In 2003, a young American woman in London studying for her PhD. ran into money trouble. To support herself while writing her thesis, she joined an escort service. Under the assumed name Belle de Jour, she started to blog her experiences. That blog led to a series of successful, jaunty memoirs beginn ... Read more

Is it just coincidence that this morning a federal judge, who reportedly is a movie buff, heard the tax conviction appeal of an actor who played a vampire hunter on the very day that the second installment of the pop culture phenomenon Twilight film series hit theaters? ... Read the full post ... Read more

"What makes hate tick? How can we stop it?" These are the questions that Jim Mohr, director of Gonzaga University's Institute for Action Against Hate, asks himself every day as he develops a new field of study around hate. Mohr believes that despite all the devastating examples of hate in the world, ... Read more

Sometimes a great idea in the lab doesn't work so well in the field. George Yin, former Chief of Staff of the Congressional Joint Committee on Taxation, thinks temporary legislation -- such as the perpetually-expiring AMT patch and research credit -- is a good thing : Consequently, enactment ... Read more

When blog reader Kyle contacted us with his story of how thinking "freakonomically" first netted - then lost - him significant amounts of incremental income, we had what we'd call an "aha moment," if Oprah hadn't apparently patented that phrase. Here's Kyle's story - and if you have a tale of "appl ... Read more

Who's paying taxes and just how much, relatively speaking, are they handing over to the Treasury? That's been the topic of debate since several groups released income tax studies this year. First, the Tax Foundation reported that the tax burden of the top 1 percent of taxpayers ... ... Read more

Well, somebody liked the post about owning your own business-- Being your own boss is so exciting. You can do whatever your heart tells. Of course before doing whatever you want you must consider making some cash flow plan otherwise you won't be your own boss but your own slave. With g ... Read more

Governor Culver has formed a panel to review Iowa's 30-odd business incentive tax credits . He sent a letter to some of his agency heads: To assist the panel with their work, I am asking you to submit information on your respective departments’ tax credits to the Iowa Department of Manageme ... Read more

Tax Policy Blog has a handy summary of how Harry Reidcare will allegedly be financed . Peter Pappas has a nice summary of some of the more baleful provisions of the bill , including a sexism angle. One of the taxes in the bill applies to cosmetic surgery, which Mr. Pappas calls "...a vanity ta ... Read more

It's well-established that domestic violence is bad for the children directly exposed to it (and possibly their classmates as well) but experts still debate the drivers of family violence. Economists have traditionally characterized violence as a signal to outside parties or as part of an incentive ... Read more