Mini Freakonomics

1.The Poor Baker’s Dozen

Ever wonder why donut places offer you one free donut in a dozen donuts? What additional satisfaction does the customer get with one extra thirteenth donut? In my local bakery, a dozen donuts costs me $6.00 and a single donut costs 75 cents. The customer’s value on the donut decreases with every additional donut. The value of one donut may start off at 75 cents, but by the thirteenth donut the value reaches around 20 cents (assuming the value decreases linearly by about 4 cents).

This means that the bakery is taking a loss by adding the thirteenth donut. The only reason they would add the thirteenth donut is if it was a big enough incentive (a mighty 20 cents of value) for their customers to buy more donuts.

Here is a question for you, would an extra thirteenth donut make you want to buy a dozen donuts when you otherwise wouldn’t have? No it wouldn’t, and that is why the baker’s dozen is a stupid business invention.

2. Halloween, A Night of Horrifying Economics

Halloween is that time of year where millions of dollars of candy don’t get optimized. A large percentage of the candy kids get is not wanted and thrown away. There should be a “National Halloween Free Trade Market,” that opens up the week following Halloween. This will allow kids everywhere to trade candies they don’t like for those they do like.

3. Party Goers Might be Superficial

People who go to parties or clubs on a regular basis to meet a mate are more likely to be superficial. When you go to a social scene like this, you are exposed to many potential mates. You would need to narrow down your choices in a matter seconds! Choosing the right person to ‘hit’ on in the pool of potentials may be a superficial process. You must point out superficial qualities in a person because you don’t have time to get to know everyone. This superficial selection attribute may spill over to your daily life. A potential mate at work may be shot down before you ever get to know each other.

4. Religious People More Likely to be Racist

By religious people, I mean people who identify themselves as the same religion as the one they were raised to be. The same qualities reside in both religious people and racists.

Both:
- Have faith that their beliefs are correct.
- Have no evidence to justify their beliefs.
- Refuse to open themselves to new perspectives on their beliefs.
- Don't allow logic to interfere with learned behavior/thoughts.
- Feel more in touch with peers when practicing beliefs.

This correlation may be off because there is a much stronger stigma to be racist than religious. The possibility is increased because they have the prerequisite characteristics of a racist.

5. Music Artists Finally Get Paid What They Deserve

The record industry has reached the lowest point in history. This would make song artists pissed off because now they don't make as much money. They shouldn't be pissed! They are finally receiving the amount of money they always deserved.

CEOs make a lot of money because their skills are in short supply and highly demanded. Now a day, all you need to be successful in the music industry is an excellent marketing team and a sufficient budget. The amount of people with an adequate amount of music skill is not in short supply. Now the song artists will receive a more accurate amount of money their skill deserves.