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In 2010, the percentage of American adults who were 100 or more pounds overweight, severely obese, was 6.6%, or 15.5 million people, up dramatically from 3.9% a decade earlier, an increase of 70%! While moderate obesity (30 to 100 pounds…
Americans Alvin Roth and Lloyd Shipley won the Nobel Prize in economics for improving how to best match different sets of agents, such as organ donors and recipients, and agents and institutions, such as students with schools and doctors with…
While being in the front has its appeal, when it comes to surviving plane crashes, the back is best. In a recent deliberate plane crash designed to mimic the real thing, dummy-passengers in the front experiences 12 times the force…
The Friday File: In 2011, more newborns were born in August, 360,000, than any other month. July and September were next with 346,000 each. The least most popular month was February with 299,000. In ’11, the most popular names for…
After steadily falling for decades, nonfatal injuries to kids under five rose 12% between ’07 and ’10, based on hospital admissions data. Increases have been across-the-board, ranging from swimming pools to playground equipment to falls from chairs and sofas. Child…
Romney’s proposal works. Cutting tax rates by 20% costs $181 billion. Eliminating the AMT and taxes on interest, dividends and capital gains for couples with incomes below $200,000, and singles below $100,000, costs $38 billion. Filers with AGIs over $100,000…
Despite 114,000 jobs being created in September the unemployment rate plummeted to 7.8% from 8.1%. The unemployment rate is based on a tiny survey of 66,000 households that has a margin of error of 400,000! Moreover, the survey is especially…
The Friday File: As we celebrate Christopher Columbus, note his was a voyage of economics. He was seeking a trade route to transport high value-to-weight items to Europe. Instead, he found the New World and precious metals. Those metals caused…
Unlike the AT&T/T-Mobile merger which regulators rejected, the proposed T-Mobile/Metro PCS merger will get quick DOJ and FTC approval. Why? While the AT&T merger would have eliminated the largest low-priced competitor from the marketplace and increased industry concentration at the…
In ’05, the US imported 60% of its oil; now it’s 42% and falling. This has had profound geopolitical impacts. The rise in US oil production since ’05 is roughly equal to what Iran was exporting prior to UN sanctions.…