Financial Markets

November 14, 2018

Six Facts: What We Need To Know About World Debt

The six facts that summarize world debt identify the big borrowers, the risky borrowers, and the criteria for deciding how much to worry.

June 25, 2018

Breaking the First-Digit Law and Other Number Crimes

When the digits that appear frequently in national accounting figures, spreadsheets, and earnings reports are missing, then we can say we have suspicious numbers.

June 21, 2018

Throwback Thursday: A Look Back at the Dow

#TBT: With General Electric leaving the Dow Industrial Average, today is a perfect time to look back at Charles Dow, Eddie Jones, and the Dow that GE joined in 1896.

May 25, 2018

Greece’s New Bailout Problem

As Greek bailout talks continue, European monetary officials are also concerned that a Greek statistician could receive a life sentence for reporting accurate macroeconomic statistics.

April 20, 2018

The Mystery of the Disappearing Credit Card Signature

Soon, the credit card signature will be extinct and so too will another transaction "cost" that made spending money a little more difficult.

February 9, 2018

Cupcakes and Other Notable Bubbles

Whether looking at 1637 or 2000, markets and financial bubbles always seem to find each other. As a surge in demand pushes prices up, the result resembles a bubble because it is full of air rather than value.