Economics

essayDemography and migration
The world needs peasants
Far from being a relic of the past, peasants are vital to feeding the world. They need to be supported, not marginalised
Maryam Aslany

videoTravel
Retracing Mark Twain’s path, a filmmaker sets out to understand the mighty Mississippi
28 minutes

essayEconomics
Divine dividends
In China, companies that are closer to temples are more generous to shareholders: religion subtly shapes economic behaviour
Zhangxin (Frank) Liu

videoChildhood and adolescence
A neglected Dominican sugar town, as seen through the eyes of a 12-year-old local
11 minutes

videoThinkers and theories
The prison abolitionist who dares to envision a world without ‘unfreedoms’
16 minutes

videoEconomics
A tour of New York’s gaudiest neighbourhood with the Marxist geographer David Harvey
13 minutes

videoSocial psychology
What happened when a crypto scam swept over a sleepy town in the Caucasus
18 minutes

essayDemography and migration
The vanishing of youth
The precipitous decline of birthrates throughout the world poses a serious threat to humanity. What is to be done?
Victor Kumar

essayPoverty and development
How Kerala got rich
Fifty years ago it was one of India’s poorest states, now it is now one of the richest. How did Kerala do it?
Tirthankar Roy & K Ravi Raman

videoFairness and equality
There’s a dirty side to clean energy in the metal-rich mountains of South Africa
10 minutes

essayPoverty and development
Poverty is not permanent
By understanding the pernicious myths surrounding poverty, we can make progress towards a lofty goal: dignity for all
Anirudh Krishna & Dirk Philipsen

essayNations and empires
What is decolonisation?
There’s more talk of decolonisation than ever, while true independence for former colonies has faded from view. Why?
Lydia Walker

essayProgress and modernity
The great wealth wave
The tide has turned – evidence shows ordinary citizens in the Western world are now richer and more equal than ever before
Daniel Waldenström

essayEconomic history
Economics 101
Why introductory economics courses continued to teach zombie ideas from before economics became an empirical discipline
Walter Frick

essayThe environment
Decoupling
We need to find a way for human societies to prosper while the planet heals. So far we can’t even think clearly about it
Ville Lähde

essayEconomic history
Credit card nation
Americans have always borrowed, but how exactly did their lives become so entangled with the power of plastic cards?
Sean H Vanatta

essayEconomics
Who bears the risk?
Under the guise of empowerment and freedom, politicians and business are offloading lifethreatening risk to individuals
Suzanne Schneider

videoWork
Does capitalism make ‘non-playable characters’ of us all? An uncanny exploration
21 minutes

essayEconomics
The cruelty of crypto
Selling itself as the new American dream, crypto exposes the vulnerable to fraud and scams, and loads risk onto the poor
Rachel O’Dwyer

essayEconomics
Going cashless
It’s not in the interests of the ordinary person but it’s not a conspiracy either. A cashless society is a system run amok
Brett Scott

essayEconomics
Finance as alchemy
Finance fraud is not a deviation from an essentially rational system but a window onto the reality-distortion of markets
Aris Komporozos-Athanasiou

videoHome
Whether above a pub or in a castle, our childhood homes leave an indelible mark
15 minutes

essayEconomics
The empty basket
Economics is the language of power and affects us all. What can we do to improve its impoverished menu of ideas?
Ha-Joon Chang

videoDemography and migration
How the world’s harshest lockdown hit India’s millions of migrant workers
27 minutes