Society

In our textbook, Modern Principles of Economics, Tyler and I predicted that lab grown diamonds would break the DeBeers cartel. Well, it’s finally happening. Bloomberg: One of the world’s most popular types of rough diamonds has plunged into a pricing free fall, as an increasing number of Americans choose engagement rings made from lab-grown stones […]

Open-book exams aren’t nearly open enough

New Doughnut and Circular Economics Are Replacing Capitalism: Amsterdam and California Lead the Way in Sustainable and Equitable Economic Models

The growing solidarity between labor and the LGBTQ+ community

The whale — also named Sk’aliCh’elh-tenaut and Lolita — was captured in 1970, but died last month before her planned return to the Salish Sea.

archived 3 Sep 2023 12:28:04 UTC

It’s 2050. Extreme poverty is history and people are living better than ever. Fantasy or near-future reality? We find out

This Labor Day, workers' rights activists reflect on the Fight for $15 moment, which sprung up roughly a decade ago. Many states still pay sub-living wages.

The lithium-ion batteries used in electric cars are marred by child labor and environmental concerns. Some say plain old sand is the solution.

Recent studies have shown teens are more susceptible than adults. It’s a problem researchers, teachers and parents are only beginning to understand.

I use data for income inequality to show that billionaires are socially made.

Child safety group Heat Initiative plans to launch a campaign pressing Apple on child sexual abuse material scanning and user reporting. The company issued a rare, detailed response on Thursday.

In April 2022, the United States launched its “Declaration for the Future of the Internet.” It asserts that human rights and democratic values must remain central to future technological developmen…

Austerity has never worked for anyone but the very rich. This is a historical fact.

A new survey of tech workers from Qualtrics shows that Gen Xers are less motived by their jobs than their millennial or Gen Z counterparts.

Chuck Norris was a karate legend, then an action star, and then ... memes. So many memes. This is the hilarious story of how Chuck Norris Facts melted the internet in 2005 and how its creator is now using AI to shake up the world in even bigger ways.

It is not disputed that current AI is bringing more intelligence into the world, with more to follow yet.  Of course not everyone believes that augmentation is a good thing, or will be a good thing if we remain on our current path. To continue in aggregative terms, if you think “more intelligence” will be […]

We hold businesses strongly liable for lies, and even for truths that authorities call misleading. Ordinary people, in contrast, are mainly held liable only for lying under oath in court, lying to police officers, lying for clear financial gain, and when a factual claim defames one person to another sufficiently carelessly. Otherwise we are

In its final season, the FX on Hulu comedy leaves a promising blueprint for TV’s future.

Market researcher Clotaire Rapaille was interviewed for an episode of Frontline on advertising and marketing back in 2003. I like

Drawn by the promise of an emerging tech hub, some tech workers who flocked to Austin found a middling tech scene, subpar culture, and scorching heat.

Even outcasts should be able to subsist on their own land.

In theory, yes; in practice, perhaps soon.

It's hard to argue that providing a pipe constitutes a speech act.

Only when necessary to protect five basic internet rights.

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…