The Economics of Everyday Things

A fraternity’s budget includes broken windows, liability insurance, chili dog breakfasts, and the occasional $40,000 DJ. Zachary Crockett crashes the party.   * SOURCES: * Anthony Anderson, member of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity. * Danielle Logan [http://fratmgmt.com/], owner of Fraternity Management. * Charlie O’Neill, member of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity. * Stephen J. Schmidt [https://www.union.edu/economics/faculty-staff/stephen-j-schmidt], professor of economics at Union College.   * RESOURCES: * "If Student Deaths Won't Stop Fraternity Hazing, What Will? [https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/if-student-deaths-won-t-stop-fraternity-hazing-what-will-n1260750]" by Ben Kesslen (NBC News, 2021). * "Social Animal House: The Economic And Academic Consequences Of Fraternity Membership [https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/coecpo/v36y2018i2p263-276.html]," by Jack Mara, Lewis Davis, and Stephen Schmidt (Contemporary Economic Policy, 2018). * "How Fraternities Exacerbate Inequality [https://www.marketwatch.com/story/how-fraternities-exacerbate-inequality-2017-10-26]," by Jillian Berman (MarketWatch, 2017). * "18 U.S. Presidents Were in College Fraternities [https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2014/02/18-us-presidents-were-in-college-fraternities/283997/]," by Maria Konnikova (The Atlantic, 2014). * Inside Greek U.: Fraternities, Sororities, and the Pursuit of Pleasure, Power, and Prestige [https://amzn.to/3yeG8mz], by Alan D. DeSantis (2007).   * EXTRAS: * "Freakonomics Radio Goes Back to School [https://freakonomics.com/freakonomics-radio-goes-back-to-school/]," series by Freakonomics Radio (2022).

How does bail work — and who's really paying? Zachary Crockett follows the money.   * SOURCES: * Joshua Page [https://cla.umn.edu/about/directory/profile/page], professor of sociology and law at the University of Minnesota. * Steven Zalewski [https://alberlegal.com/our-team/steven-zalewski-esq/], criminal defense attorney and co-owner of Affordable Bails New York.   * RESOURCES: * "Does Bail Reform Increase Crime in New York State: Evidence from Interrupted Time-Series Analyses and Synthetic Control Methods [https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/07418825.2023.2209145]," by Sishi Wu and David McDowall (Justice Quarterly, 2023). * "Profit Over People: The Commercial Bail Industry Fueling America’s Cash Bail Systems [https://www.americanprogress.org/article/profit-over-people/]," by Allie Preston and Rachael Eisenberg (Center for American Progress, 2022). * "All Profit, No Risk: How the Bail Industry Exploits the Legal System [https://www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/bail.html]," by Wendy Sawyer (Prison Policy Initiative, 2022). * "A Debt of Care: Commercial Bail and the Gendered Logic of Criminal Justice Predation [https://www.rsfjournal.org/content/5/1/150]," by Joshua Page, Victoria Piehowski, and Joe Soss (RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences, 2019). * "The Economics of Bail and Pretrial Detention [https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/BailFineReform_EA_121818_6PM.pdf]," by Patrick Liu, Ryan Nunn, and Jay Shambaugh (The Hamilton Project, 2018). * "Selling Off Our Freedom: How Insurance Corporations Have Taken Over Our Bail System [https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/uploads/legal-documents/059_bail_report_2_1.pdf]," by Color Of Change and ACLU’s Campaign for Smart Justice (2017). * "Inside the Wild, Shadowy, and Highly Lucrative Bail Industry [https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2014/06/bail-bond-prison-industry/]," by Shane Bauer (Mother Jones, 2014).   * EXTRAS: * "To Catch a Fugitive [https://freakonomics.com/podcast/to-catch-a-fugitive/]," by Freakonomics Radio (2011).

So many vehicles on the road today are white, black, or gray — but automotive designers find that consumer preferences may be changing lanes. Zachary Crockett surveys the lot.   * SOURCES: * Tom Crockett, classic car enthusiast. * Mark Gutjahr [https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-gutjahr-8b7325/?originalSubdomain=de], global head of design at BASF. * Nikkie Riedel [https://www.linkedin.com/in/nikkie-riedel-415628184/], carline planning manager at Subaru of America.   * RESOURCES: * BASF Color Report 2023 for Automotive OEM Coatings [https://www.basf-coatings.com/global/en/shaping-the-future/driving_color_design/global_color_report.html]. * "Beige on an S.U.V. Will Cost You, but for Pickups It’s Golden [https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/25/business/car-paint-job-resale-value.html]," by Roy Furchgott (The New York Times, 2021). * "A Brief History Of Car Colors — And Why Are We So Boring Now? [https://www.consumerreports.org/consumerist/a-brief-history-of-car-colors-and-why-are-we-so-boring-now/]" (Consumer Reports, 2018). * "The Link Between the Colour of Cars and the Economy [https://www.economist.com/britain/2018/01/18/the-link-between-the-colour-of-cars-and-the-economy]," (The Economist, 2018).   * EXTRA: * "Car Washes [https://freakonomics.com/podcast/car-washes/]," by The Economics of Everyday Things (2023).

Americans love to buy new stuff and hate to get rid of old stuff, which is why storing it all has become a $45 billion business. Zachary Crockett cleans out the garage.   * SOURCES: * Zachary Dickens [https://ir.extraspace.com/management/zachary-dickens], executive vice president and chief investment officer of Extra Space Storage. * Anne Mari DeCoster [https://www.linkedin.com/in/anne-mari-decoster-14185a35/], self-storage consultant. * Kara Kolodziej, self-storage unit tenant.   * RESOURCES: * "A Fifth Of Americans Rent Self Storage, With Millennials Overtaking Gen Xers In Generational Storage Wars [https://www.storagecafe.com/blog/self-storage-demand-and-trends/]," by Francis Chantree (Storage Cafe, 2024). * "Lessors of Mini Warehouses and Self-Storage Units Show Significant Financial Gains During COVID-19 Pandemic [https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2024/01/self-storage-industry.html]," by Ben Chandler and Robin Enlow (United States Census Bureau, 2024). * "The Fate of Oversupplied Self-Storage Markets and How to Pull Back From the Brink [https://www.insideselfstorage.com/self-storage-investing-real-estate/the-fate-of-oversupplied-self-storage-markets-and-how-to-pull-back-from-the-brink]," by Frank DeSalvo and David Perlleshi (Inside Self Storage, 2023). * "A Pandemic Space Race: Self-Storage Roars Back [https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/21/business/self-storage-roars-back.html]," by Ellen Rosen (The New York Times, 2021). * "Need to Store That? Booming Self-Storage Industry Says No Problem [https://www.wsj.com/articles/need-to-store-that-booming-self-storage-industry-says-no-problem-1444728600]," by Liam Pleven (The Wall Street Journal, 2015).   * EXTRAS: * Storage Wars [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1785123/], TV series (2010-present). * Auction Hunters [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1742340/], TV series (2010-2015).

The background noises you hear in film and TV — from footsteps to zombie guts — are produced in specialized studios by professionals known as Foley artists. Zachary Crockett makes some noise.   * SOURCE: * Gregg Barbanell [https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0053203/], foley artist at Universal Studios.   * RESOURCES: * "The Weird, Analog Delights of Foley Sound Effects [https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2022/07/04/the-weird-analog-delights-of-foley-sound-effects]," by Anna Wiener (The New Yorker, 2022). * "The Strangest Foley Sounds in Cinema [https://www.acmi.net.au/stories-and-ideas/the-strangest-foley-sounds-in-cinema/]," by Amber Gibson (ACMI, 2021). * "The Man Who Makes Hollywood’s Smallest Sounds [https://priceonomics.com/the-man-who-makes-hollywoods-smallest-sounds/]," by Zachary Crockett (Priceonomics, 2015).   * EXTRA: * "No Hollywood Ending for the Visual Effects Industry [https://freakonomics.com/podcast/no-hollywood-ending-for-the-visual-effects-industry/]," by Freakonomics Radio (2017).