World War I Austerity Couldn’t Stop the Fashion Show
To the designer Lucile, luxury consumerism was a virtue as wartime economies struggled.
How Accurate Are Prediction Markets?
Will I get COVID-19? Will I have a job in three months’ time? Will the shops have what I need? Research indicates that markets might not know best.
The Commercial Real-Estate Market’s Impending Crash
Shopping malls are in trouble, as are the commercial mortgage-backed securities built around them. Can another 2008 be averted?
Why Does Meatpacking Have Such Bad Working Conditions?
In the long time between The Jungle and today, meatpacking has changed—first for the better, due to strong unions, then for the worse.
Why Being Laid Off Can Hurt So Much
If an occupation becomes part of your identity, losing work can feel like a personal failing, even if it's clearly not your fault.
How Body Positivity Coexists with Fat Shaming
Retail workers at a plus-size clothing store had to promote the contradictory messages that every body is beautiful and that being fat is bad.
What If a Shrinking Economy Wasn’t a Disaster?
The degrowth movement is building a vision of a society where economies would get smaller by design—and people would be better off for it.
Why Are Tax Forms So Complicated?
When it comes to the U.S. tax system, benefits are often indirect, which makes them more politically palatable to many.
When Scientific Management Came to Japan
Japanese workers, many of them women, worked up to 17 hours a day in the early 20th century. Yet experts still wondered why they “wasted” time.
How Toothpaste Got Scientific Cred
Would you brush with a toothpaste for the sweet taste alone or because of its touted health benefits? The answer wasn't always so obvious.