Tyler Cowen links to this disturbing, yet intriguing story on betting on tragedies:
While all of India was gripped last weekend by televised efforts to save a boy who had fallen into a deep pit, bookmakers received $33-million (U.S.) in bets on whether the child would survive, a newspaper reported Wednesday.“The timing of the boy's likely rescue was also a matter of intense speculation,” the Times of India newspaper quoted an unnamed bookie as saying.Most of the gamblers had expected the boy, who was eventually rescued Sunday night, to be freed that morning, the report said.Seems like a much less entertaining version of 40 Days and 40 Nights.
