Economy
Discover facts about economy. Small discoveries that change the way you see familiar things.
Economy
Studies have shown that hedge funds with aggressive, hyper-masculine names or complex financial jargon in their titles actually tend to underperform compared to funds with incredibly boring or generic names.
Studies have shown that hedge funds with aggressive, hyper-masculine names or complex financial jargon in their titles actually tend to underperform compared…
Discover more
Dutch merchant Adriaen van Ketwich launched the world's very first mutual fund in seventeen seventy-four as a desperate response to a brutal European financial crisis,…
Dutch merchant Adriaen van Ketwich launched the world's very first mutual fund in seventeen seventy-four as a desperate response to a brutal European…
Discover more
Fort Knox currently holds roughly four thousand metric tons of gold bullion, but the United States government legally values this massive hoard at a statutory rate of exactly…
Fort Knox currently holds roughly four thousand metric tons of gold bullion, but the United States government legally values this massive hoard at a statutory…
Discover more
Self-made billionaire narrative is largely a beautifully constructed mythological public relations campaign, as recent economic studies consistently show that the vast majority…
Self-made billionaire narrative is largely a beautifully constructed mythological public relations campaign, as recent economic studies consistently show that…
Discover more
Pullman passengers helped pay the porter's wages.
Pullman passengers helped pay the porter's wages. The company's largely Black porter workforce depended on tips to supplement low salaries. A 1915 comparison…
Discover more
Breaking up Standard Oil left Rockefeller owning pieces of its successors.
Breaking up Standard Oil left Rockefeller owning pieces of its successors. The 1911 antitrust breakup created 34 companies, but his ownership did not simply…
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.
Britain introduced a window tax in 1696 where homeowners were taxed based on the number of windows their houses had, which was intended to be a progressive tax on the wealthy.
Britain introduced a window tax in 1696 where homeowners were taxed based on the number of windows their houses had, which was intended to be a progressive…
Discover more
50 Cent's Bitcoin story had two very different versions.
50 Cent's Bitcoin story had two very different versions. His 2014 album accepted Bitcoin payments, and later reports described a forgotten crypto fortune. In…
Discover more
Some investors buy distressed government debt cheaply, then pursue repayment through courts.
Some investors buy distressed government debt cheaply, then pursue repayment through courts. In 2012, a creditor obtained the detention of Argentina's naval…
Discover more
Higher deductibles can cut useful care along with spending.
Higher deductibles can cut useful care along with spending. Research reviewing high-deductible health plans found reduced costs and use of services, including…
Discover more
Human economies before the Industrial Revolution were locked in a miserable, stagnant cycle known as the Malthusian trap, where any technological advancement that increased food…
Human economies before the Industrial Revolution were locked in a miserable, stagnant cycle known as the Malthusian trap, where any technological advancement…
Discover more
Political commentator Thomas Friedman famously proposed the Golden Arches Theory of Conflict Prevention, aggressively arguing that no two countries that both possess a…
Political commentator Thomas Friedman famously proposed the Golden Arches Theory of Conflict Prevention, aggressively arguing that no two countries that both…
Discover more
Sociologists and economists often refer to the phenomenon of the rich getting perpetually richer as the Matthew effect, a concept deeply rooted in the simple mathematical reality…
Sociologists and economists often refer to the phenomenon of the rich getting perpetually richer as the Matthew effect, a concept deeply rooted in the simple…
Discover more
Switzerland loosened its money's gold link in stages.
Switzerland loosened its money's gold link in stages. The Swiss National Bank says required gold backing for banknotes fell from 40% to 25% in 1997.…
Discover more
Giffen goods represent a fascinating economic paradox where people actually consume more of a specific inferior product as its price rises, directly violating standard consumer behavioral models.
Giffen goods represent a fascinating economic paradox where people actually consume more of a specific inferior product as its price rises, directly violating…
Discover more
Heinz's famous 57 was branding, not a product count.
Heinz's famous 57 was branding, not a product count. The company already sold more than 57 varieties when Henry Heinz adopted the slogan. Its own history says…
Discover more
A closed Waffle House became a clue to a storm's severity.
A closed Waffle House became a clue to a storm's severity. The chain's preparations for staying open made its operating status useful as an informal…
Discover more
Elementary school playgrounds in the late nineteen nineties briefly developed a ruthless, high-stakes underground economy based entirely on the trading value of holographic…
Elementary school playgrounds in the late nineteen nineties briefly developed a ruthless, high-stakes underground economy based entirely on the trading value…
Discover more
Delivery drivers in the Washington metropolitan area inadvertently created the Pizza Meter, a legendary geopolitical economic indicator based entirely on late-night food orders…
Delivery drivers in the Washington metropolitan area inadvertently created the Pizza Meter, a legendary geopolitical economic indicator based entirely on…
Discover more
David Bowie turned future royalties into $55 million upfront.
David Bowie turned future royalties into $55 million upfront. The 1997 Bowie Bonds were backed by revenue from 25 albums recorded before 1990. Investors…
Discover more
The S&P 500 is a changing guest list, not 500 permanent members.
The S&P 500 is a changing guest list, not 500 permanent members. Companies leave the index through acquisitions, shrinking market value, or other changes, and…
Discover more
British currency is historically called the pound sterling because a little over a thousand years ago under the reign of King Athelstan it was literally defined as the exact…
British currency is historically called the pound sterling because a little over a thousand years ago under the reign of King Athelstan it was literally…
Discover more
An 1888 novel imagined a society spending with cards.
An 1888 novel imagined a society spending with cards. In Edward Bellamy's Looking Backward, citizens receive a share of the nation's output and draw against…
Discover more
An early cash machine worked more like a vending machine than a bank teller.
An early cash machine worked more like a vending machine than a bank teller. John Shepherd-Barron recalled imagining a dispenser after missing his bank's…
Discover more