Economy
Discover facts about economy. Small discoveries that change the way you see familiar things.
Economy

Ancient legal codes of the medieval Germanic tribes featured incredibly specific, legally binding financial compensation rates for severing various body parts of your neighbors.
Ancient legal codes of the medieval Germanic tribes featured incredibly specific, legally binding financial compensation rates for severing various body parts…
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Exporting human blood plasma accounts for nearly three percent of all total export goods leaving the United States economy, effectively making it one of the most lucrative industries in the nation.
Exporting human blood plasma accounts for nearly three percent of all total export goods leaving the United States economy, effectively making it one of the…
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British Petroleum hired the massive public relations firm Ogilvy and Mather in two thousand four to aggressively popularize the concept of a personal carbon footprint to shift the blame for climate change.
British Petroleum hired the massive public relations firm Ogilvy and Mather in two thousand four to aggressively popularize the concept of a personal carbon…
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Traditional car dealerships continue to exist almost entirely because of archaic state franchise laws that legally prohibit auto manufacturers from selling their vehicles directly to consumers.
Traditional car dealerships continue to exist almost entirely because of archaic state franchise laws that legally prohibit auto manufacturers from selling…
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Commercial banks literally conjure new money out of thin air through a magical process called fractional reserve banking every time they approve a loan.
Commercial banks literally conjure new money out of thin air through a magical process called fractional reserve banking every time they approve a loan.…
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Financial derivatives represent a wildly opaque global market that experts estimate is theoretically worth over a quadrillion dollars, which is hilariously much larger than the entire physical economy of planet Earth.
Financial derivatives represent a wildly opaque global market that experts estimate is theoretically worth over a quadrillion dollars, which is hilariously…
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Olympic athletes who bite their gold medals on the podium are participating in a completely pointless tradition based on an obsolete economic counterfeit test from centuries ago.
Olympic athletes who bite their gold medals on the podium are participating in a completely pointless tradition based on an obsolete economic counterfeit test…
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Signing a receipt when you use a credit card provides absolutely zero security benefits and is mathematically proven to do nothing to stop actual credit card fraud.
Signing a receipt when you use a credit card provides absolutely zero security benefits and is mathematically proven to do nothing to stop actual credit card…
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Bank of America, the massive financial institution that practically runs the modern United States economy, was originally founded in San Francisco in 1904 by a man named Amadeo Giannini under the name Bank of Italy.
Bank of America, the massive financial institution that practically runs the modern United States economy, was originally founded in San Francisco in 1904 by…
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South Korea's national economy is overwhelmingly dominated by massive family-run conglomerates known as chaebols, with Samsung alone historically accounting for roughly twenty…
South Korea's national economy is overwhelmingly dominated by massive family-run conglomerates known as chaebols, with Samsung alone historically accounting…
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Japan boasts one of the highest adoption rates in the entire world, but the bizarre economic twist is that nearly ninety-eight percent of the adoptees are grown men in their…
Japan boasts one of the highest adoption rates in the entire world, but the bizarre economic twist is that nearly ninety-eight percent of the adoptees are…
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Philippine government officials printed the largest legal tender banknote in global history in 1998, a massive piece of paper larger than a standard sheet of typing paper that was intended to celebrate their centennial.
Philippine government officials printed the largest legal tender banknote in global history in 1998, a massive piece of paper larger than a standard sheet of…
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Julius Caesar introduced a massive debt restructuring program that effectively banned creditors from charging exorbitant interest rates and stabilized the failing Roman economy in 49 BC.
Julius Caesar introduced a massive debt restructuring program that effectively banned creditors from charging exorbitant interest rates and stabilized the…
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Gig economy platforms loudly claim to offer workers unprecedented flexibility and entrepreneurial freedom, but the actual business model heavily relies on legally classifying…
Gig economy platforms loudly claim to offer workers unprecedented flexibility and entrepreneurial freedom, but the actual business model heavily relies on…
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Subscription economy model has aggressively infected almost every single modern industry, rapidly shifting the consumer landscape from actually owning software, media, and…
Subscription economy model has aggressively infected almost every single modern industry, rapidly shifting the consumer landscape from actually owning…
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Freddo index is an informal but surprisingly accurate economic indicator frequently cited by British media and consumers, using the fluctuating price of a tiny Cadbury chocolate…
Freddo index is an informal but surprisingly accurate economic indicator frequently cited by British media and consumers, using the fluctuating price of a…
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Quantitative easing is a fancy monetary policy term invented by central bankers to describe the complex process of a government magically creating billions of dollars out of thin…
Quantitative easing is a fancy monetary policy term invented by central bankers to describe the complex process of a government magically creating billions of…
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Ticketmaster controls roughly eighty percent of the primary ticketing market for major live events, allowing them to slap consumers with arbitrary convenience fees that can…
Ticketmaster controls roughly eighty percent of the primary ticketing market for major live events, allowing them to slap consumers with arbitrary convenience…
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Wall Street hedge funds and massive private equity firms are currently buying up huge swaths of single-family starter homes across the country, outbidding regular families with all-cash offers.
Wall Street hedge funds and massive private equity firms are currently buying up huge swaths of single-family starter homes across the country, outbidding…
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Filing taxes in the United States is intentionally difficult and confusing because lobbying firms for companies like Intuit and H&R Block spend millions of dollars ensuring the system remains a convoluted nightmare.
Filing taxes in the United States is intentionally difficult and confusing because lobbying firms for companies like Intuit and H&R Block spend millions of…
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Credit card companies actively refer to customers who pay off their balances in full every month as 'deadbeats' because they don't generate any revenue from exorbitant interest rates.
Credit card companies actively refer to customers who pay off their balances in full every month as 'deadbeats' because they don't generate any revenue from…
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Ultra-fast fashion brands like Shein have broken traditional retail economics by adding up to ten thousand new items to their website every single day, leveraging real-time data…
Ultra-fast fashion brands like Shein have broken traditional retail economics by adding up to ten thousand new items to their website every single day,…
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Ransomware attacks have become so lucrative and formalized that many cybercriminal organizations now operate with traditional corporate structures, including human resources…
Ransomware attacks have become so lucrative and formalized that many cybercriminal organizations now operate with traditional corporate structures, including…
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Private equity firms routinely buy beloved legacy companies like Toys R Us, load them up with billions of dollars in toxic debt, strip them of their valuable real estate assets, and then force them into bankruptcy.
Private equity firms routinely buy beloved legacy companies like Toys R Us, load them up with billions of dollars in toxic debt, strip them of their valuable…
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