Economy
Discover facts about economy. Small discoveries that change the way you see familiar things.
Economy
Illness can hit a household's income and savings at once
Treatment brings expenses while time away from work can reduce the money coming in. Research on US bankruptcy filers has found medical costs and…
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The insulation color one company trademarked
Fiberglass insulation usually came in yellow, so Owens Corning chose pink to make its product stand out. It trademarked the color, turning a shade into a…
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Home alarms sell reassurance, not guaranteed safety
You can pay for alarm monitoring year after year without anyone ever breaking in. The contract sells a response system, but it can’t guarantee an intruder…
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Film syndication creates perpetual revenue from old sitcoms
The show may be over, but its episodes can keep going to new cable networks for a licensing fee. Syndication turns an old sitcom into a source of revenue…
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Maintaining fire hydrants costs millions
A fire hydrant has to work before anyone needs it. Cities pay to inspect and flush hydrants and protect them from winter freezes so they’re ready to supply…
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Why loot boxes feel like slot machines
A loot box sells a randomized reward, so the next opening might deliver the item a player wants—or not. That uncertain payoff is what gives it a…
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Owning wealth is different from enjoying modern comforts
A household can have a smartphone and plumbing while owning little that generates income or rises in value. Meanwhile, another household receives returns from…
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An all-white painting still has a surface to explore
Different whites, brush marks, layers, and edges can emerge as light changes across a seemingly blank work. Its auction price also depends on authorship,…
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Why dried sea cucumbers are so valuable
Drying sea cucumbers turns them into a prized trade good for high-end Asian cuisine and traditional wellness markets. Their value comes from buyers willing to…
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The orphanages paid for every child they housed
The subsidy rewarded orphanages for the number of children they housed, not whether the children survived. Some administrators kept taking in more children…
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A rat bounty paid people to leave rats alive
In colonial Hanoi, officials paid a bounty for rat tails as proof of a kill. Hunters could cut off the tails and release the animals, preserving the source of…
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Broadway shows can lose millions chasing awards
Producers sometimes keep an underperforming show open to stay eligible for major awards. They’re paying to keep the possibility alive that a trophy will sell…
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Why rational ignorance can shape voting
A single vote is so unlikely to decide an election that many voters have little personal reason to spend hours researching every candidate. Economists call…
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Organic food certification requires strict soil isolation
A farmer may stop using prohibited synthetic chemicals today and still wait years for certification. The land must be isolated from those fertilizers and…
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Why a baker’s dozen has 13
Medieval English bakers faced fines or a public flogging for bread that weighed too little. Their insurance policy was one extra loaf: give 13 when the order…
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High school marching bands require massive instrument fees
Before motorized machines, cooks flicked melted sugar through a whisk over a broom handle to spin it into fine strands—a sticky, exhausting job.
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How debt collectors profit from unpaid bills
A lender may sell an unpaid debt for less than the amount owed. A collection agency buys the right to pursue it and can make money by collecting more than it…
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Why national debt clocks are only estimates
A debt clock’s rapidly changing digits can look like a live tally, but they are estimates. Its algorithm projects how quickly the debt is growing instead of…
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Russians imported billions in dollar bills as the ruble lost value
The Federal Reserve estimated that Russia received about $2 billion in US cash per month from 1994 to 1996. Rapid inflation had made holding rubles painful,…
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The Panama Papers exposed an offshore system through 11.5 million records
The 2016 investigation drew on leaked files from law firm Mossack Fonseca, connecting offshore entities to people across more than 200 countries and…
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Drivers used Chuck E. Cheese tokens to pay tolls
The tokens fit some automated toll baskets because they were close to U.S. coins in size and weight. Drivers could send Chuck E. Cheese tokens through as…
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Free markets supposedly solve problems better than states
Rather than have government set the rules for every exchange, free-market advocates want supply and demand to guide decisions. Their wager is that the…
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Why casinos give high rollers free rooms
A casino may comp a high roller's room and dinner because those perks cost less than the gambling the casino hopes to keep in-house. The guest gets a free…
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Freezing your U.S. credit file has been free since 2018
A freeze restricts access to the credit report lenders often check before opening an account, making identity theft harder. Federal law made placing and…
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