I’ll be debating with Dan Ariely (author of Predictably Irrational) on Amazon’s Omnivoracious blog. After all, our books do seem to contradict each other. Sadly, we’re both far too nice to tear strips off each other, but I suspect there will be a few disagreements…Dan’s first post is here; the Omnivoracious introduction is here. My first reply will be going up tomorrow, or perhaps Friday. And in case you were wondering, the photograph didn’t come from me: perhaps Dan was overly impressed by tales of my economics-based exercise regime.

You will all know that by sending your emails to economist [at] ft.com you will reach me in the guise of “Dear Economist“, where I offer advice on romance, odd socks and intimate waxing, all using the latest economic theory. All perfectly rational.

Now Dan Ariely proposes to offer irrational advice - or advice for the irrational? - instead… check it out here. I am looking forward to seeing the results. It all depends on whether you want to pander to your inner Homer Simpson or your inner Mr Spock!

Yoram Bauman is coming to the UK as part of his “supply side” world tour. Don’t miss it: Old Fire Station, 19 April 2008. (HT: Knackered Hack, and Yoram himself too.)

Videos from Yoram here; I am also speaking in Oxford twice in April, but that’s a lot less exciting.

As a cyclist, I find London’s buses - not just the bendy ones, but all of them - to be infuriating. They take up so much space! But a good economist always asks, “compared to what?”. Here’s the answer, via Virtual Economics. The original is from a campaign by the city of Munster, I am told. It matches up pretty well with my intuition.

Sudhir Venkatesh explains:

In fact, $4,300 is not an altogether alarming sum of money in the high-end sex market. Spitzer got a bargain—and that may have been his downfall.
In many so-called global cities, like New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago, sex is part of a lucrative service sector that has developed for those with expendable income. Soliciting a prostitute can be as pricey as hiring a personal chef or finding a private school for your kids. In New York, it’s not hard to find sex workers who charge $10,000 per “session,” which can last for 15 minutes or two hours (jokes aside).

The piece is up at Slate.

Meanwhile…

Astute readers of this blog know that we have an abiding interest in the economics of prostitution. One of the people who will be featured in our next book is a high-end call girl who goes by the name of Allie. Without giving away much detail here, let me just say that Allie is a very bright and attractive blonde who works for herself (not through an agency) in a large U.S. city, and often travels to other large cities. In light of the news about Eliot Spitzer’s encounter with a high-end call girl, we asked Allie a few pertinent questions:

Q. Have you ever had a client as powerful or well-known as Eliot Spitzer? (You haven’t had Spitzer himself as a client, have you?)

A. I have clients that are professional athletes, artists, and entertainers. They are probably better known, but obviously not as powerful. I don’t believe I have ever seen Eliot, or as I like to call him, Number 9.

More here.

Gary Gygax, co-creator of the first role-playing game Dungeons and Dragons, has died at the age of 69.
Gygax, who developed the game in 1974 with Dave Arneson, had been suffering from health problems for several years.
Famous for its mythical creatures and odd-shaped dice, Dungeons and Dragons was an instant success that spawned a slew of video games, books and films.

More here and much more here.

I was in Singapore last week, promoting The Logic of Life. One feature of the book that some reviewers have picked up on is that the book contains a thoughtful, rigorous and (in my opinion) decorous few pages on the economics of oral sex. It was only as my interview schedule was nearly finished that the publicist said, “by the way, oral sex is illegal in Singapore“.

Hm. Fascinating. And it would have been nice to be told before commencing the tour of Singapore.

Well, Megan finally talked me into Skype. I have never seen the point: almost all my calls are from a mobile phone.

“It’s great for calling home from far-flung hotel rooms,” she said. Aha - now that IS a good idea. And, since I am writing this in Australia, timely advice as well.

Alas, one thing you cannot seem to do with Skype is buy credit from a hotel, because of the way most hotels access the internet. Consipracy, or cock-up? In this case, surely a cock-up. I hearby award Skype a Stupid Point and my glorious relationship with them as a paying customer will have to wait. Perhaps a very long time.

Yesterday saw my date with destiny - and very nearly a date with Stephen Colbert, the charismatic right-wing loon who hosts The Colbert Report. I hope I am not breaking any confidences when I say that out of character, Stephen is charming and very empathetic. That said, he stays in character a lot - backstage is a pretty nerve-wracking experience. During our interview he managed to get me to urge the nation’s children to start smoking, compare oral sex to Pepsi, and announce that our brain is our gut. Not bad for four minutes - for the remaining 8 seconds I kept my dignity very well.
Earlier in the week I spoke to the Googlers; forty minutes instead of four and gentle but intelligent questioning. I’d like to tell you more about Google but they zapped me with a special mind ray and I can’t recall a thing, except bright lights and soft voices.
Links to both Colbert and Google are here.