Feb 13 How the West got rich and modern capitalism was born By Sven Beckert "We need to qualify the fairy tale we like to tell about capitalism and free labor," argues Harvard historian Sven Beckert, author of the new book, "Empire of Cotton." In part two of his essay on Making Sen$e, he explores… Continue reading
Feb 12 Watch 7:53 Using rational economics to simplify the search for romance By PBS News Hour What can online matchmaking sites teach us about the marketplace? When an economist turned to the Internet to find a date, he found that searching for a life partner isn’t much different from other kinds of shopping. Economics correspondent Paul… Continue watching
Feb 12 The 3 first date questions that will predict your romantic compatibility By Simone Pathe Paul Solman talks to OkCupid co-founder and president Christian Rudder about the three questions that will help you find love. Continue reading
Feb 12 America's first big business? Not the railroads, but slavery By Sven Beckert For too long, historian Sven Beckert argues, historians have depicted slavery as a non-capitalist "Southern pathology." In his new book, "Empire of Cotton," Beckert shows how slavery was actually at the very roots of modern American capitalism. Continue reading
Feb 11 Lessons from Downton Abbey about women and money By Simone Pathe Not only are American women less financially savvy than American men, they also report lower confidence in their financial literacy. The same is true across market-driven economies in Europe. But that's not an altogether bad thing. Look no farther than… Continue reading
Feb 11 Anthem hack is only tip of the iceberg for Medicare customers By Philip Moeller Making Sen$e Medicare Maven Philip Moeller weighs in on the Anthem hack, warning readers about subsequent online fraud efforts trying to convince Anthem customers to turn over more personal information. Continue reading
Feb 10 Robot takeover of the workplace is speeding up, study says By Marina Lopes Robots are expected to take over one-quarter of industrial manufacturing tasks, up from 10 percent today, the study predicts. Continue reading
Feb 09 4 reasons not to trust Social Security's benefit estimates By Laurence Kotlikoff Social Security expert Larry Kotlikoff recommends you retrieve your annual statement each year to check that Social Security has correctly credited your covered earnings. But don’t trust the statement’s projections of your retirement benefits or the benefits available to family… Continue reading
Feb 08 Poll: Slim majority approves of Obama job on unemployment By Emily Swanson, Associated Press Americans' views of President Barack Obama have improved slightly in the past two months, and opinions are more positive about the direction of the country and the health of the economy, an Associated Press-GfK poll finds. Continue reading