Capitalismo x Socialismo

Esse cartoon me lembrou a frase atribuída a Sérgio Porto, o Stanislaw Ponte Preta: – Capitalismo é a exploração do homem pelo homem. O socialismo é o contrário.

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Patê ou comida de cachorro?

O chamado imperialismo econômico, a economia se metendo na área de outras ciências, avança agora até sobre a gastronomia e os vinhos. Como em outras áreas, vem para gerar polêmica e desmistificar os experts. Um trabalho, por exemplo, mostra que as pessoas não conseguem distinguir comida para cachorro de patê.

"We have this idea in our head that dog food won't taste good and that we would be able to identify it, but it turns out that is not the case," said Robin Goldstein, a co-author of the study, which was published online Thursday as a working paper by the American Assn. of Wine Economists.
Goldstein (veja o ótimo blog dele, o Blind Taste) said the tasting demonstrated that "context plays a huge role in taste and value judgment," even though researchers warned the participants that one of the five foods they were going to taste was dog food.
The five samples came from a wide price range and were processed to have a similar consistency. The foods were duck liver mousse, pork liver pâté, two imitation pâtés -- pureed liverwurst and Spam -- and Newman's Own dog food.
Eight participants believed the liverwurst was the dog food, while four thought Spam was the culprit. Two people identified the high-end pâté as dog food, and one identified the duck liver mousse as dog food.

O paper será publicado no jornal da Association of Wine Economists. Pasme, ela existe.

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Você adia as tarefas?

Tim Harford, economista e colunista, mantém uma espécie de consultório econômico no Financial Times. Ele aceita todo tipo de pergunta dos leitores. Veja a dica sobre como fazer tudo a tempo e a hora.

Dear Economist: Can you help me to stop procrastinating?

I tend to procrastinate and leave tasks until the very last moment. As a consequence, I always feel as though I could have done more and that my potential has been somewhat unfulfilled. However, I find I concentrate much better and am more prolific with a deadline dangerously close. Can economics help me resolve this tension?

T.N., Limerick, Ireland

Terceirizando o próprio trabalho

Depois do exemplo dado pelas grandes empresas, segundo o site de humor The Onion, a nova tendência nos EUA é terceirizar o próprio trabalho. Imperdível, divirta-se com o vídeo




Dica: Greg Mankiw

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O segredo de Madoff

Dica: blog Rodrigo Constantino

Correlação não é... causalidade

Do XKCD

dica: blog do Leonardo Monastério

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Humor na crise