The Surprising Ways that Governments Get Money

Thinking of how governments fund all they do, we usually think of taxes. But there is much more. Government Revenue U.S. States Desperate for cash, in 2010, Arizona’s governor sold the state capitol. The deal included the House and Senate,…

What Happens When You Have No Cash?

When its larger denomination bills suddenly became worthless in 2016, India’s demonetization became a case study about the role of money.

Where Bitcoin Has Another Problem

Adopting bitcoin during September 2021, El Salvador’s political leadership did not know all that could go wrong…and it did.

The Mystery of the Shrinking Pretzel Packages

We have a mystery when we see that corporations are shrinking packages while their CEOs’ inflation expectations are uninformed.

What Can We Learn From Japan?

Looking back at the Japanese economy and ahead at the United States, we can ask if we will have similar fiscal and monetary results.

Apples, Oranges, and the Global Covid-19 Fiscal Response

Trying to compare the incomparable, we sometimes say it’s like apples and oranges because they are so different. It turns out that they aren’t that different but they’re not really similar either:   The same is true for the Covid-19…

The Human Side of Money

Economic anthropologists focus on the human side of money when they see us now and in the past, as individuals, as families, and as one world.

Why Venezuelans Might Launder (In a Washing Machine) Their Dollars

The U.S. dollar is a handy backup when a country’s currency loses its value. After Zimbabwe’s hyperinflation hit its peak (or its nadir) in 2009, they used U.S. dollars but didn’t have enough. So, when the cash got too gray…

Why Your Inflation Rate is Different From Mine

Although the BLS reports the CPI (Consumer Price Index) inflation rate each month, our own household could see different price changes.

The Six Facts That We Need To Know About the Federal Reserve

The six Federal Reserve facts that we need to know relate to why it was created, what it always does, and what is happening now.