Improbable Research

Elizabeth Eaves offers a lesson in the basic economics of luxury purchases (and in particular, stripping), in the October 25 issue of the New York Times:

Does Christian Dior "overcharge" when it sells a handbag for
$13,000? That depends on how you look at it. If you see the handbag as
a few pieces of stitched leather, the price is grossly inflated. If you
see it as a source of heady self-worth - a passport to an exclusive
club - then it’s hard to say what price would be too high.

This
is the economic logic relied on by purveyors of luxury goods. It’s not
about the utility of the product. It’s about making the customer feel
as if he has arrived.

Strip clubs, particularly high-end ones
like Scores, provide a luxury service. That $3,000 price tag on a
bottle of Champagne isn’t just for the beverage; it’s part of the price
of the experience….

Chuck Bueter and his colleagues loft the paper plate to new heights in the history of multi-purpose education tools.

Investigator Robert E. Dale of King’s College London passed on to us an invitation that was passed on to him, and which we now pass on to you:

All College staff are welcome to attend a seminar on "Manufacturing
meaning in the chicken commodity chain" to be given by Dr. Peter
Jackson, Department of Geography, University of Sheffield.

The Seminar will take place on Wednesday 26th October, from 2.00-4.00pm
and will be held in the Geography Department, Room 102N, Norfolk
Building, Strand campus.

This is part of a Seminar Series Sponsored by King?s College, London,
Department of Geography and ESRC-AHRC Cultures of Consumption Research
Programme "Consuming Space(s) and Place(s): Placing Consumption in
Perspective"

Discovery Channel Canada’s "Daily Planet" show conducted interviews with winners and audience members at this year’s Ig Nobel Prize Ceremony. Their video report is now online (follow the link, and then click on "Not your typical science award").

An Ig Nobel Prize winner is planning to split into four pieces, according to news accounts. The Associated Press reports (today, October 24) that:

Cendant Corp., the $20 billion-a-year company that owns the Orbitz travel Web site and several hotel and real-estate brands, will split itself into four separate public companies, the conglomerate said Monday…. "We and our advisers believe the sum of the parts has a value in excess of our current share price," company Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Henry R. Silverman said in a news release.

Cendant was a co-winner of the 2002 Ig Nobel Economics Prize. The official citation explains that the prize was awarded to:

The executives, corporate directors, and auditors of Enron, Lernaut & Hauspie, Adelphia, Bank of Commerce and Credit International, Cendant, CMS Energy, Duke Energy, Dynegy, Gazprom, Global Crossing, HIH Insurance, Informix, Kmart, Maxwell Communications, McKessonHBOC, Merrill Lynch, Merck, Peregrine Systems, Qwest Communications, Reliant Resources, Rent-Way, Rite Aid, Sunbeam, Tyco, Waste Management, WorldCom, Xerox, and Arthur Andersen, for adapting the mathematical concept of imaginary numbers for use in the business world.