This link will keep you busy for a long time

“The philosophers have only interpreted the world, the point, however, is to change it.” So said Karl Marx. Economists Ian Ayres and Barry Nalebuff agree, though not in a way that Marx would have imagined. Their new book: Why Not: How to Use Everyday Ingenuity to Solve Problems Big and Small offers their ideas on how to make the world a better place.

How do you feel about brake lights that indicate how fast you are decelerating?

Or how about “animal repelling devices”?

…[there are] a disturbing number of dead animals along [the road]. I personally did everything in my power to avoid hitting anything (there is a racoon on US301 that owes me his life since I nearly lost mine!) So I spent a lot of time thinking about it. Maybe a device that would be like a license plate on the front bumber, emitting ultrasonic sounds and infrared light? Wild colors, loud sounds, & flashing lights might displace the animals from the road area until things quieted down.

The new idea I need least: Movie titles at the end of movies, so you know what you just watched on TV.

The new idea I need most: A special signal for when your car is making a U-Turn.

The authors also want to offer Palestinians stock in Israeli companies, in return for a peace settlement. Here is a pre-publication New York Times review, which refers to “Daredevil Ideas from the Anti Dilberts.”

And sorry Barry, but I have to vote “no” on “colored salt,” I don’t care how bad my eyes get.