Economics

53 articles
  • Article Lead Image

    Larry David and the Game Theory of Anonymous Donations

    In a Curb Your Enthusiasm episode from 2007, Larry David and his wife Cheryl and their friends attend a ceremony to celebrate his public donation to the National Resources Defense Council, a non-profit environmental advocacy group. Little does he know that the actor Ted Danson, his arch-frenemy, also donated money, but anonymously. “Now it looks […]

  • Kutner_HERO

    The Economic Damage Is Barely Conceivable

    In America, people who lose jobs don’t necessarily get them back.

  • Article Lead Image

    The Moon Is Full of Money

    Capitalism in space.

  •  Kapitonov_HERO

    The Robot Economy Will Run on Blockchain

    What finance will look like when it is controlled by machines.

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    Bo Burnham and the Illusion of Meritocracy

    In a WTF with Marc Maron podcast episode from 2012, musical comedian Bo Burnham said his fortune felt unreal, as if his life were a futuristic VR game. “I could die, take off a helmet, and, look: It’s the Bo Burnham 2000. There’s a whole line of people crying waiting in line,” he told Maron. […]

  • CityCoin_HERO

    Why New York City Needs Its Own Cryptocurrency

    The case for making money local again.

  • DeDeo_HERO-F

    The Bitcoin Paradox

    Why cryptocurrency will always be political.

  • Venkat_HERO

    Is There an Ideal Amount of Income Inequality?

    A conversation with this month’s Ingenious, Venkat Venkatasubramanian.

  • Article Recirculation Lead Image

    Are You Downplaying Luck’s Role in Your Life?

    When we succeed, we often take that success, in retrospect, to be the result of suffering that liquid trinity of blood, sweat, and tears. Perhaps fortune favored you here and there but, by and large, it was your effort and talent—not contingency—that won the day. Nonsense, says Robert Frank, a professor of economics at Cornell […]

  • Brock_HERO2

    The Moon Is Full of Money

    Capitalism in space.

  • Article Recirculation Lead Image

    To Become a Better Investor, Think Like Darwin

    “It’s not surprising that the fight-or-flight response is not going to be the most helpful way to deal with a financial crash in the same way that it’s going to be helpful when you’re being attacked in a back alley. It’s because financial markets and financial threats are a relatively new phenomenon.”Photograph by Kenishirotie / […]