author of the book, Half of a Yellow Sun on which a new movie is based, and the person who has given so many…
The Unintended Consequences of Banning Ivory Sales
New US ivory regulations have had unintended consequences. During November 2013, the US government “pulverized” nearly 6 tons of elephant ivory from Asia and Africa. Intending to send a message to elephant poachers, the Fish and Wildlife Service destroyed ivory that…
The One Big Reason We Can’t Really Cut the Federal Deficit
It is tough to be a deficit hawk. Rather than our typical spike in wartime spending, we have a peacetime deficit. (Please note that the federal deficit is just how much spending exceeds revenue during one year.): Spending for……
What We Sacrifice for Pothole Patches
With 150,000 more potholes than last year and $12 for each temporary patch, Chicago has spent close to $3 million on pothole repair and the end is not in sight. NYC was at a record breaking 113,131 on February 20.…
Venezuela Has Cheap Gas But No Cars
At the official exchange rate, Venezuelans pay 5 cents a gallon for premium gasoline while the real price is closer to one half penny a gallon. The dark purple country at the northern tip of South America (below), Venezuela has the…
Is the Price of Protecting Pandas Too High?
By Madeleine Vance, guest blogger and student at Kent Place School This summer, I had an incredible opportunity to travel through China including a stop to see the giant pandas in Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province. Although the pandas didn’t…
What Can We Learn From Downton Abbey Economics?
Downton Abbey can tell us a lot about the British economy…but not everything. We know the aristocracy is struggling. Many of the 700 families who had controlled 80% of all acreage during the 1870s faced financial collapse 50 years later.…
Problems With Grade Deflation
The number of hours we study is down and our grades are up. Between 1961 and 2003, full time college students diminished their study time from 40 to 27 hours a week. And yet, they have been getting higher grades.…