How Norway Avoided Dutch Disease

Avoided by Norway, Dutch disease is contracted by nations that let a commodity windfall dominate what they produce and spend.

Why Times Should Change

Deciding whether to spring forward to DST and fall back relates to a bigger debate about coordinating time throughout the United States.

How a Sock Puppet Created a Bubble

Ranging from sock puppets in 2000 to the spread of the automobile in the 1920s, the causes of market bubbles are different and yet similar.

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.

U.S. Steel and Apple: From One Billion to One Trillion

Rather like Apple just became the first trillion dollar corporation, in 1901 U.S. Steel took us past the billion dollar threshold.

Why Wall Street Might Care About Femtoseconds

Whether looking at the nineteenth century or now, Wall Street has always had fast traders who knew how to get the news before their competitors.

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.

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.

Why Bitcoin Is Not a Security

Asking if bitcoin is a security, a commodity, money, or property, we get a list of different answers that lead us to regulatory questions.

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.