
A Brief Economic History of Time
Capitalism changed how humans perceive the passage of hours, days, and weeks. This made people more productive, but did it make them any happier?
Capitalism changed how humans perceive the passage of hours, days, and weeks. This made people more productive, but did it make them any happier?
Since its founding, America has swung from protectionism to free trade. What’s next?
The combination of suspicion and reverence that people feel toward the financially successful isn’t unique to the modern era, but reflects a deep ambivalence that goes back to the Roman empire.
Until the 19th century, hardly anyone recognized the vital role everyday buyers play in the world economy.
Corporate executives haven’t always believed that transactions must have winners and losers. But that’s not Donald J. Trump’s view.
Communal living is hardly a departure from tradition—it's a return to how humans have been making their homes for thousands of years.
That economic expansion leads to greater well-being is a central tenet of modern thought. And yet, that’s not what is happening in America today.
Fears of civilization-wide idleness are based too much on the downsides of being unemployed in a society premised on the concept of employment.
Journalists and policy makers can have a hard time describing the economy when “average” departs so markedly from what's normal.
Adam Smith said that quid-pro-quo exchange systems preceded economies based on currency, but there’s no evidence that he was right.