Wow, high end restaurants have changed what they serve over time!


My investigation on changes in the price of going to the prom in the Wall Street Jorurnal (see here) got a number of comments and emails.  The most interesting email came from Marie Concannon.  She is one of the head librarians at the University of Missouri.  Ms. Concannon created a web site called “Prices and Wages by Decade” (click here).  It contains links to the retail prices for all sorts of things that people buy like food, clothing, transportation, housing and education. Continue reading

The Prom and the Wall Street Journal

Today’s Wall Street Journal has an article discussing my Prom Price Index (article is here).  For those of you who are new readers, I have been creating an index that tracks the change in the price of going to the Prom since 2014.  The updated 2018 index is found on this blog under the “Data Files” heading or by clicking here. Continue reading

Should NBA Teams Really Shoot More 3s?

The NBA playoffs are about to begin.  Sports announcers and writers again will hype the game, especially long shots from outside the three point arc.  The common refrain I hear is that teams should take more 3 pointers because they are worth 50% more than 2 pointers.

This statement while factually correct is just plain wrong. Continue reading

How to deal with life’s risks more rationally

The world is an uncertain and risky place. The news constantly bombards us with scary situations from school shootings to gruesome murders.  Risk is everywhere and associated with everything. For example, the Center for Disease Control a decade ago estimated over 20 million people a year ended up in emergency rooms because of bathroom injuries. Continue reading