economics

Is Laziness the Cause of Unemployment?

Hamilton Nolan · 01/16/13 02:50PM

Economics is a field in which the general public will often give deference to the opinions of someone with professional credentials, even when that person seems to be saying something in direct opposition to common sense. "Well, sounds crazy, but he's the expert," we say to ourselves. We assume that the expert knows something we don't. Sometimes, he does. Other times, the expert is just a very wrong person with a very impressive job title.

Do 'The Good Rich' Exist?

Hamilton Nolan · 01/10/13 12:25PM

We live in a world in which wealth is distributed in a wildly unequal way. A tiny few have billions of dollars, while many more have nothing. Though the reactions to this persistent and growing state of inequality span the ideological spectrum, it's fair to say that most people consider it a problem. For the very wealthy—and their sympathizers—extensive philanthropy is often held up as their personal nod to the world's unfairness. These generous philanthropists are considered to be the good ones.

Everybacon Calm Down: We're Not Going to Run Out of Bacon

Caity Weaver · 10/01/12 01:10PM

After British reports of upcoming bacon shortages last month led people whose whole identity is defined by the fact that they enjoy bacon and even sometimes consume it in unexpected ways -like chopped into tiny pieces and inserted into a chocolate bar- to begin selling off choice plots in the family cemetery lot in exchange for packages of frozen hog hash, American agricultural economists have stepped forward to soothe us all.

The Way CEOs Get Paid Is a Crock

Hamilton Nolan · 09/24/12 10:13AM

Allow us, please, if you will, to direct your attention to this paper on the topic of Can You Believe How Much Motherfucking Money These CEOs Make, And, Even Worse, How They Try to Justify That Shit As If It's All Good. As noted in Gretchen Morgenson's column yesterday, CEOs and the cronies that justify their salaries are, in most cases, full of shit.

Ask Former TARP Official Neil Barofsky How the Government Sold Out Citizens to Bail Out Wall Street

Hamilton Nolan · 08/07/12 12:45PM

Neil Barofsky was at the very center of the U.S. government's response to the 2008 economic collapse. He spent more than two years, until March of 2011, as Special Inspector General for the TARP program, overseeing and monitoring government bailout funds. Now, Barofsky has written a ferocious book detailing how, he says, "Washington abandoned Main Street While Rescuing Wall Street." And he's here to take questions from you, the Main Streeters.

$100 Bills Only Cause Trouble

Maureen O'Connor · 02/24/12 03:58PM

High-quality counterfeits of American $100 and $50 are keeping North Korea's economy afloat, The End of Money author David Wolman reports in Time. Estimates on Pyongyang's black market counterfeiting profits range from $15 to $25 million "to several hundred million dollars' worth" every year.

Penis Size Correlated with GDP, Study Finds

Maureen O'Connor · 07/21/11 05:52PM

A Finnish economist took one of those ridiculous worldwide penis studies that are always circulating and charted it against GDPs, to study that critical ratio between penis size and wealth. It's the classic golddigger's dilemma—are any of the rich ones worth fucking?—but on a global scale!

Bank of America Will Make Amends for Destroying Economy by Paying Billions to Other Banks

John Cook · 06/29/11 01:22PM

Bank of America feels just awful about it's role in packaging and selling a bunch of junk mortgages and inflating the economy with bad debt until the bottom fell out and more than 5 million people lost their jobs and more than 2.5 million went on food stamps, except for BofA's executives, who still got paid. So it's decided to pay $14 billion to BlackRock, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, and a bunch of other extremely wealthy institutions to make up for it. Are we square?

Nouriel Roubini is a 14-Hour Party Person

John Cook · 06/28/11 04:02PM

Fameball economist, world-class doomsayer, and long-time Gawker favorite Nouriel Roubini had a 14-hour party on Saturday, beginning with a "noon...dip in the model-packed Jacuzzi" atop his Manhattan triplex and ending when the...caffeine ran out, we're guessing. They probably partied until there was no more caffeine left to keep them going at Nouriel Roubini's 14-hour "Carmens and Matadors"-themed party at his $5.5 million apartment.

Obama Economic Adviser Steps Down

Max Read · 06/06/11 11:00PM

White House economic adviser Austan Goolsbee will return to his teaching position at the University of Chicago this fall, partly in order to avoid losing tenure. He'll likely be replaced with another boring academic. Our choice: A hand puppet. [Politico]

Everyone Wants Bitcoins After Learning They Can Buy Drugs With Them

Adrian Chen · 06/03/11 01:05PM

Above is a chart of the exchange rate, in dollars, of the digital currency Bitcoin. That red arrow shows the price on Wednesday afternoon right after we published a story about Silk Road, a Bitcoin-powered online marketplace where you can easily buy illegal drugs. In the past 48 hours alone, a Bitcoin's worth has jumped from around $9.90 to around $14.

Tea Party Morons Won't Let Go of the Gold Standard

Jeff Neumann · 06/03/11 05:45AM

When Armageddon comes and the Antichrist reveals himself — most likely as a cigarette-smoking, cocaine-sniffing, secret Muslim world leader — the only things of value in our Mad Max-like world will be guns, silver and gold.