Aug 10, 2014 12:10
Now that the Internet has devastated Time and Newsweek, the best English-language weekly news-magazine is a British publication called "The Economist". This week's cover story is about prostitution -- the magazine is arguing that it should be legalized because the Internet is allowing pimps and madams to be bypassed, and with them are going a lot of the problems of prostitution. (Teenage runaways recruited by city pimps have a 50% chance of dying by age 22.)
But, true to its name, the magazine also does an economic analysis of the oldest profession. There are very interesting charts of what commands the most money. Naturally, blondes can charge the most of any of the primary hair colors, and D-cup bra sizes are the most preferred, though there is surprisingly little difference between a C and a B size. But perhaps the most surprising chart is the one of how much the hourly rate varies from city to city. Los Angeles and New York are almost the same, while Sydney is more expensive than either. Amsterdam is one of the less pricey cities, but London is still less, in spite of the fact that it is now pretty much the banking capital of the world. And Detroit is strangely expensive; more than Houston or Washington. And the least expensive city? Tokyo. The most expensive? Boston. I'm still trying to figure those out.
economist,
prostitution