Free When to Rob a Bank: ...And 131 More Warped Suggestions and Well-Intended Rants by Steven D. Levitt, Stephen J. Dubner Page B

of us do that? No. What do we do? We get second opinions, we ask who is the best in town, etc. We ask: “Is there anyone who has been doing this surgery for the last twenty to twenty-five years?” We don’t say, “Let me use someone who just graduated from medical school and was rushed through residency because it will be cheaper.”
    Why not apply the same logic that the public uses to buyan airplane ticket to this surgery scenario? Bypass surgery is routine, right? Some surgeons do two, three, or four a day. It must be easy.
    To take that a step further, how many surgeons have to retake their medical boards every nine months in order to be qualified? Airline pilots do. We are subject to simulator check-rides every nine months to demonstrate knowledge, proficiency, and ability.
    How many surgeons have to take a physical exam every six months by the AMA in order to work? None! Airline pilots do. Fail your medical exam and you’re done! How many surgeons (or any other critical professional, including politicians) are subject to random drug and alcohol testing? None.
    Flying across the North Atlantic is routine, right? It wasn’t just a short few decades ago. We, the pilots, make it routine because we have skills, experience, and training like very few others.
    Gifted? No, not many of us are. But dedicated and focused upon excellence, you bet! I have told my kids one thing many times since they were little children: “I don’t expect perfection, I expect excellence.” I expect 100 percent effort in all you do. This is the creed of every pilot I know.
    Flying from Chicago’s O’Hare to Denver is routine, right? We, the pilots, make it so. But is your life worth less over the heartland of America rather than over the Atlantic? It certainly is if you are on the low-cost regional carrier. If youare on such a plane headed to Denver and the engine is on fire, I am sure it is comforting to know that you saved 15 percent by scouring the Internet for the cheapest fare. Isn’t it great to know that you have the newest, least-experienced, exhausted, starving young cockpit crew that this regional airline could find?
    Did I say starving? Yeah, I did. Did you know that these regional crews can work for twelve to thirteen hours every day, flying five to eight legs a day, but their airline does not feel it’s important enough to provide food for them? They are already on welfare wages, and now they have to find time and money while on the ground for twenty-five minutes to simply nourish themselves. It’s a sad state of affairs. Remember, you bought the cheapest ticket.
Hurray For High Gas Prices!
(SDL)
    This post was published in June 2007, when the average price of regular gasoline in the U.S. was $2.80 per gallon, having risen dramatically in previous months. A year later, the price would hit $4. As of this writing (January 2015), the price has fallen all the way to $2.06 per gallon. So even without adjusting for inflation, gas is 26 percent cheaper now than when this post was written. The federal gas tax, meanwhile, hasn’t been raised since 1993.
    For a long time I have felt the price of gasoline in the United States was way too low. Pretty much all economists believe this, and also believe therefore that the gas tax should be raised substantially.
    The reason we need high gas taxes is that there are all sorts of costs associated with my driving that I don’t pay—someone else pays them. This is what economists call a “negative externality.” Because I don’t pay the full costs of my driving, I drive too much. Ideally, the government could correct this problem through a gas tax that aligns my own private incentive to drive with the social costs of driving.
    Three possible externalities associated with driving are the following:
             a. My driving increases congestion for other drivers.

             b. I might crash into other cars or pedestrians.

             c. My driving contributes to global