Economics
24 articles-
The Math That Says Egalitarianism Is Possible
You don’t have to be entirely pessimistic about the future of wealth inequality. -
The Economic Damage Is Barely Conceivable
In America, people who lose jobs don’t necessarily get them back. -
The Robot Economy Will Run on Blockchain
What finance will look like when it is controlled by machines. -
Why New York City Needs Its Own Cryptocurrency
The case for making money local again. -
The Bitcoin Paradox
Why cryptocurrency will always be political.
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Is There an Ideal Amount of Income Inequality?
A conversation with this month’s Ingenious, Venkat Venkatasubramanian.
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Don’t Tell Your Friends They’re Lucky
Luck has a lot to do with success. We just don’t want to admit it.
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Can Topology Prevent Another Financial Crash?
New regulations are applying network science to restructure global finance.
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Describing People as Particles Isn’t Always a Bad Idea
Using physics to describe social phenomena can work—if it’s the right physics.
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What I Learned from Losing $200 Million
The 2008 financial crisis taught me about the illusion of control, and how to give it up.
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The Rube Goldberg Machine That Mastered Keynesian Economics
While researching my soon-to-be-released biography on John Horton Conway, an iconoclastic and very influential mathematician at Princeton, I organized a research trip to his native England. We visited with Conway’s elder sister, Joan, in Liverpool, and convened a reunion at his alma mater, Cambridge. We met there with a few of his “sum chums,” his co-authors […] -
Why the Flash Crash Really Matters
The debate about what caused the 2010 stock market Flash Crash is missing the point. -
Yes, You’re Irrational, and Yes, That’s OK
The insight that will save you from being manipulated. -
MRIs of Careful People Can Predict When Bubbles Will Pop
r.classen via Shutterstock In the 1630s, Holland was gripped by the world’s only known case of “tulip mania.” The intensely colored flowers were already a luxury item before then, but their prices leaped when tulips with flame patterned petals hit the market, and they continued rocketing to previously incomprehensible levels. The price for a single […] -
How To Price a Forest, and Other Economics Problems
A Cambridge economist discusses wealth, health, and disaster.