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.
Videos
Watch a video to get a quick overview.
Does trickle-down economics actually work?
Dig into trickle-down economics, which claims that tax cuts for corporations and the wealthy stimulate the economy and improve people's lives.--In 1981, the ...
Nicola Sturgeon: Why governments should prioritize well-being
In 2018, Scotland, Iceland and New Zealand established the network of Wellbeing Economy Governments to challenge the acceptance of GDP as the ultimate measure of a country's success. In this visionary…
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 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 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 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.
The Dollar and Climate
The climate crisis offers a new angle from which to evaluate US dollar hegemony, since carbon emissions are tied to economic activity.
Sectional Industrialization
An interview with Richard Bensel on developmentalism and American political and economic power.
Tipping Is Weird Now
Technology and the pandemic have transformed the meaning of gratuity.
3 charts that explain what’s happening with US inflation
The Consumer Prices Index for December showed annual inflation slowed to 6.5% in December from a year earlier.
The Poland/Malaysia model
A get-upper-middle-class-quick scheme
Short Articles
Short on time? Check out these useful short articles in Economy—all under 10 minutes.
"Time inequality" is the world's real problem, not income inequality
Inequality should be measured in terms of the time it takes for us to earn the money to buy the things we need.
«For every 1% increase in population, personal resource abundance increased by 4% and global resource abundance increased by 8%.»
Nobody Planned This, Nobody Expected It
The Battle of Stalingrad was the largest battle in history. With it came equally superlative stories of how people dealt with risk. One came in late 1942, when a German tank unit sat in reserve on…
«The problem is that historical risks you can study are dwarfed by risks you actually experience. There are a zillion treacherous risks, but most on their own are not common enough to take seriously or collect data on. Like mice destroying tanks.»
A Few Good Stories
I recently had lunch with a guy who’s close with Warren Buffett. This guy – we’ll call him Jim (not his real name) – was driving around Omaha with Buffett in late 2009. The global economy was crippled…
«Everything good in life is just the gap between expectations and reality.»
Endless Uncertainty
The night before the D-Day invasion, a nervous Franklin Roosevelt asked his wife Eleanor how she felt about not knowing what would happen next. “To be nearly sixty years old and still rebel at…
«The future is always endlessly unpredictable. What changes isn’t the level of uncertainty, but the level of people’s complacency.»
9 astonishing ways that living standards have improved around the world
Despite the constant stream of bad news we see in the media, the reality is that living standards have improved dramatically across time.
Long Articles
These are some of the most-read long-form articles in Economy.
Three Big Things: The Most Important Forces Shaping the World
An irony of studying history is that we often know exactly how a story ends, but have no idea where it began. Here’s an example. What caused the financial crisis? Well, you have to understand the…
Optimism
Why it's worth trying the world more optimistic
«I’m far more interested in answering the question, “What does the world look like if this goes right?” than in analyzing all of the reasons something might not work.»
Theory of Constraints Principles Simplified [With Pictures]
What are the Theory of Constraints principles and how they can be applied to real life? See how I apply TOC in my writing process.
«Theory of Constraints (TOC) will help you identify the weakest links inside a system, organization, your life in general»
Visualizing the $94 Trillion World Economy in One Chart
View the expanded version of this infographic. Just four countries—the U.S., China, Japa
The end of the system of the world
A critical point has been reached; decoupling is for real this time.
Thought Leaders
We monitor hundreds of thought leaders, influencers, and newsletters in Economy, including:

Mariana Mazzucato
UCL Professor, Director of @IIPP_UCL. Books: 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 for @TheAtlantic, author of "Give People Money." I don't see DMs or check this space often, so please say hi on annie@theatlantic.com.

Paul Krugman
Nobel laureate. Op-Ed columnist, @nytopinion. Author, “The Return of Depression Economics,” “The Great Unraveling,” "Arguing With Zombies," + more.
Freakonomics
Follow the Freakonomics Radio podcast for weekly episodes that explore the hidden side of everything — with host Stephen J. Dubner.
Publications
We monitor hundreds of publications, blogs, newsletters, and news sources in Economy, including:
Visual Capitalist
Data-driven visual content focused on global trends, investing, technology, and the economy.
Noah Smith 🐇🇺🇦
Writes about economics, tweets about rabbits. Subscribe to my Substack: http://noahpinion.substack.com Email: noahpiniontwitter@gmail.com
Vox
Understand the news. Support Vox with a contribution: http://vox.com/give-now
MIT Technology Review
Our in-depth reporting on innovation reveals and explains what’s really happening now to help you know what’s coming next. http://technologyreview.com/newsletters
Foreign Affairs
A magazine of U.S. foreign policy and international affairs, founded in 1922. Sign up for our newsletters: http://foreignaffairs.com/newsletter
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