Hey there, it's Stephen Dubner, and this is a bonus episode.

It's an update of an episode we first published in 2019, and we're replaying it because

the topic has been all over the news lately.

The topic is tipping.

President Trump's one big, beautiful bill act allows workers to deduct up to $25,000

of qualified tips from their federal tax returns. There are exceptions for some occupations,

and there's a phase out for high earners. But what about tipping itself? What kind of economic

activity is that exactly?

That's the question we asked in this episode called Why Does Tipping Still Exist?

We have updated facts and figures when necessary.

As always, thanks for listening.

Time for a riddle.

Name something that many people say they dislike, and yet they do it all the time.

Something that many people consider attacks and others see as a form of altruism.

Something that almost always happens in many circumstances, and yet, in many similar circumstances, never happens.

Everybody practically leaves a tip in a full-service restaurant. Nobody leaves a tip when they go to McDonald's.

Today on Freakonomics Radio, we wade back into the tipping wars. We discuss the lessons learned when one gigantic company that didn't used to have

tipping changed its mind. There's a lot of social pressure to give a tip in that situation.

What happens when a famous restaurateur goes the opposite direction and gets rid of tipping?

I think the biggest thing we've learned is that this is really tough. And why tipping, as controversial as it may be, isn't likely to go away.

They're wrong when they say that, but they believe it.

This is Freakonomics Radio, the podcast that explores the hidden side of everything, with your host, Stephen Dubner. Let's begin with some history, courtesy of John List, an economist at the University of Chicago.

...