Economy
Discover facts about economy. Small discoveries that change the way you see familiar things.
Economy
The candle tax that pushed people to burn fat
Lighting up your living room used to require a government permit. By taxing manufactured candles, the state forced the working class to illegally boil down…
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Why companies spend millions changing a logo
When an executive board is bored, they drop ten million dollars to change a font from bold to semi-bold. Massive agencies are hired to generate hundred-page…
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The tax loophole behind Amazon's first product
Jeff Bezos did not care about literature; he cared about tax evasion. Books were easy to ship and, more importantly, allowed him to dodge charging sales tax…
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How Rockefeller became America's first billionaire
It only took completely unchecked corporate consolidation and ruthlessly destroying all competition to reach the ten-figure milestone. Rockefeller's Standard…
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Why counterfeit pens can miss fake bills
Cashiers violently scribble on your high-denomination bills with a special marker, convinced they are uncovering master criminals. In reality, that chemical…
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Why Dasani disappeared from the UK
In a rare victory for consumer awareness, the British public refused to be scammed by Coca-Cola. When Dasani launched in the UK, the media quickly discovered…
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Who keeps symphony orchestras financially afloat
Ticket sales for classical concerts barely cover the cost of the sheet music. These massive, multi-instrumental ensembles are financially propped up by a…
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Why airlines make billions from baggage fees
Because letting you bring clean underwear is a luxury perk now. What used to be a standard part of traveling was unbundled to create a massive secondary…
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Why brothers sometimes shared a wife
When farming plots are incredibly tiny and unforgiving, splitting inheritances is a path to certain starvation. In highly specific mountainous regions,…
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Why Funko destroyed millions of unsold figures
When you produce literally every character in pop culture, some are destined to fail. Faced with massive warehouses full of completely unwanted oversized-head…
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Why struggling companies appoint women CEOs
Here is the key to the corner office; ignore the raging fire behind the desk. The 'glass cliff' phenomenon occurs when struggling companies deliberately…
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How fake organic labels fool shoppers
Because verifying actual farming practices across international borders is highly convoluted, opportunistic suppliers simply slap a premium green sticker on…
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Phillips curve links inflation inversely to unemployment
According to this classic macroeconomic theory, you can either have stable prices or you can have a job, but you absolutely cannot have both. The Phillips…
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Why insulin costs so much in America
The inventor of insulin sold the original patent for a single dollar because he believed it belonged to humanity. Modern American pharmaceutical conglomerates…
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How Wells Fargo employees created millions of fake accounts
When a bank demands you hit unachievable sales targets, the logical corporate response is to start hallucinating customers. Wells Fargo notoriously pushed its…
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Why game studios spend millions on one skin
Because why build an entire interactive universe when you can just paint a virtual shotgun neon pink? Major studios pour immense capital into designing single…
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Warren Buffett regrets not investing even earlier
When you are the literal oracle of Omaha, childhood is apparently just wasted compound interest. While most 11-year-olds were playing with toys, Buffett…
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Modern circuses survive entirely on expensive merchandise
The acrobatics and fire breathing barely cover the logistical nightmares of moving massive tents across the country. The real financial engine is the glowing…
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The directors paid to sign papers and do nothing
Sometimes a seat at the table is literally just an empty suit filling a legal requirement. To bypass stringent regulations regarding board composition or…
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Getting a hundred bucks today is mathematically superior
Due to the time value of capital, money you receive right now is inherently more valuable than the exact same amount promised next year. You could put that…
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Government borrowing prevents all private sector investment
When the state needs massive amounts of capital, it aggressively sucks up all available investment funds. Private businesses are left completely starved for…
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Donated blood is sold to hospitals at a markup
You kindly sit in a folding chair and give away a pint of life-saving fluid for absolutely nothing but a stale cookie. Immediately after, the collection…
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Coleco started out making shoe leather
The kings of the 1980s Cabbage Patch Kids craze started out making shoe leather. Coleco was literally an acronym for Connecticut Leather Company, supplying…
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Why a tiny postage stamp can be worth millions
Philately is secretly the most cutthroat financial arena on earth. A tiny, torn square of adhesive paper from the 1800s can command seven figures simply…
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