The Best Articles in Economy
The most useful articles and videos in Economy from around the web—beginners to advanced—curated by thought leaders and our community. We focus on timeless pieces and update the list whenever we discover new, must-read articles or videos—make sure to bookmark and revisit this page.
Top 5 Economy Articles
At a glance: these are the articles that have been most read, shared, and saved in Economy by Refind users in 2023.
Videos
Watch a video to get a quick overview.
Game theory can explain humanity’s biggest problem
Harvard professor Steven Pinker explains that everyone suffers from this rationality error.Subscribe to Big Think on YouTube ► https://www.youtube.com/channe...
The REAL Reason Unemployment is So Scary
WTF is Unemployment?Get a 4-week trial, free postage, and a digital scale at https://stamps.com/johnnyharris. Thanks to Stamps.com for sponsoring this video!...
How Working Hours May Be a Recession Indicator
Employees are actually working fewer hours as hiring booms, which could be a sign of incoming layoffs—and a possible recession. The current average number of...
Tipping, Explained: Why Two-Thirds of Americans View It Negatively
You’re being asked to tip more and more places today. If you’re annoyed, you’re not alone. A survey by Bankrate found a third of people are annoyed by those ...
Is anything ever really free? FreeWater is challenging our economic model
27 million likes on TikTok. A $0.00 product. How does the ‘FreeWater’ company work?Subscribe to Freethink on YouTube ► https://freeth.ink/youtube-subscribe U...
What is ...?
New to Economy? These articles make an excellent introduction.
What Is A Recession? Everything You Need To Know
Forget everything you think you know about the term at a time when fears about the first contraction since the coronavirus pandemic swirl.
An Introduction to AI and Economics
So far, the adoption rate of methods of artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML) has been quite uneven across the economics profession. The uptake of these methods has been heavily…
How to ...?
How to Create Real Housing Affordability, With Dignity
The lessons of New Town at St. Charles.
How to Make Guaranteed Income Work
As more and more cities and nonprofits implement cash-grant “guaranteed income” programs, it is important to keep some critical program design elements in mind.
How to Get Anyone to Do Anything (Ep. 463)
The social psychologist Robert Cialdini is a pioneer in the science of persuasion. His 1984 book Influence is a classic, and he has just published an expanded and revised edition. In this episode of…
«the seven psychological levers that bewitch our rational minds and lead us to buy, behave, or believe without a second thought.»
How to actually give people free money: The messy reality of UBI
With universal basic income (UBI) on everyone's lips, the process of reliably and consistently transferring cash remains surprisingly complex.
Trending
These links are currently making the rounds in Economy on Refind.
What If Money Expired?
A long-forgotten German economist argued that society and the economy would be better off if money was a perishable good. Was he an anarchist crank or the prophet of a better world?
«the concept of money was so pervasive and unexamined that money had become an end in itself, not the vehicle it was intended to be»
If capitalism is a cancer, what are we?
What immunology taught me about living on Earth
How China took over the world’s online shopping carts
Chinese e-commerce platforms like Shein, Temu, and TikTok Shop are going global with big ambitions.
Wages are rising. Jobs are plentiful. Nobody’s happy.
It’s a good time to be a worker and a bad time to be a consumer — the problem is most people are both.
Going cashless is a bad idea, but it’s not a conspiracy
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
Short Articles
Short on time? Check out these useful short articles in Economy—all under 10 minutes.
Compounding Optimism
Let me share a little theory I have about optimism, and why progress is so easy to underestimate. I’ll explain it in four parts. A crocodile in Costa Rica was found pregnant recently – and she did it…
«What’s relevant to a society is how well people are communicating their ideas, and how well they’re cooperating, not how clever the individuals are»
How to Spot Corporate Bullshit ❧ Current Affairs
A new book shows that the same talking points have been recycled for centuries, to oppose every form of progressive change.
Why your $7 latte is $7
Your expensive coffee habit is indeed getting even more expensive.
The dance of the naked emperors
A followup to "The rise and fall of peer review”
Why America is going backward: Being the richest nation in history isn't enough
America is the greatest economic and military power in world history — and our quality of life is garbage. But why?
Long Articles
These are some of the most-read long-form articles in Economy.
Against Automaticity
An explanation of why tricks like priming, nudge, the placebo effect, social contagion, the “emotional inception” model of advertising, most “cognitive biases,” and any fiel…
How not to be fooled by viral charts
Part 1: How to spot misinformation, mistakes, and meaningless data
A surprisingly radical proposal: Make people happier — not just wealthier and healthier
We finally have good data on what makes people happy. Why are we afraid to use it?
Here...comes...INDIA!!!
The world has a new largest country, and it's on the move.
The case for polycrisis as a keyword of our interconnected times
Is this the word we need to describe unprecedented convergences between ecological, political and economic strife?
Thought Leaders
We monitor hundreds of thought leaders, influencers, and newsletters in Economy, including:

Mariana Mazzucato
UCL Professor, Director of @IIPP_UCL. Author of: The Big Con; Entrepreneurial State; Value of Everything; Mission Economy. 4 kids keep me smiling
Tim Harford
Author How To Make The World Add Up (UK) / The Data Detective (US). Cautionary Tales podcast. Undercover Economist at the FT. BBC More or Less. Views my own.

Annie Lowrey
Staff writer @TheAtlantic, author of "Give People Money," working a book called "The Time Tax." Not here often, please say hi on annie@theatlantic.com.
Freakonomics
Follow the Freakonomics Radio podcast for weekly episodes that explore the hidden side of everything — with host Stephen J. Dubner.
Harvard Business Review
The best ideas in business and management to help people, organizations, and economies work better.
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