Sep 26 Column: Which currencies are overvalued? The Mini Mac Index tells all By Benn Steil, Emma Smith The “law of one price” holds that identical goods should trade for the same price in an efficient market. But to what extent does it actually hold internationally?… Continue reading
Sep 23 Air pollution takes its toll on productivity even for those with desk jobs By Making Sen$e Editor Even in a job where employees' only physical exertion involves answering the phone, air pollution takes its toll on productivity. Continue reading
Sep 22 What’s ‘Pre-Suasion?’ How marketers make us receptive to an ad By Paul Solman The factor that frequently determines whether people are going to make a particular choice is not the factor that counsels wisely or the one that leads to the greatest economic benefit. It’s the one that’s top of the consciousness in… Continue reading
Sep 22 This innovative idea can ‘unshackle’ poor people from payday loans and bad credit scores By Kristen Doerer By building upon a widely used, informal lending practice in the immigrant community, José A. Quiñonez is giving poor immigrants access to credit in the financial mainstream. Continue reading
Sep 22 I keep falling. Will Medicare cover a home health aide? By Philip Moeller Medicare usually only covers things that are deemed medically necessary by your doctor or another health care professional. But what's considered "medically necessary"?… Continue reading
Sep 21 Column: Who will be next to lead the UN? By Vikram Mansharamani At the end of the year, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will step down after a decade of service. Who will be the next person to tackle issues like climate change and the refugee crisis?… Continue reading
Sep 20 Column: Why you no longer need a venture capitalist to start a successful business By Gerald Davis The spread of the virtual corporation model was a boon for generic plug-and-play vendors who could assemble products and manage supply chains, ship goods to consumers and provide various business services. But once all of these components were available off-the-shelf,… Continue reading
Sep 19 Column: How lightweight enterprises are outperforming industry heavyweights By Gerald Davis A corporation was once a social institution, with a mission and members and boundaries that separated the inside from the outside. Today it is more like a webpage. Whereas Blockbuster had 83,000 employees and 9,000 physical stories at its height,… Continue reading
Sep 19 Column: Why 5.2 percent income growth still leaves us in the doldrums By John Komlos Why does it feels like incomes are stagnating even as the Census Bureau documents income growth of 5.2 percent?… Continue reading
Sep 16 Column: When corporations were a source of greater equality By Gerald Davis The postwar era of corporate dominance corresponded to a period of remarkable economic growth, social mobility and relative income equality in the United States. Continue reading