Long assumed to have a direct relationship, the connection between height and GDP becomes more complex when we compare India and Africa.…
Tall and Short Populations
Princeton economist Angus Deaton estimates that it will take 500 years for Indian women to reach the height of English women. In The Great Escape, Dr. Deaton explains that a population could be short …
Economic Growth: Tall Tennis Players
I was just reading about John Isner (6’10”), Juan Martin del Potro (6’6″), Milos Raonic (6’5″) and Ivo Karlovic (6’10”). Top ranked tennis players, the…
Winning the Olympics
How to predict Olympic medal winners? Economics. It takes money to train a world class athlete. The most economically fit countries can afford to train their athletes. Also, the “host bounceR…
Tall Stories
Explaining why no N.B.A. team drafted Jeremy Lin and the Knicks only picked him as a backup, New Yorker financial writer James Surowiecki focuses on height. But not how you might expect. Surowiecki ta…
Looking at Labor
What if a physical trait meant you will earn $230,000 less during a lifetime? According to one study, a person who was in the bottom one-seventh for looks earned 10% to 15% less than peopl…
Health and GDP
We are taller, healthier, heavier, and living longer. In 1790, a typical Frenchman weighed 110 pounds. Now, the scale says 170. That 60-pound difference relates to a lot more than food. According to a…
Growth Stories
Height is about more than how tall you are. When affluence grows, so too do people. Why? Height seems to correspond to economic growth. Connecting height and economic growth, a wonderful New Yor…
Tall Stories: Height and Success
A recent Daily Mail article about President Sarkozy’s height sensitivity reminded me of studies that relate height to success. But first, some height stats: Nicholas Sarkozy (France): 5&#…