'Freakonomics' Singapore style

With the self-confessed “rogue economist” and best-selling author Steven D. Levitt coming to visit in October as part of the Singapore Writers Festival (October 22-30), we put together our wish list of Freakonomics (www.freakonomics.com) questions we want the answers to.

1. Does adopting a misinterpreted Western name like Wilsurn or Rambo increase the volume of your voice and decrease your potential for promotion or pay increase?

2. Do sales of beer increase in proportion to the shortness of the outfits worn by the women that serve them? If so, is there an apex where sales will proportionally decrease again as the age of the cranky aunty dressed in the uniform increases?

3. When the supply of taxis doesn’t meet demand, does that increase the earnings they generate? Or will cabs driving in the furthest lane from the sidewalk and “hiding” during peak hours just make people catch the bus?

4. How does booming music along Orchard Road attract customers to sign up for credit cards?

5. Why is there a perception that the risks of being injured while riding a bicycle in Singapore are higher on the East Coast parkway than when riding on the road -- enough that no one wears a helmet except on designated, bicycle-only paths where there are no cars?

6. Does the “luckiness” of having a baby during a dragon zodiac year still apply if you are not Chinese? What about if you are half-Chinese?

7. As more Singaporean women opt for career over home and are less inclined to cook, shouldn’t the price of hawker food decrease (instead of increase) with the growing demand?

8. Does adding the term “world’s first” in front of everything correlate to a country’s success?

9. What percentage of a space does a building need to dedicate to a gambling floor in order to earn the title “casino?”

10. Why are tissue paper packets so effective when it comes to reserving seats at hawker centers?

Steven D. Levitt will speak as part of the SWF Lectures series during the Singapore Writers Festival which runs October 22-30. Go to www.singaporewritersfestival.com for more information. Tickets available from SISTIC.