Smoking Is Friggin’ Expensive; Math Confirms
Stephen Dubner, of Freakonomics fame and now-NY Times blogger, points us to an economics study concluding that, when taking into account mortality and economic value of life, each pack of cigarettes ultimately costs over $222 for men and $94 for women. Yikes.
The formula they used, which I understand entirely, goes something like this: Greek letter[1+(mumbo jumbo)/µ¢ª-4]/Greek letter®=$222.423845432, which they rounded to $222 so lay people could understand it. Pretty impressive stuff if you ask me, and being a mathologist, I should know.
