Society

Most economic growth comes from innovation, not the accumulation of capital or labor. And innovation rates are mostly due to two competing factors. One the one hand, we pick the low hanging fruit of the easiest highest-payoff innovations to try first. On the other hand, we can more easily pursue innovation ideas when our world is richer, has better tech, and knows more.

I recently noticed that the Bank of Jamaica, Jamaica's central bank, has implemented two new marketing strategies to drive adoption of its ...

Why are Republicans across the nation insisting that the country’s most severe problems are teaching Black History and trans kids wanting to be recognized for who they are?

In a year of depressingly predictable election trends, the rise of biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy represents something of a breakthrough. In some polls for the Republican presidential nomination, the 38-year-old Ohio native now occupies second place behind Donald Trump, overtaking the beleaguered Ron DeSantis. [...]Read More...

Mathematicians can often figure out what happens as quantities grow infinitely large. What about when they are just a little big?

Gross output (GO) is a relatively new macroeconomic statistic that measures total economic activity. Gross domestic product (GDP)—the other major measure of economic activity—accounts only for final goods and services. However, GO’s scope includes both final output as well as intermediate inputs at all earlier stages of production. Therefore, GO is a much more comprehensive measure […]

Drivers using phones or not wearing seatbelts have been identified by the AI camera system.

Once upon a time, before the internet, there were attempts to combine magazines and catalogs together. The weird part? For a while, it worked! Meet the magalog.

Not even Taylor Swift can fight the devaluation of recorded music, but she makes it up in physical experiences; Disney isn’t much different, but it looks much worse given the company’s …

Disney was, and should remain, a serious engineering company.

(Wayne Stadler/Dreamstime.com) New York City's migrant crisis has been in the news lately. The basic story is that the city...

As they increasingly forsake cash, regular folks are making dozens of digital payments every month. What they don't realize is how this grow...

From million-dollar slide shows to Steve Jobs’s introduction of the iPhone, a bit of show business never hurt plain old business.

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Is affirmative action unfair to black achievement? Not any more than the forms of unfairness that affect other races' accomplishments

A new paper shows underinvesting in government comes at a staggering cost.

A YouTube controversy around a major channel reflects the complexity of maintaining editorial standards, or even integrity, when quantity trumps all.

New data on series like Suits and Bluey makes a strong case that streaming giants like Netflix and Disney+ need to learn the value of their own content.

Disney+, YouTube TV, Hulu, and other streaming services are still ideas in search of a business model.

Once the culture wars are dialed down and localized, the more important economic fissures will be able to take center stage.

Sirens in Maui were not turned on before or during the devastating fire in Lahaina. Here in the Bay Area, sirens are actively being used in some areas but in San Francisco, the sirens are offline and not working.

This essay is a personal history of the $60+ million I allocated to metascience starting in 2012 while working for the Arnold Foundation (now Arnold Ventures). Click and keep reading if you want to know: How the Center for Open Science started How I accidentally up working with the John Oliver show

In a culture devoid of moral education, generations are growing up in a morally inarticulate, self-referential world.