A collection of the best bits from "When to Rob a Bank"

I've just finished reading the latest book by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner, "When to Rob a Bank ... and 131 More Warped Suggestions and Well-Intended Rants". Essentially it's a collection of their best blog posts from the Freakonomics blog. They rightly point out in the opening section that collecting blog posts together into a book is a bit like selling bottled water - selling something that can be obtained for free (or at least with a low opportunity cost).

To save you at least some of the opportunity cost of reading the whole book (which I do recommend - it's a much better read than their previous book), I've collected here links to what I think are the best bits from the book:

• Would paying politicians more attract better politicians?
• How much would Pepsi pay to get Coke's secret formula? (which, incidentally, I still use as motivation for a tutorial question in ECON110)
• Planned Parenthood gets freaky!
• Betting on peak oil
• How to cheat the Mumbai train system
• Is the Endangered Species Act bad for endangered species? John List thinks it might be.
• Going "green" to increase profits
• Don't remind criminals they are criminals
• An immodest proposal: Time for a sex tax
• Something to think about while you wait in line at KFC
• Why do animated films use such famous voices?
• Please buy gas!

Enjoy!