Our story starts with one of the transistor’s inventors. According to a Wired article, William Shockley is the reason that Silicon Valley grows chips instead of apricots. Although Shockley Semic…
Innovation
Innovation is a source of economic growth. Including the impact of new technology and the incentives that stimulate creativity, innovation is important for a market system. Depending on current events, econlife considers the impact and source of past and present innovation that includes the industrial revolution, the transportation revolution, the information revolution and people like Steve Jobs and Andrew Carnegie who made it possible.
Why We Buy Our iPhones
With its newest and priciest product launch, Apple has made iPhone conspicuous consumption the reason to buy their phone.…
Why It Helps to Have (Emoji) Standardization
We know that transactions are easier when weights and measures and times are standardized but do we need emoji standardization?…
What Technology Entrepreneurs Want From Government
With Silicon Valley being called a massive ATM, researchers looked at the opinions of elite technology entrepreneurs to see their political influence.…
Looking at Invisible Labor
While a diplomat negotiates a treaty and a singer records music, few of us recognize the invisible labor that made their work possible.…
Looking at the Southwest Effect
Sometimes invisible, the Southwest Effect has influenced air fares and air traffic since the 1970s when Southwest was a small Texas carrier.…
When the Power of the Market Affects Commodity Prices
The results of the bet between biologist Paul Ehrlich and economist Julian Simon showed how the power of the market affects commodity prices.…
Throwback Thursday: Remembering the Best French Fries
#TBT Throwback Thursday: Looking back at the original McDonald’s french fries that were made with beef tallow, we could say that the taste was worth the fat.…
New Territory for Self-Driving Cars
Whereas the Model T brought us suburbia, highways and McDonald’s, the spillover from self-driving cars will also transform our lives at home and at work.…
Throwback Thursday: Remembering When We Were More Connected
With a soaring proportion of households becoming cellphone-only users, on this #TBT we can look back at the disappearing landline.…