What Every Economics Lecture Should be Like

Steven Levitt 寫說他有一次請了一位特別來賓到他的課堂上:

I brought in a very high-priced call girl to guest lecture at my undergraduate
Economics of Crime class.

那堂課的評價呢?:

The next day, I asked my students whether they liked the lecture. More than one-third of them said it was the single best lecture they had attended in their
four years of college. I had to agree with them.

話說那一堂課有一些有趣的對話:

One of his research subjects is a former computer programmer who charges $300 an hour as a high-end call girl. Levitt asked her if she was happy when her “client line” rang on her Palm Pilot. She told him that she wasn’t happy, but indifferent. He told her that meant she was not charging enough for her services. Later,Levitt offered to pay her the hourly rate she charged clients if she would come speak to his economics class. He was surprised, however,when one of the students asked the prostitute what she charged and she replied, “$400 an hour.” The student then asked her how she had determined that rate. “She turned to me,” Levitt recalled, “flashed me this huge smile and said, ‘Well, I was talking with Professor Levitt and he convinced me that my services were worth more than I was previously charging.