Economy
Discover facts about economy. Small discoveries that change the way you see familiar things.
Economy
An award nomination can give a finished movie a second opening
Awards season sends attention back to films that have already completed their first theatrical run. A nomination can support a cinema rerelease or draw…
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A jigsaw gives you one problem with a visible solution
Each fitted piece makes progress tangible, and the final picture tells you what completion looks like. That can make puzzles appealing during disrupted…
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Farmed salmon gets its pink color through its food
The key pigment is astaxanthin, which wild salmon obtain through their diet. Fish farmers add pigments to feed so the flesh develops the familiar color; the…
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Printing passports costs less than the fees charged
The printed booklet is only a small slice of the passport fee. Citizens aren’t paying mainly for the paper and cover.
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Low earners receive subsidies instead of paying taxes
For people below an income threshold, the government adds to what they earn instead of collecting taxes from them. The supplement is meant to establish a…
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How phone credit became money
Where banks and other financial services were scarce, people transferred prepaid phone credit to pay debts and buy goods. Airtime became a quick way to send…
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Why a sandwich today beats two next week
A sandwich is certain; the promised pair next week is not. Waiting feels like a cost of its own, so people can prefer the smaller reward they can eat now.
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Loyalty to one employer can cost you
Your current employer may cap raises in an internal budget, while a company hiring from outside has to offer current market pay. So a loyal worker can earn…
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Your new action figure may share a body with an old one
A new action figure can have a familiar body under a different paint job. Toy makers reuse body molds for different characters instead of creating a whole new…
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Your pet's medicine may be the same as yours
Some veterinary medicines contain the same active compounds as medicines prescribed to people. The box and dose can differ, but the key ingredient may be…
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Quinoa's boom left some Bolivian fields exposed to the wind
Researchers studying Bolivia's southern Altiplano describe native vegetation cleared during the quinoa boom, followed by abandoned fields where plants did not…
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People act significantly more reckless when fully insured
When people don’t expect to bear the full cost of a mistake, they can become more willing to take risks. Insurance changes who pays if the gamble fails.
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Universities routinely sell building naming rights
A large donation can buy a donor a permanent-looking place on campus: their surname in giant letters on a building. Sometimes the building is a chemistry wing.
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The McDonald brothers sold their name for $2.7 million
Dick and Mac McDonald built the streamlined restaurant system that impressed milkshake-machine salesman Ray Kroc. In 1961, his company bought the rights to…
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In an MLM, the new seller can be the real customer
In many MLMs, the crucial buyer may be the new representative, not an outside customer. Recruits often have to buy inventory, and recruiting more sellers can…
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Why routing numbers were invented
Before digital transfers, banks needed a quick way to sort stacks of checks by where they were going. Routing numbers did that job—and still guide electronic…
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Why concert tickets surge when fans want them most
The algorithm sees a surge of fans and raises the price as they compete for tickets. So the moment people most want to go can also be the moment the seats…
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Sick people are the ones most likely to buy health coverage
Someone expecting expensive treatment has a strong reason to buy coverage; someone who expects little care may decide against it. If many low-cost customers…
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The “temporary” tax that never stayed temporary
The first federal income tax was introduced in 1861 to fund the Civil War, then repealed. The 16th Amendment paved the way for a federal income tax to return…
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When Greek temples doubled as banks
Wealthy Greeks trusted guarded temples with their fortunes because the buildings were hard to rob. The priests didn’t just guard the gold: they lent it out…
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A bowling ball's hook starts with spin meeting friction
A rotating ball changes direction as its surface grips the lane. The cover material, oil pattern, release, and internal core all affect that transition. The…
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The cheap first month that can lock you into pest control
The $10 visit is the low-cost introduction; the company is counting on customers to sign a yearlong contract and then keep paying after the monthly fees rise.…
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Workplace injuries cost the system billions
A workplace injury can leave more than a medical bill: compensation payments, legal costs and work that goes unfinished all add up. Across injuries, those…
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Bella Thorne's OnlyFans debut exposed a platform power imbalance
Her high-profile arrival in 2020 drew huge spending and complaints over what buyers expected. Around the same time, new payment limits angered creators who…
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