Coincidentally, “lookism” is now entrenched in the cultural lexicon. The economist Daniel S. Hamermesh’s recent book, Beauty Pays: Why Attractive People Are More Successful, examines what he’s dubbed “pulchronomics”: the socioeconomic advantages of good-looking people in business and other power-contest environments (like, ahem, marriage). Hamermesh cites data that reflect what tend to be real economic advantages (say, earning around ninety thousand dollars more over a lifetime than plainer people), but asserts that the difference is enough to declare that being beautiful just about constitutes a charitable act, in so far as...

Who profits from unpaid labor? The Intern and the Boss Go Head to Head.

A message in a bottle.