Economy
Discover facts about economy. Small discoveries that change the way you see familiar things.
Economy
Importing foreign games avoids regional restrictions
A game or camera can be authentic and still arrive through an unauthorized seller. Importing it lets buyers avoid the regional markup attached to authorized…
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Osaka traded rice promises as well as rice
The Dojima market handled receipts exchangeable for stored or incoming rice, and an officially authorized futures market followed in 1730. Traders could…
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Feeling artificially wealthy triggers reckless spending
A house appraisal can jump and make its owner feel richer before they’ve sold anything or pocketed a dollar. That paper gain can still encourage spending on…
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Bees can boost an apple harvest for free
The beekeeper is paid for honey, but the bees may also visit a nearby apple orchard. That free pollination can boost the crop, even though the orchard owner…
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Some factories are simply better at making everything
One producer can make every good faster than a smaller trading partner and still gain from trade. The key is what each gives up to make one more item: being…
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A philosopher's olive-press deal made an ancient point
Aristotle tells of Thales reserving olive presses cheaply before a large harvest, then renting them out when demand surged. In the story, he proved that…
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Making a billion pizzas makes each slice cheaper
An oven costs money whether it bakes one pizza or a million. At enormous production volumes, that fixed cost gets divided across so many pies that each one…
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Giant factories eventually become too big to function
A bigger factory can mean more departments that need to coordinate. If managers spend more time in meetings to keep them aligned, less time and effort go…
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Why being first can give rivals the advantage
A pioneer has to pay to teach customers what a new market is; a fast follower can watch those mistakes and skip some of that cost. The first mover can end up…
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A string quartet cannot raise productivity by firing two musicians
Performing the same piece still requires roughly the same players and time as it did centuries ago. Yet wages must compete with industries that can produce…
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How Spirit Halloween takes over abandoned stores
A closed Sears or Toys “R” Us can become a Halloween store for six weeks. Spirit rents the empty space briefly, turning a former retailer’s vacant shop into a…
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Why supermarkets throw away perfectly good food
A supermarket can throw away food that’s still good to eat because a bruised apple looks less appealing on a carefully stocked display. Stores overstock…
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Why dating apps need you to keep swiping
A dating app that charges by subscription earns money while you stay subscribed. That creates a tension: helping you find a match and leave could end the…
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Why Apple slowed down old iPhones
Apple was trying to manage aging batteries in some older iPhones, so it throttled their performance. The catch was that users weren’t clearly told; the…
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How drop shipping turns cheap junk into pricey gadgets
The seller never needs to stock the $3 gadget. You pay $40 through the polished storefront, then the seller orders it from AliExpress and has it shipped…
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Why divorce is a billion-dollar industry
A split can reach well beyond the lawyer’s office. If a couple shares a home, specialized real estate agents may help handle the property, while therapists…
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An organ shortage creates opportunities for exploitation
Patients can need transplants urgently while suitable donated organs remain scarce. That gap can attract brokers who exploit vulnerable people for illegal…
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Beyoncé’s Stockholm shows were linked to a hotel-price surge
When fans traveled to Sweden for the opening dates of the Renaissance tour, demand for rooms rose. An economist attributed part of an unexpectedly high…
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Ancient Egyptians used grain receipts like money
A written claim on barley could do the work of money. Since grain sat in state-run silos, people traded receipts for goods rather than lugging the actual…
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Babylonian debtors could surrender wives or children
A debtor who couldn’t pay could surrender his wife or children to the creditor. Under Hammurabi’s code, they had to work as indentured servants for three…
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Internal Revenue Service guidelines explicitly require US taxpayers to declare income generated from bribes, theft, and illegal drug sales on their annual tax returns.
Internal Revenue Service guidelines explicitly require US taxpayers to declare income generated from bribes, theft, and illegal drug sales on their annual tax…
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Macroeconomic scholars advocate for the implementation of a Pigovian tax to correct negative market externalities, effectively charging corporations a premium for dumping…
Macroeconomic scholars advocate for the implementation of a Pigovian tax to correct negative market externalities, effectively charging corporations a premium…
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Ronald Wayne co-founded Apple alongside Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak but sold his ten percent stake back to them for just eight hundred dollars barely two weeks after the company was formed in 1976.
Ronald Wayne co-founded Apple alongside Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak but sold his ten percent stake back to them for just eight hundred dollars barely two…
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IKEA’s biggest retailer is owned by a foundation
Ingka Group, which operates many IKEA stores, belongs to the Dutch Stichting INGKA Foundation. The brand and franchise system sit in a separate corporate…
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