When someone titles their memoir Misbehaving, you know it's going to be interesting. And, as it turns out, it can also help you win a Nobel Prize. Such was the case this week when Richard Thaler, an economist at the University of Chicago, won the prize in economics. As you may know, Thaler helped [...]
Sometimes a joke is clearly just a joke, like this bumper sticker, which I saw recently: To be sure, every joke has a kernel of truth. But, most people who play the lottery do know, rationally, that Powerball isn't a reliable route to retirement. Sometimes, though, it's not as easy to make [...]
The name Irving Fisher is not widely known, but maybe it should be. In his day, Fisher was a renowned economist. He graduated first in his class from Yale, received the first PhD in Economics ever issued by Yale and then went on to join the school's faculty. Despite all that, however, [...]
For those who keep score — namely, the financial news media — last Thursday marked a milestone: For the first time in a long time, Bill Gates was no longer the richest person in the world. Instead, that distinction went to Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon. This probably doesn't come as any [...]
“Stock Market Hits New High” Have you noticed headlines like this lately? Since March of 2009, when the S&P 500 Index hit a low of 666, the market has more than tripled. And it keeps going higher. In fact, headlines like this have become so frequent that they are no longer remarkable. The [...]
