Is America Switching from Booze to Weed? Archives - Freakonomics
A color-coded map of American personal indebtedness could be laid on top of the Centers for Disease Control’s color-coded map that illustrates the fantastic rise in rates of obesity across the United States since 1985 without disturbing the general pattern. The boom in trading activity in individual stock portfolios; the spread of legalized gamblin
... See moreMichael Lewis • Boomerang: Travels in the New Third World
Exploring the relationship between American universities and alcohol
Holly Whitaker • Holly Whitaker's Rudy Moment
Ethanol, otherwise known as ethyl alcohol or simply alcohol, had widely been used as a fuel, chiefly for lighting, in the early nineteenth century. In the United States, rather than buying whale oil for fuel, farmers would use a still to produce ethanol from crop waste. By the early 1860s, thousands of distilleries were producing around 90 million
... See moreTom Standage • A Brief History of Motion: From the Wheel, to the Car, to What Comes Next
These developments are being driven by a few key factors, including health, wealth, weed, and the acceptance of being sober-ish.