Economy
Discover facts about economy. Small discoveries that change the way you see familiar things.
Economy
When the Dow Jones had just 11 companies
When Charles Dow originally created his famous stock market index in 1884, it looked vastly different than today's massive, tech-heavy roster. It consisted of…
Discover more
The equation that changed how Wall Street prices risk
The chaotic floor of global finance was fundamentally tamed by an elegant sequence of theoretical math. The Black-Scholes model, published in 1973, provided a…
Discover more
The counterfeit dollars made with authentic materials
North Korea allegedly manufactured highly sophisticated hundred-dollar bills known as superdollars, utilizing the exact same ink and cotton blends as the real…
Discover more
America has more public libraries than McDonald's
Despite the prevailing stereotype of fast-food dominance in the United States, public libraries vastly outnumber McDonald's restaurants. There are nearly…
Discover more
Why Ronald McDonald is Donald McDonald in Japan
Global mega-corporations often have to tweak their branding to accommodate local linguistics. Because the 'R' sound in 'Ronald' is difficult for native…
Discover more
Tulip mania didn't crash the Dutch economy
The famous 17th-century Dutch tulip crash is universally cited as the first devastating economic bubble, but the historical truth is far less dramatic. While…
Discover more
STACKY FOR IPHONEA bigger world.
One discovery
at a time.
Keep discovering with Stacky. Interesting facts in an app that is always within reach.
The town that created its own currency
To prevent local capital from draining out to massive corporate retailers, the town of Chiemgau created its own regional money in 2003. Accepted by hundreds…
Discover more
Credit card networks make massive profits from merchant fees
While consumers enjoy seemingly free transactions, credit card processors siphon a small percentage of every swipe from the seller, generating billions that…
Discover more
The word mortgage literally means death pledge
The common financial term 'mortgage' originates directly from old French law, translating literally and morbidly into the phrase 'death pledge.' It earned…
Discover more
A stock-trading typo cost a Japanese firm over $200 million
In 2005, a Japanese stock trader accidentally offered 610,000 shares of a company for 1 yen each, instead of 1 share for 610,000 yen. The instantaneous error…
Discover more
Sovereign wealth funds own streets in London and New York
Countries with massive oil reserves channel trillions into sovereign wealth funds to guarantee future economic stability. These financial juggernauts casually…
Discover more
Your dentist may be using gold
Due to its incredible resistance to corrosion and excellent biocompatibility, gold is heavily utilized in dentistry. Every year, millions of ounces of the…
Discover more
Why the US stores helium underground
Deep within a geological formation in Texas lies the National Helium Reserve. Created to ensure military blimps had enough lift during WW1, this massive…
Discover more
Who buys bonds from countries that no longer exist
There is a highly secretive subculture of financial collectors who actively buy and trade defaulted bonds from collapsed nations, such as Imperial Russia or…
Discover more
Gold bars vary slightly in their exact weights
Contrary to popular cinematic depictions of perfectly identical bricks, standard Good Delivery gold bars held in international reserves are never precisely…
Discover more
Switzerland profits from coffee it cannot grow
Switzerland lacks the tropical climate required to cultivate a single agricultural bean, yet it operates as a colossal titan in the global beverage market. By…
Discover more
What the two M's in M&M's really mean
The two 'M's stamped onto the world's most famous chocolate candies represent a tense business alliance. They stand for Forrest Mars and Bruce Murrie, sons of…
Discover more
The typo that bankrupted a British company
A minor typographical error absolutely destroyed a historic engineering business. A government agency accidentally inserted a stray 's' into a company…
Discover more
Starbucks once refused to serve coffee
When the original Starbucks opened in Seattle during the seventies, it was strictly a premium supplier of roasted whole coffee beans and brewing equipment.…
Discover more
Escobar once burned millions to keep his daughter warm
While heavily pursued by the military in the frigid mountains, Pablo Escobar found his daughter was suffering from early hypothermia. Lacking firewood, he…
Discover more
Субсидия на корову может быть выше дохода человека
European agricultural protectionism is so extreme that the daily financial subsidy handed out for a single dairy cow is greater than the daily income of half…
Discover more
How Apple beats gaming giants without a console
Despite never designing a flagship gaming console or blockbuster game, Apple absolutely dominates the gaming economy. By taking a 30% cut of all App Store…
Discover more
A tuna sold for $3.1 million in Tokyo
At Tokyo's Toyosu fish market in 2019, an absolute bidding war erupted over a 612-pound Pacific bluefin tuna. The legendary sushi tycoon Kiyoshi Kimura paid a…
Discover more
Why Sweden imports other countries' trash
Sweden's recycling programs are so incredibly efficient that the country completely runs out of garbage to fuel its waste-to-energy plants. To keep their…
Discover more