Mild Super Power

When you have a working knowledge of economics, it’s like having a mild super power. For example, I use my knowledge of economics to avoid speeding tickets. I assume the local law enforcement agencies have limited funding and can’t be everywhere at the same time. That tells me, fairly reliably, when I can speed without detection and when I can’t.

For example, if I get up before the crack of dawn to go to the airport, I can speed all I want. No police force is going to pay an employee to sit on a road at 5 AM with virtually no traffic and a low accident rate and wait for a speeder. That would be bad economics.

You also never see speed traps on the freeway during rush hour. One reason is probably because it’s more dangerous to pull over people in that much traffic. But the bigger factor is that it would slow traffic during rush hour. That’s a huge economic impact on society for not much return in the way of making society safer. All it would do is make the police less popular, and make people think the police don’t need the funding they already have.

Around here, the police have little portable trailers with radar and a display sign. They leave it unattended on side streets. The radar tracks your car and the display tells you how fast you are going. They’ve discovered that motorists slow down when they realize the device is tracking their speed. This doesn’t work on me. When I see that trailer, I speed up because I know the police won’t put both the trailer and a real policeman in the same neighborhood. It would be a waste of money to have both, since the trailer with the radar slows down everyone but economists.

You can also speed on the Fourth of July if you are nowhere near the celebration areas. All the police will be where the crowds are. No other arrangement would make economic sense. That tip is my little gift to you, until you run over someone because you were speeding.

If you plan to speed, it also pays to be a middle-aged male. For years I have been observing who the police pull over for speeding and who they don’t. A police officer (usually male) has lots of choices for who to ticket for speeding. If he is heterosexual, and stops a heterosexual male, he has no chance of getting sex, and a non-zero chance of getting killed. If he stops a female, he has some chance of being offered sex (or at least some flirting) to get out of the ticket, and not much risk of violence. Cops are rational and make the correct economic decision most of the time. Where I live, about 80% of all motorists who are stopped for speeding are women, and it has been that way since I can remember. Economics tells me it will stay that way, at least as long as the opportunity for getting head is more valuable than the opportunity of getting punched in the head. (If it’s different where you live, your cops are either gay or irrational.)

I was reminded again of the power of economics when reading responses to my post yesterday on the future of newspapers. One of the more common dissenting opinions was that as long as grandpa is alive, there will be newspapers, because he will always want one. Readers who have the super power of economics training recognized that newspapers have high fixed costs and could become unviable if only a portion of younger readers cancel subscriptions. Grandpa is somewhat irrelevant to the future of newspapers, especially since advertisers don’t care much about him. To advertisers, one subscriber who is thirty-something is worth about seven grandpas.

My reason for majoring in economics in college was to understand how the world works, so I would be more equipped to navigate in it. I think it was a good choice. Has your college major given you any mild super powers?

Comments

[Julie D.]

I studied architecture, so my mild-superpower is being able to determine exactly the lenght of something. Also it ables me to pack a car truck or a box with more things than anybody a know. Very handy for vacations!

[Bob]

Economics is only applicable when you don't apply it to the economy....prisoner's dilemma my ass.

[Jagadeesh Venugopal]

Scott now what if the policeman took economics as an undergrad?

The 5 AM route to the airport may not have too many cars, but each one will be an easy pick... just like shooting fish in a barrel.

[Jay]

I took Introduction to Logic as a philosophy requirement. This course has protected me from most lawyer's, salesmen's, and politician's crap that they spew. The section on logical fallacies alone was worth the class.

[adora]

I majored in Architecture, minored in Theater Arts. My mild super power is gaydar.

[Stomper]

No, Random, you are not addressing my point. I'm not talking about the danger from ONE speeder overtaking another driver. I am talking about the dangerous condition created when one driver is bottlenecking all the surrounding traffic, as multiple drivers try to go around him.

Are you arguing that technical compliance with the law is more important than the safety of you, your passenger(s), and the surrounding drivers? If so, then I am glad you are not a traffic engineer, or a defense lawyer.

--Stomper

[esteban]

You'd be surprised, i was once given a ticket for speeding to an airport at 4 am...

[Fair Witness]

Speaking of economics, a little class called Engineering Economic Analysis changed my life considerably. You would be surprised how a little concept like the relationship between money and time can escape some people. Yet it can make the difference between a comfortable life and dying in a gutter somewhere. Sure, E=MCsquared can help you make a bomb, but FV=PV(1+i)(power of n) can help you retire at 48! And then you can sit around commenting on people's blogs.

[Fair Witness]

I also like to think engineering taught me how to quickly get to the root of a problem. After much reflection, I realize I was probably born with that ability, and the engineering training helped me understand how things work, which enhanced the skill. That is, unless humans are involved... then it all goes out the window.

[Fair Witness]

My engineering degree gave me a very accurate BS detector. That particular superpower can protect you from a lot of harm, and can help you protect others from harm if they will listen to you. But it is frustrating that being able to generate crafty BS is just as powerful, if not more powerful, than detecting it. There are so many people out there who feed on it. There are more riches to be had by wallowing in the absurd than by leading people away from it. Curse this foul world!

[Janos]

Scott,

Sometimes you are so self-depreciatory that I don't even understand how you get out of bed in the morning, or your preferred time of day. However, in this article, you have such a big head that it would only fit in most doors sideways (another Hungarianism, I hope it translates).
Make up your mind, darnit! And keep drawing Dilbert in the meantime, please.

[jc]

I sometimes have the bad habit of overanalyzing things when I shouldn't. For example, I might see a movie and accept the fact that a cop can survive multiple close-range explosions, but am totally incredulous about how big his NYC apartment is. So, I should probably hold my tongue and accept this post as entertainment, but...

What kind of bizarre porno-fantasy world do you live in where cops have any imaginable chance of getting sex during a traffic pull-over? Or where even a small fraction of the females they pull over would even be desirable, assuming willingness was not an issue?

And where I live, the white trailers/vans can have cameras to snap a photo of you and your license plate so you get a ticket in the mail (a few years back I got a nice picture of my wife, with a cell phone to her ear to boot). Despite the fact that some say these won't hold up if you go to court, which is less trouble for the super-economist - slowing down a bit or having a court date?

[it's me]

In college I learned how to pretend you're awake in class.

1. Sit behind someone taller than you.
2. Pull the brim of your hat down low
3. Hold a pencil in one hand and rest your chin on your other hand.
If your angles are correct it looks like you're concentrating really hard on your paper. You can do somthing similar at work if your back is to the aisle, just pull up a spreadsheet and "study" it very carefully.

[Di]

Sorry - I worked it out. The line comes between the comment and the author not in the same section! Dah.

[Di]

ok - how did you do it. My post (Di - about traffic in Johannesburg) is listed as being posted by "latsot". The next post a Di (I assume me) isn't mine.

Do you know how hard it is to get a computer to separate information across multiple records?

I also don't remember writing the real post nearly so well as what is displayed. Thank you.

[Tom Gao]

You people must have real shitty expectations.
Where I come from, Knowledge + Experience ≠ Superpower (albeit a mild one).

If you're rich then you can probably do and get away with practically anything one can imagine. But even that's not in the same league as "superpower" cos I can just run over you with my ride-on mower. Wanna feel special? Get some head. Just don't lament on what could never be by trying to make something trivial seem more than what it really is in substance.

On the topic of newspaper circulations, I believe that newspaper popularity will remain stable. Hell, I'm willing to bet that it could even rise a pointer or two. Two reasons come to mind immediately:
1. A broadsheet is easier to look at than the full glare of a radioactive LCD screen frying up your retina and
2. What would be the first thing one reaches for when the beloved dog/cat/pet defecates on your favourite Persian rug?

I rest my ass

[Mark]

My mild super power is the ability to get people to do things they wouldn't normally do. I went to West Point and the training I got there sharpened this skill. This skill works best with cow-workers. I don't have trouble at work because I can deal with problem people before they become a problem by getting them to be nice or at least wary of me.

[mattlee]

I work as a salesman selling advertising, and on the side I am a magician. Essentially I am a professional liar and a con-artist. My lie, bullshit and misdirection detectors are all extremely sensitive.

My training is as a computer engineer and all that gives me is the ability to count from zero in binary.

[mattlee]

I work as a salesman selling advertising, and on the side I am a magician. Essentially I am a professional liar and a con-artist. My lie, bullshit and misdirection detectors are all extremely sensitive.

My training is as a computer engineer and all that gives me is the ability to count from zero in binary.

[random]

Re Stomper and people driving at speed limit causing the danger. Its only an issue when an idiot speeder tries to overtake them at a dangerous location and given that they shouldn't be overtaking someone who is already doing the speed LIMIT, it is the overtaker who is to blame and causing the danger. Your argument of 'well its okay to break the law if everyone else is breaking the law' is not a good one. You might be able to get away with in that case but you are still breaking the law. If everyone around you started looting a shop would you join in because you know you would probably get away with it?

[water_moon]

I majored in economics becasue unlike philosophy or English it made common sense. Can't really say it's helped all that much.

[Frans]

"You also never see speed traps on the freeway during rush hour"
I envy you beyond measure for living in a place where a speedtrap on the freeway during rush hour would have even the smallest chance of measuring anyone doing more than 20% of the official speed limit.

I trained as a Chartered Accountant, and my mild superpower is to actually know how much money I have, and not spend more than that (something which seems fairly obvious to me, but from what I can discern from people around me . . . . . it probably qualifies as a mild superpower)

[Kirk]

I did English Lit, and it gave me the mild superpower of knowing where to put apostrophes. The downside is that the superpower makes me unstable when i see apostrophes in the wrong place, and i get RAGE. The rage only stops when I have belittled the person who put the apostrophe in the wrong place.

Posted by: Bob
------

Bob, you are not alone. My Hubby has to restrain my red pen on cafe menus and market traders' stalls and drag me away from them muttering.

[Stomper]

Speed limits are useful guidelines, but people who worship them as absolutes are misguided.

Faster speeds always impose a greater risk of serious harm. A speed limit is therefore a policy statement about the government's preferred balance between (i) risk of harm and (ii) the need for efficiency in getting people from one place to another.

These policy statements are based in large part on statistics and physics, but that does not mean they are scientifically precise. In fact, good traffic engineering requires that speed limits be adjusted as conditions change.

Governmental bodies will sometimes increase a speed limit when studies show that most drivers on a particular stretch of road are exceeding that limit. The limit is therefore misleading and could actually CONTRIBUTE to accidents.

The most dangerous driver on the road is the one who varies substantially from the general flow of traffic, whether that means going much faster or much slower than the general flow. If you insist on driving below the speed limit when everyone around you is trying to drive 5-10 mph faster, then YOU are creating a hazardous condition.

--Stomper

[Aaron]

My music major helps me make sense and create structure out of another system that seems to have no rhyme or reason - insurance.

[Steve]

When I see that trailer, I speed up because I know the police won’t put both the trailer and a real policeman in the same neighborhood. It would be a waste of money to have both, since the trailer with the radar slows down everyone but economists

I thought the same until I realized the cop was still there after dropping off the trailer.. Nice bonehead ticket for me

[Bill]

Years ago when I first saw one of those radar trailers, my reaction was to ask the other person in the car, "What's your high score".

I've always wanted to put a sign below one of the displays that says "High Scores" with 3 sets of initials and their speeds.

[Arianne]

Or the cops could be women...

[stigin]

I have used my IT knowledge to configure my modem's firewall to restrict my kids access to MSN chat. Other parents are in awe of me! Or as my brother says, "Steve, you must learn to use your powers for good instead of evil!"

[Diana H]

A degree in English Literature enables me to guess the ending of most fiction and films (sometimes from the first paragraph or scene). My husband prefers not to know.

[John E]

Only people that don't have a basic understanding of time and distance speed. They measure their progress by the number of people they pass not the number of miles they cove in a given amount of time.
Anyone that has taken math would understand most of the itme speeding is a waste of time. If you have a 30 mile commute and you drive 65 mph it will take you 27 minutes to get there. On the same commute if you drove 85 miles an hour 20 mph over the speed limit an amount most people consider excessive you only shave 5 minutes off your commute time. Think about how little time that really is. Speeding only saves time on long distance drives and that tiem can be better saved by stopping less frequently.

[Conor]

Studied both anthropology and information technology. A massive part of this synthesis was economic in nature, so yes, I'd certainly agree that the insights gleaned from that work have helped me to understand things a bit quicker than those near and dear to me sometimes do.

There are still certain foreign languages I'm uncomfortable in, but by and large I'd say what I've learned in my studies translates immediately and well across cultures and societies.

[Bob]

I did English Lit, and it gave me the mild superpower of knowing where to put apostrophes. The downside is that the superpower makes me unstable when i see apostrophes in the wrong place, and i get RAGE. The rage only stops when I have belittled the person who put the apostrophe in the wrong place.

[David, Hungary]

I am a toxicologist - I know about the junk in the so-called "health supplements" that most of the population seem to worship. Reading the ads and labels is pretty amusing for me. What is more difficult to understand is the gullibility of the general public, but mankind has always fallen for snake oil sales patter. Even the great and the good are fooled.

[Nicole]

I majored in Informatics & Economics, but I'm still a careful driver. Perhaps not all countries function the same way as USA ;)

Also my superpowers would be to analyse things... :-/

[Dominic]

I was a Classics major, like a commenter up above. That means Latin, ancient Greek, and archaeology. I believe such studies train one to be extremely sensitive to any type of text, ancient or modern. Not just insofar as looking for ulterior motives, but also textual criticism, source criticism, and historical analysis of any type. This is especially useful for teachers, editors, and researchers.

[Lymonhead]

I majored in religious studies with a minor in religious languages. This gives me several benefits:
1) I can tell when my workers' religious viewpoints are founded on untraditional premises. As well as other people's.
2) I can learn languages quickly.
3) I can be unoffensive to hyper religious people of varying sects by using super knowledge.
4) I can allow my knowledge to make me seem religious to varying sects even if I am not - without lying.
5) I can advise other people not to major in religious education or religious studies and not to minor in religious languages.

[P-A]

Mild super power..
Major in College: Abstract Mathematics (masters) then Business (Masters too).. weird combination.
Resulting Mild Super Power: putting myself in somebody else's shoes. The Mathematics part helps (or at least helps me) with the imagination required, the business part just highlighted the need for understanding the "What's in it for me" that rules the world.

Once you take a **genuine** interest in the people around you, in what drives them, what "wakes them up in the morning", and what "keeps them awake at night", projects at work become darn easy, managing your staff a breeze, and getting a frequent raise a little easier (so far).

It also helps with the ladies (really trying to understand the person in front of you works wonders..) I mean it **really** helps with the ladies.. as long as the desire to understand the person in front of you is genuine of course.

I love that mild power.. love it ;)

P-A
http://devrouze.blogspot.com/ (blog not in English)

[Madmarleyboro29]

If you've never received a speeding ticket in your life, you're doing something wrong. Most likely, you've never traveled anywhere, but to your local grocery store & back.

I've seen the radar trailers. But I also know....any village, town, municipality, or even mega-city.....most likely has a cop nearby. He/she might be off duty.....somewhere in between a shift change......or just sitting idly by, for the next quota to come whooshing by.

They are there....always there. And if you have the fortunate luck of spotting them, like Scott said.....it's a good bet, that they were the "only one" in your particular area.

It's not fool-proof. The cops might be working in teams, to enforce a particular stretch of road. Then again.....it might just be Barney Fife all by himself.

To super powers, or mild partial powers. I trust in my Radar detector. If it chirps at all. Even one blink (the k-Band, only showing a signal 1 strength.......) I slow down. Something, and someone out there....is fishing.

To the ones who cry speeding kills. Hey, a a perfectly stationary vehicle, just on a tire jack can kill too, if you're not on solid ground or the jack fails. Death comes in many forms, and there's no way to prevent all forms of it.

You're mortal, I'm mortal. A vehicle is just a device, that messes with your odds, from time to time. Would you ban driving, if you somehow compared the odds of motor accidents, with the death rates of other health-related issues.

Should we all walk to work, and never live in the suburbs?

Should all of us, give up on road trips, to the beach in the summer time (because our 1-ton family truckster is putting neighborhoods at risk, by simply existing?).

Should we all, simply stop moving & stay in a dark closet, munching on a stick of celery, by the candle light....and now just worry that we were causing death only to that stick of celery?).

Nope. Drive fast when you can. It's fun. Life IS short. And if you bite it hard on the freeway, well that simply was just your turn. If all you get out of it, was a speeding ticket.......

Accept it. Be a little more careful...let the cop do their job, and realize, "Ok, now I know where NOT to speed next time". They don't want to be hassled, and you are (as many people have posted...supporting their local economy).

It's a choice in how you spend your dollars in that community. Shop in their malls, doing 15 -25MPH.....or just make a major purchase, on their freeways. That community, will take your money in one form or another.

But by no means, skip road trips, shopping, speeding, or any other form of holding on to your bucks. Support 'em, by being the free, unpredictable consumer that you are.

Some days you speed (and get away with it). Some days you just window shop, and don't buy a thing. But they will, in the long run, get you.

Whether it's a TICKET, or just a pit stop at their Starbucks.

A side note to speeding.

Apply your fanatical driving skills to the race track next time, or visit the Bonneville Salt Flats. If you think you're a bad ass fast driver, realize.....they've set the land speed record at over 700 MPH.

I can't imagine going that fast. I'd barf & crash, before I even noticed the speedometer needle at that point.

And whatever little import hybrid fuel cell any of you drive........it's never going to go 700 MPH, unless dropped from the Space Shuttle, and allowed to crash back into the Ocean here on earth.

Second Thought. If you ever DO get pulled over for speeding, do NOT have the bumper sticker on your vehicle reading "BAD COP, NO DONUT".

[vincenthue]

Your rule of economics also applies here in Malaysia in a way. Over here the cops are more interested in setting up speedtraps and roadblocks in the begining of the month (Pay Day). Especially so in the late afternoons and between midnight till maybe 5am in the morning. They would hide under bridges, behind trees and prey on unsuspecting motorist.

Most times, the speedtrap they use only takes the speed but the cops here do not record them. The cops will then use this opportunity to harass the motorist to 'settle' the fine on the spot without a summon being issued. These roadblock occurence are more prevalent during the period of Ramadhan as these cops aims to take home more cash during the holiday season. Its a known fact that these roadblocks are an unofficial revenue generating opportunity to the cops here.

They would rather set up these roadblock to harass motorist rather than maintaining peace and order. The crime rate has been increasing each day where I live while they are happily setting up roadblocks to reap unofficial revenues. That's 'boleh' to them.

[David]

Speed enforcement...hmmmm...let me see...
A Police Officer's first and foremost task is to PROTECT the public. If that means making every attempt to slow traffic down by issuing tickets...I will give myself a pat on the back. If you feel that you can get away with speeding in all the above mentioned situations...and never get into an accident or hurt/kill and innocent person...you life on the road was a freak occurrence.

[Bruce Donohoe]

You may want to rethink that statement, "To advertisers, one subscriber who is thirty-something is worth about seven grandpas". Don't forget that the current crop of Grampas is the leading edge of the baby boom from the second world war. I'm one of them at 61 years old. I also have a fat 401k and plenty of pension income to spend and my wife and I are having one dam fine time spending it! Read newspapers? Every morning! Right along with my cup of coffee and my morning prune juice. But in the afternoon, it's red wine and Viagra!

[Lisa M]

Special Education. Need I say more?

[Jostein the norwegian]

I studied german language for a year. When you finally understand german grammatics, nothing is difficult anymore. That's my mild superpower. :-)

[Dave Oblad]

My background is Electronics, Software and General Engineering design work. It's a hell of a lot more than a mild super power. See.. as a kid I always wished to be a wizard, like Harry Potter. Able to do magical things. Then I realized that, to a wizard, their talent may seem mundane, since they understand how it all works and ties together. Almost anything a wizard is reported to be able to do, can be done with todays science, especially in Electronics and Software. We all now have home crystal balls (TV's) and long distance communications (Phones) and semi-instant knowedge (Internet) and ability to fly (planes). To name just a few. I didn't invent any of those things, of course, but I could now.. since I have those skills. Wizards might create a Demon for protection or warfare, I can create a smart robot. I can transform energy. I can control time. (slow/fast motion video.. etc) The list is endless.. So.. I got my wish.. I grew up to become a real wizard. How cool is that? Great blog Scott. Best wishes from Dave :^)

[Matt]

I too used to think a box showing your speed would never have a cop nearby - until last week. The speed box was up near a day care center. I can see wanting folks to slow down near this area. But alas, just after the box was a real cop sitting tucked back down the next drive. He must have skipped Econ 101.

[Adam Freeman]

Funny you should be talking about mild super powers, I'm a Software Engineer and we use PERL (shudder) for some in-house stuff and one of the guys printed out this cartoon and stuck it on the wall: http://xkcd.com/208/ it's great because I have always thought about situations where I could save the day with my coding skills. It's a shame that only happens in movies though.

But getting back on track my mild super power seems to be the ability to find about 5 cons for every new device or piece of software which comes out. It really annoys my Fiancee too.

[Dingo]

Religion. As another poster said, it gives you immunity to all kinds of fanaticism.

Furthermore, if you're a really good religion major, you can also communicate between religious fanatics by understanding enough about each religion to pretend to be a sympathetic listener. This gives you fantastic mediation superpowers.

Also, you can't really be a TRUE agnostic until you have a solid understanding about all of the beliefs that you're agnostic about, and agnosticism is almost a superpower.

Finally, since most religions are about 50% Bullshit, a religion major gives you bullshitting superpowers. It's amazing how practical this power actually is.

[tubaguy]

I can convince large groups of teenagers that they want to be quiet, attentive and functionally interdependent.

[Aditya Simha]

Godamn! The cop who busted me (for my one and only ticket Ever!) must have either been gay or irrational then. Or maybe, it was coz I was speeding at about 87 on a 70 MPH freeway! I don't know! All I know is that my usually fragile bank balance has just gotten afflicted by a major ecological disaster!

[Shinobi]

My Statistics degree taught me that as the number of nascar fans I am talking to increase the probability that anyone around me has any idea what I am talking about approaches 0.

[Maurice]

scott havnt you got autmatic speed cameras that send out the sumonses automaticly - how quaint the US is sometimes.

[dedhed52]

Also an economic factor - you'll ALWAYS see speed traps in small, rural towns because the fines are a profit center for the town. Going more than 3 mph UNDER the limit is grounds for a ticket.

[Tigerh8r]

I know this post is late, but I was sick yesterday.

I was a literature major in college, and I have been a law enforcement officer for 20 years. There are some basic misconceptions in your theory, and I think they can at least in part be attributed to cognitive dissonance on your part.

Most people think real life cops are like the ones they see on TV and that couldn't be farther from the truth. Also, the opinion of what is "rational" to a syndicated cartoonist (who has a major in economics) can not be applied to all people as rational. After all, is it rational in your mind to get up every day, strap on body armor and a variety of weapons, and go to work for what most people would consider low pay? If so, then it's rational to think that everybody who joins the military does so because it's the best job that they can get, or they think "chicks dig it." I don't think so.

Most police officers have college degrees. I started young, so I don't really have a civilian career to compare it to. However, almost every police officer I know who left a civilian job to become a police officer took a cut in pay to do so. Also, EVERY police officer that I know personally who left police work for a civilian job made much better money at the new job. Also, chicks don't dig real life cops as much as the TV cops.

Police work is a calling. People aren't motivated by your definition of "rational" decision making factors before going into the job. They also don't follow that same logic in performing their duties. Police officers are continuously trained to think outside the box. We use terms such as "unpredictable patrol techniques" and "verbal judo" in our training. There have been many times that I have run radar near a radar-trailer because when I pull the people over, they just hand me their license and wait on the ticket. It makes my job easier, by reducing stress via confrontation. When 90% of your job involves confrontation on one level or another, it tends to wear on you. That being said, you are dead-on as to why we don't do as much traffic enforcement in heavy traffic. Unless it's an extremely dangerous violation, then making the stop probably isn't worth the risk to the safety of the other drivers. People tend to think that every time a police officer turns on the lights, he's after them, and as a result they tend to slam on their brakes. A lot of accidents happen this way.

Now, I can't speak for the entire country of course, but you were completely off base with more women getting tickets than men. I queried the data from my department, and we're looking at more than 2/3 male ticket recipients. I think it's because men (in our region) tend to drive more aggressively than women (not always, just a general tendency). Please keep in mind that when an officer is running radar, they usually have the car locked in the radar and they're getting ready to make the stop before the car is within 100 yards of them, often much farther. The next time you're driving, look at cars 50 to 100 yards away and see if you can tell if the driver is male, female, or even what their race is. Most of the time, an officer doesn't really know who he is stopping until he is initiating the stop.

I think this entire item is an excellent example of cognitive dissonance on your part, because you can’t imagine police officers not being motivated by your personal definition of “rational” behavior, and/or you assume that the way TV Cops behave is true to real life Police Officers.

That being said, I really enjoy your work and I especially enjoy your philosophical assessments of the universe. Although, I’ve been told more than once that for a veteran cop who is the commander of a SWAT team, I’m the biggest geek most other cops have ever known.

[Mike]

The economics of speeding: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=961967

[Cliff]

Yes, I am a psychologist. You talk about cog dissonance all the time. As it can explain almost all rational behavior, it is my superpower.

[speedy]

Um
Well in Indiana and Ohio police frequently set up speed traps during rush hour.

The simple reason you don't see many police at 5AM is because most of them work the day shift and they are still not yet on duty. Economics or not I don't know many people who want to work third shift and those dedicated individuals who do work third on the force are usually busy looking for drunks and patrolling for break ins etc. instead of trying to set up speed traps.

I think everyone on this board would agree that a car driven by a sober alert person at 85 mph (on the highway people) is being safer than a person who blows triple the legal alchohol limit on a breathalizer.

Those third shift guys have some of the toughest jobs of dealing with drunks druggies etc. (aren't most of the police video you see at night) and more often than not when I am pulled over at that time of the night the first question is "have you been drinking sir?" And as I have not the may give me a stern look and let me go. I once got pulled over out in the country for doing 40 (95 mph) over the limit but I was the ONLY one on the road and even at that pace I hadn't passed a car for the entire drive.

the officer was concerned I was drunk or something but I don't really drink and he let me off with a warning (verbal).

the generally young men who work the night shift have the clearest understanding of what laws need enforced and how because they see work of the worst in the middle of the night. The guys sitting in their speed traps in their air conditioned cars on the day shift slowing down rush hour have in some way forgotten what the real problems are.

I also don't agree with the usage of speed camera's but maybe Scott will make that tomorrows topic!

(Speed camera's don't get drunks off the roads!!!!!)

Speeding motorists vs. drunk drivers you tell me which you would rather share the road with.

[David Tufte]

One of my students wrote to a magazine for help in my class. Game Informer to be exact.

I love God of War. I'm also failing microeconomics. Could you please take it upon yourselves to influence the industry to make a mythology-themed game that helps me understand unit-elasticity and what supply and demand really means to a free-market economy?

Allan White

They replied:

Done and done. Every major game publisher was (understandably) all over this idea. Even though we can't reveal which one picked up the game, we did get an advance look at the text on the back of the box: "After becoming god of war, Kratos savagely begins a small business in Athens. Watch in horror as he brutally maximizes his total utility while eviscerating his nonessential inventory to stay competitive! With the new Blades of Surplus chained to his wrists, he's able to visiously analyze the demand curve before it even hits the ground. His bloody conquest forces him to traverse the Merciless Desert of Income Inequality Metrics before he tracks down and exacts his revenge on the legendeary Pareto Optimum, plunging his blades into its soft, milky resource allocation. It's educational action and mythological microeconomics at every turn!" Wait a second ... did we just make a joke about microeconomics? Uh-oh. The doctors told us that would happen if we didn't watch at least two hours of Elimidate every night.

[JT]

I live in an area where DWB, driving while black, seems to be the major cause for getting pulled over. But that is just my perception. The fact is that the traffic stops are in proportion to the population.

I have a marketing education. I think it gives me a bit stronger bullshit filter.

[Scottin08!]

I have a BBA and an MBA in Accounting, and am a CPA.

I have the ability to put people to sleep simply by mentioning what it is I do for a living.

Admit it, you got sleepy just reading my first sentence.

[Michael Harris]

Actually several times in the past 3 years the Buffalo police have actually put up safety checks during the afternoon rush hour. The idea was to upset the city to make them budge on some pay talks.

[Richard Knickson]

Another reason motorcyclists don't get as many tickets is that a bike bounces back a much weaker signal than a car. a radar gun locks onto the strongest signal, so if a bike is doing 80 and a car behind them, or in the other lane is doing 60, the radar gun will read 60. I was testing this out recently with onr of those unmanned radar boxes Scott was talking about. Since there is ever a speed trap near one of those, I was trying to see how fast I could blast by it. I was doing about 80, but it wouldn't pick up my signal, it would just display the speed of the cars way behind me. Oh, and for all you "Speeders are evil, I always follow the speed limit"-types: When you are going more than 15% slower than the flow of traffic, you are the one most likely to cause an accident, so either keep up or stay home. Also, kids who chase balls into fast-moving traffic need to be culled from the herd.

[AndrewK]

If economics proves anything however, it is that people act irrationally.

Marginal Utility of speeding falls as more people know the theory behind it.

[Johno]

By day, a mild mannered science teacher.

But thanks to his university training in chemistry, Physics and Biology, he is able to see straight through the pseudo-Scientific BS seen in the media (especially that relating to Global Warming, Medicine and Stem Cell Research).

He is . .

. . Sciento Man!

[hhunter]

Unfortunately, your observation about not setting up speed traps during rush hour doesn't seem to apply here in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area.

Scott, could you arrange for an economics lesson for the local law enforement agencies around here?

[Fork Included]

it is obvious that the author has not been driving much in his life time

drives either in temp with other motorsists, or if he does speed, does so at a moderatl pace.

you try applying your little theory, and go twice the speedlimit all the the time that "you" think is safe

we'll see how long you'll be driving for.

[latsot]

My computer science background enables me to predict that every software project is doomed. I think everyone knows this really, but perhaps most people live in hope that the software we are coming increasingly to rely upon isn't compromised by short-sighted management, spineless technical leadership and good old-fashioned incompetence. Knowledge of software strips away these illusions entirely and makes me look like a genius when the inevitable occurs.

It seems as though I have now bestowed this ability on everyone who has read this post, but that's where training comes into play. It's not good enough to predict that a software project will fail (which is inevitable). You also need to predict why it will fail.

The good news is that nobody can ever agree on the reason for software project failure: BONUS! You can say whatever you like and nobody will check or know any better! The bad news is that this has severely limited appeal. But that is hardly a surprise.

The analysis of speeding doesn't take into account the increased likelihood of injuring or killing someone when doing so. There are well-conducted studies concluding that hitting someone at (say) 40mph is much more likely to kill that person than hitting them at 30. And so on - these are thorough tests. I don't know of any tests that say the chance of hitting someone or something increases with speed, but it doesn't seem unlikely.

[Di]

Regarding the police speedtraps. You can make these assumptions because the minimum intellect of the police department is greater than the average shoe size.

In Johannesburg (South Africa), travelling at 6am - especially on a Sunday - is almost certainly going to end up with a traffic fine. This is the logic.

1) Freeways in Jo-Burg are an average of 4-6 lanes.

2) The speed limit is 120km per hour, which I think is 55mph.

3) At 6am, no-one is on the freeways and people tend to go fast - the people who own Porches can easily get to 250kph.

4) Police officers can write out no more than 6 speeding tickets and make the month's budget in one morning AND get 2x overtime pay. And still be back home in time for breakfast.

The best places to REALLY speed are the "hijack zones" (in South Africa we have a special road sign for Hijacking Hot Spots. Some stupid people think we should put policemen there instead of road signs, but it's too dangerous).

[Matt]

When you're a computer science major and you shower, you're pretty much regarded a genius and can get away with quite a lot. Everyone has a computer, but not everyone can work their computer, so if you've any talent you're essentially regarded as a wunderkind.

Because of how important it is to other people that they aren't perceived as stupid, this allows you to get away with some bold and intentionally misleading statements, greeted with silent acceptance.

The reality of a specialized skill is that fixing a computer is fundamentally not very different from fixing a car. But don't tell anyone.

[Ms_Takez]

Must be regional; I saw 2 people pulled over for speeding on 2 of the busiest streets here during morning rush hour yesterday & today.

[Sean]

My college education (in the liberal arts) taught me that people do not get smarter as they get older.

[Muthu Ramadoss]

No speed limits here in India that can be enforced (Yeah!)

And there's no roads here where you can speed!

[chowderhead]

I am surprised at how few comments have pointed out the problems with speeding. Speeding is a form of thief. It is a thief of level of risk. I drive at the speed limit even though I can save valuable time by driving faster, and I do know how to drive fast. People who exceed the speed limit are willing to accept the trade off of increased risk for the time savings. However they increase the risk of others as well. Other drivers, pedestrians, pets, children playing and so forth. These people face an increase risk with no corresponding benefit. For example if your front yard adjoins a street where the speed limit is, say 15 mph, but it is used as a short cut and drivers drive by at say, 45, usage of you lawn is taken from you as there is a risk that a child my chase a ball or a pet may get loose. At 15 mph, plenty of time to react and stop, at 45, not so much. Of course the drivers going by at 45 will not notice that nobody is using their front lawns the way they do on there suburban cul-de-sac. Of course economist will recognize this situation.

[Almost Lucid (Brad)]

I can do things to your computer that would make you want to kiss me. It used to be a novelty... now that everyone is computerized, it's much more significant.

[random]

Just because you can speed and get away with it doesn't mean you should.

Do you think your explanation of 'Well I predicted that there would be no police to stop me for speeding so I assumed it would be safe to exceed the speed limit' would be much consolation to the relatives of the person you killed because of your speeding? Everyone thinks 'it will never happen to me' including those it does happen to.

What you have is not a superpower, its selfishness.

[Russ]

I find most of your cop observations to be accurate, but the underlying causes may not involve economics, or they may involve other factors as well.

A wise old friend once told me that a perfectly honest cop was a bad cop. A good cop knows the level to which the community wants the laws enforced. I think that this is why cops don't show up at rush hour. It also explains why it's acceptable to drive 10mph faster in Atlanta than in Nashville or Birmingham(Alabama).

[Dave]

I can now find the Any key.

[Dom]

Don't do what this guy did (even though secretly we've all wanted to do it).

-------------------------------------------------------

A motorist who fitted an emergency flashing light to his car to dodge traffic jams was jailed for a year yesterday.

Omid Chiang, 26, used to pretend he was attending medical crises whenever he hit congestion.

He would switch on the flashing green light and even put a "Doctor on call" sign in his windscreen so he could park wherever he fancied.

But the sales rep was exposed when he took the scam too far by trying to claim compensation after successfully avoiding a £60 speeding fine.

Jailing sobbing Chiang yesterday, Judge John Boggis QC slammed his "breathtaking nerve".

..... continues at link below:

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/topstories/2007/10/02/man-jailed-for-posing-as-doctor-89520-19879651/

[md05]

I have a masters in maths. At that level it is basically nothing but reasoning and logic. As such I am capable of spotting weak arguments a mile off. It has totally ruined TV for me.

[Martin]

In Northampton (uk) we have a stretch of road that has Average speed distance cameras. They don't just work out if you’re speeding at a specific point; they photograph your licence plate at 6 intervals in the road and then average your speed. If your average speed is above 50 you get a ticket.

I studied marketing > i have the power to bring my product to market zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

[Dyakson]

I thought you said that you learned two things in your Economics degree:

1) Something about supply and demand,
2) Boredom won't kill you, but you might wish it could.

I fear for the no-claims bonus on my car insurance, so I drive so that in the event of an accident I cannot possibly be liable. Ideally by not being involved in an accident. So I don't speed...

[Chris S]

------------------

Chris said:

Speed limits are there for a reason. Speeders are stupid and selfish to think the law does not apply to them. If your child was knocked down by a speeding driver what would you think?

If you ignore this law, what next, Drink driving ok? theft?
sex with minors?

rest assured that there are plenty of people out there who do not believe those laws apply to them either.

If your econimics degree told you that it is ok to break the law, then that explains much about corporate America.

--------------------

I agree entirely with Chris' comment... good name too ;)

I'm thoroughly pissed off with people (including friends) thinking the law is for 'other people'... like driving while talking/texting on a mobile (while probably changing the music and smoking). Is reading someone's inane text message at that very moment while navigating a junction really necessary?!

Wankers.

[Michael LaRocca]

Scott, I have the ability to write an even more entertaining newsletter than you do. I think we'd all agree that qualifies as a superpower, albeit a minor one. Best regards from Michael in Thailand.

[D P]

Due to my rather specific degree, I graduated with a rather large understanding of things smaller than the human eye. Specifically things related to semi-conductors. This super power gives me the ability to cause anyone's eyes to glaze over if I describe what I do.

It provides a great deal of amusement...

[Joe Merlino]

My major of music taught me that music is sound energy that's based on frequencies and the ratios of each to the other. Its opened me to become aware of various types of unseen power that manifests itself in many ways. It has also helped me see the folly in those who intentionally or unintentionally delude others by explaining physical manifestations of these energies with purely physical obeservations or reasonings.

[Zzyzxmo]

B.A. in Management has provided me with the mild super power of bullshitting pointy haired bosses, and avoid becoming one.
A.A. in Industrial Technologies ( geared toward manufacturing: read "shop class for adults with five thumbed hands") has provided me with the ability to change my own oil and know when the car dealerships are trying to rip me off. This has also allowed me to avoid buying cars that are "lemons", but the side effect is an allergy to Kias' and Hyundais'.

[Ivan]

I live in a country where the speed limit posts are taken as minimum speed. The police don't care about your speed, unless is not payday and they need money. My education in Economics tells me that such a country is a defective engine. Yes, you enjoy the ride, but I can foresee the crash ahead, miles and days before it happens.

[Brazilianguy]

Bob said:
"I'm young, intelligent, separated from society and uninterested in sex... where is my objective function?"

The real question is: "Are you alive at all?"

Having a master's degree in Physics I don't think I have any mild powers besides getting stared at and people thinking I am probably crazy.

Wait, I think being weird in the eyes of society is actually a neat trick.

[Alan]

being in the UK we dont have majors, but I do agree with some of your comments on speeding.

personally if I pass an accident I always put my foot down, all the cops will be going in the other direction - towards it.

[Piyush Maheshwari]

It might interest you to know that what took you a major in economics to understand (the cops and stuff) is common knowledge amongst most 9th/10th graders in India. :-)

[Fiona]

I did a double major in psychology and computer science, and both have given me "mild super powers".

Psychology gives me the power of intimidation. I don't actually DO anything, I just tell people I majored in psychology and they assume I am analysing them and somehow have the "upper hand".

Computer science allows me to give unsolicited opinions on anything technical to those who are not. This includes making up words or abbreviations for the fun of it.

Employment opportunities aside, I think in social terms I got good value out of my degree :-)

[Cristen]

Isn't a mild super power just a power?

[Dargaud]

Scott, careful when you say "When I see that trailer, I speed up because I know the police won’t put both the trailer and a real policeman in the same neighborhood".

First cops from different neighborhoods don't always talk to each others and can set speed traps near each others.

Then there's the true story of this experiment conducted in France over 10 years ago. They put 4 speed traps in a row to study how getting a ticket would affect driving behavior, with the intent to prove that giving tickets would slow people down. Result: one guy received 4 tickets and plenty mire than one, proving that tickets don't really reduce speeding... which led politicians to increase them so much that now everybody is now scared of being on the road.

I have a hard time imagining how irate the 4-ticket guy must have been.

[Mad Phil]

My degree in Classics gave me the power to read and write extinct languages. Smug contemporaries who studied Computer Science now have exactly the same power, except that Fortran is nowhere near as sexy as Latin.

[Andreas Toscano]

As an advertising graduate, I have the power to entertain a woman in under 30 seconds and therefore hit on any girl I want.
Usually, I manage to use something that happened to her while I was walking towards her as subject for joke/conversation and it never fails because she knows I could never use that line/joke on any other girl at any other time.

I like my super mild powers.

A

[ArunKS]

as a computer science major :
- Every problem has a work-around/undocumented feature
- "Shut-down and restart" works for allmost all problems
- BACKUP !

[Ben Saunders]

I'm experiencing this at the moment too, since I read The Undercover Economist by Tim Harford. Just amazing.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Undercover-Economist-Tim-Harford/dp/0316732931

[Paul C]

"Note to those who insist on semantics and your factoid for the day: "actor" is used generically among those who act to cover those of both sexes, much like "doctor." The award shows notwithstanding. If you were interviewing Susan Sarandon, she would say, "Well, as an actor I have to..." Female actors who refer to themselves as "actresses" are usually either pre-teens or people who work non-professionally, such as your local community theater actor."

***************************************************

In the UK, one of our serious daily papers (the Guardian) also takes this line, which has always struck me as being a little bit pompous and politically correct. The policy that all performers in film, theatre and TV should be called "actors" regardless of gender came unstuck when they had to run an obituary on an Italian film director who was notorious for being a serial shagger of actresses and a great advocate of the good 'ol casting couch for any young actress with "potential".

The Guardian chose to describe his serial shagging thus:

"He always had an eye for good-looking young actors and made it a lifetime's obsession to attempt to get as many actors into his bed as possible"

thus neatly changing his sexual preferences by 100%... and making a nonsense of the "let's be PC and call them all actors" fad...

[Bob]

Philosophy. I gained the power of being being able to discern what people are *actually* arguing about, while watching them futilely argue past one another. While occasionally very useful, it mostly just makes me want to strangle complete strangers on a regular basis.

[Paul C]

Ah, Scott.

Come and live in North Wales. Or any other part of the UK. View the peril of what our bilingual road signs call "cyflymder camerau"

Speed cameras: cheap, efficient, robot policemen that (i) measure speed accurately; (ii) photograph a speeding car and clearly capture its registration plates; (iii) tie into the DVLA database and identify the driver so as to send out a (cheap) letter to their home telling them they've been fined.

They do not ask for pay, least of all expensive overtime. They work day and night. The revenue collected is many times in excess of their installation costs. By all economic arguments - they work. They are found all over Western Europe.

America - be afraid. Be very afraid.

[Håkon]

I have a degree in marketing and my mild super power is that none of my friends or relatives asks me for help. If you're a plumber, lawer or doctor, people will ask you for free advise or to do work for free or at least cheap. But not me.

[ruyi]

I'm currently majoring in rhetoric. My superpower is the awareness that pretty much everything is bullshit.

[Jeremy Erwin]

You don't have speed cameras in the US? Over here in Australia we have cameras mounted on pedestrian overpasses or poles and the like, that exist as an ad hoc way to automatically ticket people for speeding without the need for any human presence. Revenue raising and ineffective in most cases...

[alessandromarras]

you are lucky.
In Italy we HAVE speed traps on the freeway during rush hour.
All it does is to make the police less popular, and make people think the police don’t need the funding they already have.
They just don't mind

[Jeremias]

well i have an accountancy degree and here's what it taught me

1. I know all about there is to know about economics (from an accountants point of view in any case).

2. I'm not prone to cognitive dissonance

3. I can foresee the future of an entity

[QwkDrw]

B.S. in City and Regional Planning

By early junior year at university, I already could get the main elements of a hot breakfast (bacon, coffee, eggs, toast) to be prepared, cooked, and plated for consumption -- all at the same moment. Mild super powers, for sure.

Soon after, in planning theory class, we were given a hint about the political forces at work within any organism of people (city, county, region, etc.) that actually shapes the built environment. These are the super powers, with nothing mild about them.

[Tomas Liubinas]

Bwahaha. Briliant comic strip today (sadist vs wally). Hit my sense of humor straight to 10.

Greetings from Lithuania

[Ramachandran R]

Did my Comp Sci Engineering, worked for two years, followed by a MBA from the best institutes of education in India.

I have the mild superpower of understanding the intricacies of Coding and design in most computer languages coupled with my Business Analysis skills. No engineer can fool/confuse me with technical TLAs or "it-cant-be-done-cos-of-an-OS-problem" bullshit, for most of the time I can generate a solution for them. Company clients LOVE me cos I am a Business Analyst with high technical knowledge (so they dont have to pay extra for technical advisors). I am the only one of my kind in my Business unit of around 200 people. 6 months into my job, I am getting promoted to senior consultant.

" No police force is going to pay an employee to sit on a road at 5 AM with virtually no traffic and a low accident rate and wait for a speeder. That would be bad economics."
Quite the contrary here. We are saddled by Rush hour mornings, afternoons and evenings ( cos half of us are working on U.S timings). There is no way one can get a speeding ticket then, the police is more bothered about getting the jams cleared. Since the roads are relatively empty during the night hours (11PM - 5AM), we have many police checkpoints installed during this time.

[Ranger]

Electrical enginering.

Apart from a good understanding of math it gave me the insight that economists are only good in "superficial" situations and don't know how to handle the more complex situations.

E.g. economists routinely factor out the "human equation". They forget that cops sometimes read the internet and would love to nail a certain economist for speeding just to satisfy their sense of rightiousness. And it certainly helps that they know that he is a little man that doesn't hit cops.

[Cheyne]

"You shouldn't speed just because you won't get caught"
"Trust me, that's the best time"
'nough said really

[neopolitan]

stomper,

Yes, ice is less dense than water and hence floats. Yes, iron is more dense than water and hence sinks. The question is, is the volume of the iron greater or less than the volume that is "lost" when the ice melts and becomes water? For that, you need to have an idea of the relative densities (exact figures are not required). Note that if you are a real engineer, you will take into account the fact that the water will compress (very slightly) when the ice melts, because of heat considerations, and the iron which was sitting on ice, but now at the bottom of the bucket will expand, also due to heat considerations. It won't actually change the answer though.

Also, if we have a chunk of cork, and stick that on top of the ice, so that it is just submerged, and let the ice melt, what happens to the water level then? The trick is not so much in coming up with an answer (33 1/3% chance of getting it right by simply guessing), but in explaining why :)

Archimedes probably preferred a warm bath, so I imagine he never ran any experiments of this nature ...

cheers,

neopolitan

[dan m]

I think the economics are a bit off here.

A firm or industry does not shut down based on its fixed costs since they have to be paid whether they shut down or not. In the short run only variable costs affect the decision to shut down.

You could argue that you were thinking long term but then it is total cost that is relevant.

You could argue that fixed costs are most of a paper's total costs, but that is like arguing that one can't bench press all the residents of Salt Lake City at the same time because the white people are overweight: why single out the variable costs (or white people).

My degree is in biochemistry...

[Veda]

My college major was English Lit. The only superpower that gives me is the ability to always annoy people by correcting their grammar or language slip-ups.

[GetSmart]

@Bob:

Speed limits are stupid because they are set arbitrarily and never match the most efficient and safe speed on a given road.

Other countries do it right: you can speed if you prove that you are a good driver and can avoid accidents. This policy in fact has resulted in a lot less accidents.

What's illegal there is tail-chasing. You can't get that close to other cars without it being dangerous.

Now step down of your high-horse and realize the truth: just because something is a law doesn't mean it's true, or is right, or is moral. I only means somebody lobbied for it. So your coment is wrong, and even stupid, while it sounds like you're right just because you're on the side of the law, which makes your comment dangerous to society.

Speeding tickets give lots of $$$ to the police, so guess who lobbied for it?

[deaconblue]

Hey Scott... as a b-school grad i've 'working knowledge of economics' myself... but my knowledge also suggests that the entire foundation on which the art/science of economics is based is a lil shaky. economics assumes that people are rational and act that way.. experience suggests otherwise... for instance, how often does a middle aged male cop 'get head' from a female motorist who has violated traffic rules? so the cop gets either tired or bored of it and goes for the male driver instead.... at least that we he can do his job, in a nice n easy way.. wat say? do rational people exist or do most of us suffer from 'cognitive dissonance'?? :)

[Amit]

Great post Scott. But must say one thing. Police here in India can never ticket anyone for speeding. One can't even drive in this dam traffic, leave aside speeding. Moreover police are the least significant people on the roads, usually neglected :D

By the way, my mild super power provided by my college major has got nothing to do with my degree. Have tasted the mess food in my college life and i bet i can eat any shit now :D

[Kevin Kunreuther]

Any superpower (mild or otherwise) I acquired came from working at Radio Shack for forty-nine months.
1)acute bullshit detection from fifty eight hundred yards
2)hypnotism
3)ability and willingness to read and understand directions
4)ability to translate techno-babble to morons
5)ability to understand and talk to morons, without becoming moronic
6)knowing when to shut up and listen

[Jordan]

I'm finishing up a triple-degree in History, International Studies and Religious Studies. It left me with the amazing ability to understand Chinese and sneer at editorials idolizing the Tian'anmen Square protesters.

[Thomas]

If I say I have a physics major, people's replies fall generally in two categories
1) That it was their least favorite subject back in high school
2) That Einstein was a pretty clever guy.
That usually settles it. Discussion over. But I do have some clue how things work and most others don't. For example: I do not think that speeding itself is economic, because It's risky and the payoff is not very great. On the other hand I do think most people speed so they can brag about their own little piece of revolutionary behavior. That's also not very economic, but it's very human.

[JS]

WHy is that you always have someone like Bob ("what if a speeder kills your kid") who always rubs me up the wrong way!!!! Bob, a car doing 5 miles an hour will kill someone......show me 1 place that the cops put up speed traps that are there for no other reason than for safety and I will show you ten that are there to enlarge the coffers!!!! And by the way, your analogy stinks.

[Just another non IIT-ian Indian]

The irony with using economics in instances like avoiding speeding tickets is that it becomes destructive if employed extensively. The mild super power is a personal economic good that improves efficiency of roads for you; it becomes an economic bad for the public once more people start using it.

(To see live example of too many people thinking they are too clever for traffic rules - visit Indian roads. )

[Marie]

I majored in mechanical engineering. My superpower is recognizing that it isn't the degree-- it's the doors the degree opens. Oh that, and the power of being handier with power tools than my husband (an EE).

[Brett]

I've been taking Statistics for all of a month, and already I've developed a distrust or skepticism of all reported studies. Especially since many of them are poorly designed or poorly reported. It's a good superpower.

[Benquo]

As a senior at St. John's College in Annapolis, the nearest things I have to superpower is:

1) The ability (and more importantly, the desire) to ask the right questions in a conversation. (i.e. to genuinely value truth over winning.) I suppose I'll find out how long this lasts, and how transferable it is, when I go out into the real world.

[Erik]

I don't have a degree yet, but I'm working for a PhD in neurobiology or evolutionary psychology or something along those lines. My progress thus far (two years) has given me a great mild superpower, though. See, I don't like people, so if I want them to leave me alone, I can just start saying big and/or uncommonly-used words like hydroxyl, dopamine, and equilibrium. At least 90% of people want to either run away or punch me right there. And almost none of the latter will actually punch me, so they run away.

I've also become really good at realizing that many of the "experiments" that actually get decent press are really, really poorly-formed, so I can make myself look smart by telling people that the results are probably wrong, or at least horribly skewed to the point of being irrelevant. This has the added benefit of helping people stop from forming opinions regarding bad data, assuming I can get there before cognitive dissonance can take root.

[wendy]

My degree: Math major, economics minor.

My major in math has allowed me to hear every excuse in the book for why someone wasn't good at math. It also allows me to not believe one word of any "study" that gets reported, especially by the media. ("There are lies, there are damn lies, and then there are statistics.")

My economics minor allows me to read and understand the business sections of those doomed newspapers.

[Spence]

I got my first speeding ticket on the fourth of july

[Ryan]

I'm majoring in political science and philosophy. Like the liberal arts guy, I can make damn near any argument sound plausible. I can also make wildly irrelevant predictions about future world politics. Most importantly, I can actually look around me and doubt whether the physical world even exists. It's a great talent - I just invoke a bit of Descartes and update it with a touch of the Matrix, and people I don't like just disappear.

[matt]

Computer Science. I have the mild super power of figuring what's important and what's not in most situations. Knowing if one should speed is easy.

[Amarantha]

Those radar trailers can actually increase the average amount of speeding on the road. Around here, they've recently discovered that most of the local speed check points are seriously under-reporting the speed of passing cars, so that motorists then think, "Oh, my speedo is out - it says 100 but I'm really doing 90." Then they speed up to 110. People have successfully used this is a defence against speeding tickets. "Yes, your honour, my speedo said 110, but that's because the speed check said it was slow..."
http://blogs.drive.com.au/2007/04/motorists_report_speedcheck_pr.html

[Peter Payne]

English major with minors in Japanese and linguistics. The English helps me be a better blogger, I guess. The Japanese helps me live in Japan and make things like our "Looking for a Japanese Girlfriend" t-shirt (http://www.jlist.com/product/shirt-gf1). The linguistics helps me, er, know about things like fricatives and glottal stops.

[Robby]

"They’ve discovered that motorists slow down when they realize the device is tracking their speed. This doesn’t work on me." --Scott Adams

They have similar, semi-permanent devices where I live. On one street, there are several in a row followed by a motion-sensing camera that photographs your license plate if you're speeding and automatically sends you a speeding ticket. You don't want to speed up before you get to that.

[Mat]

The police in my area aren't economists, that's for sure.

They love to set up at the most random of times to catch people.... although between 7pm and midnight is when you really don't want to be speeding.

My tactic is to wait for someone to speed past and then hang 50m off their tail. Twice in the past month my fall guy has caught the speeding ticket and not me... :D

And as for cops picking who to fine, it's definitely more males in our area.. forget that, our whole freakin State - about 70/30 - because the cops are already pulling out by the time they could even see the person's gender.

Tip for motorcycle riders on how to not get speeding tickets. Wear your gear. Helmet, gloves, jacket, and boots. Best if they are not black leather, Better yet if its an Aerostich riding suit. I've not gotten a speeding ticket in over a decade since I started wearing the 'Stich. Officers still occasionally pull me over, but they say things like "thanks for slowing down" or "You better slow it down, you might h