Economy
Discover facts about economy. Small discoveries that change the way you see familiar things.
Economy
The nuns who insured the next Messiah
Religious devotion reached absolute absurdity in the insurance market in the year 2000. Several groups of nuns purchased policies to cover the costs of…
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Why some British pubs insure themselves against ghosts
Poltergeists are officially considered a financial liability in certain parts of the UK. Pub owners and landlords routinely purchase ghost policies to protect…
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How military uniforms keep wool farms afloat
The armed forces unknowingly act as the ultimate financial savior for the wool industry. Mandates requiring military uniforms to be made entirely of domestic…
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How plastic seats helped Subaru dodge a huge tariff
Subaru engineered a brilliantly stupid way to evade the infamous chicken tariff. By bolting cheap, dangerous plastic seats directly into the open beds of…
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When jaywalking fines become a city’s cash cow
Crossing the street incorrectly is less about safety and more about impromptu revenue generation. Many cities aggressively enforce jaywalking exclusively…
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Wedding insurance may cover a fake death
Romance is fickle, but financial ruin does not have to be. Specialized policies allow couples or their wealthy parents to insure the massive costs of a…
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Marriage could erase a woman's debts
Under historical coverture rules, tying the knot was an excellent way for women to dodge angry creditors. The moment a woman married, her legal identity…
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Some student loans survive the borrower's death
Death is usually the ultimate escape from bill collectors, unless you pursued higher education. Depending on the loan type and co-signers, specific…
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Alimony payments unlock distinct tax deductions
Divorce is ruinously expensive, but it used to come with a decent financial consolation prize. Historically, the spouse making alimony payments was allowed to…
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Why vans arrive with seats they soon lose
Automakers will gladly build components just to destroy them if the math works out. To avoid cargo tariffs, vans are imported into the US fully equipped with…
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Why food critics insure their taste buds
When your entire career depends on your tongue, you put a premium price tag on it. Elite food critics and coffee tasters frequently take out massive indemnity…
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Why left-handed scissors once cost more to import
Customs schedules are a terrifying maze of arbitrary distinctions. At various points in history, tools specifically modified for left-handed people were…
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Your overdue library book can help fix potholes
Your procrastination is an essential pillar of municipal budgets. Cities rely heavily on the continuous trickle of tiny fines from overdue paperbacks to…
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Some people insured their mustaches against fire
Facial hair requires serious financial protection in specific circles. During peak eccentric eras, some individuals insured their massive, defining mustaches…
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Parents can insure themselves against surprise twins
Having a second child by surprise is a literal insurable disaster. Prospective parents can purchase multiple-birth coverage early in a pregnancy, which pays…
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New York taxes sliced bagels as prepared meals
Taking a knife to your breakfast transforms it into a completely different financial entity in New York. While whole bagels are tax-exempt, altering them by…
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Why a little flour can change how Twix is taxed
In many regions, a microscopic dusting of wheat entirely changes a product's financial destiny. Items containing flour, like Twix or KitKat, are legally…
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When comedy clubs insured against dying of laughter
Comedy clubs took the phrase 'killing the audience' far too literally in the early twentieth century. Venues actually purchased liability coverage against…
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Child tax breaks once rewarded huge families
Governments occasionally treat children like highly valuable livestock. Early child tax exemptions were originally structured to wildly favor families who…
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You can insure yourself against alien abduction
Actuaries realized that UFO kidnappings were a highly profitable, untapped market. Policies exist offering massive payouts if you can somehow prove an alien…
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The IRS treats ostriches like farm equipment
The IRS recognizes giant flightless birds as totally normal depreciating assets. For farmers breeding them, ostriches are treated exactly like tractors or…
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When owing money meant going to prison
Victorian authorities believed the best way to get someone to repay a loan was to completely strip their ability to earn income. Debtors' prisons locked away…
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The tax on dice that annoyed colonial America
The Stamp Act did not just annoy people writing letters; it specifically attacked leisure. Every pair of dice sold in the American colonies required an…
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The medieval penny that funded Rome
The church implemented a highly successful micro-transaction system centuries before software companies. Peter's Pence required every household in England to…
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