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more about #economics EugeniaBSG: Giuliano and Spilimbergo might want to expand their study to people who grew up during the Great Depression because my parents don't believe in "redis... more » Bootknife-Jackson: good. we could use a little 'mental reform'. more » archer8228001: You mean "What's heartening about this study is that it shows people who have suffered through hard times often come out wanting other people's money,... more » Sunshineyness: Huh? The generation raised in The Depression was also responsible for trying to undue the cultural revolution started in the 30's by their post WW1 pa... more » Franklin Harris: Yes, of course. Obviously people who are compulsive penny-pinchers will want to turn over more of their money to the most spendthrift institution on t... more » Ogiri W Surie: Scarred indeed, I can hear 'Old Ogiri' now: "When I was your age, I was forced to walk in Cole Haans, 1/2 a block in the mild weather for a $6.00 Frap... more » economy_domine: Those fine public institutions that failed to regulate the financial industry properly? When the hell were to greedy bastards that profited from this... more » zanyzapper: "What's heartening about this study is that it shows people who have suffered through hard times often come out wanting to help other people. Hence th... more » Poodle_Heart: If this is the demographic last gasp of 40 years of racist, demagogic Republican rule, so be it. If this is what it takes for white people to get ove... more » Plague: Redistribution more likely than not means "gimme some of what they have". But it is nice to think all altruistic and shit on Xmas eve. more » nygenxer: These studies always make me wonder where the author has been for the last 25 years. You don't need to look any further than GenX to see how getting r... more » SJ_Edwards: I doubt this change of observed attitude is based on altruism, or even enlightened self-interest, it's based on the memory of sheer terror. Once you'... more » CodenameV: I seriously hope this study is true: why? Because there are still republican diehards who are still mentally living in the Reagan years. Democrat o... more » WestMantooth: And the cycle begins again. I'm already yelling at my sperm that will go on to be children/grandchildren about how they don't know the value of money. more » Vulcan Has No Moon: I and my mother have noticed that The Great Depression turned people into hoarders. No matter what it was, they refused to throw anything away. They k... more » Starwatcher: Are economists moonlighting as psychologists now? Boy, the bad economy really has changed the employment landscape. more » Chip Overclock: Interesting. Growing up during the Great Depression certainly affected my parents, so this has a ring of plausibility to it. But this recession, as ve... more » Klebert L. Hall: On the bright side, this would be an average year, in France. -Kle. more » Dresan: That was terrifying. more » tuner_racer: wonder what a china ver. of this map looks like. more » -
#madpsychology
Will The Recession Scar You For Life? Economists Say Yes.
People who grew up during the Great Depression often turned into compulsive penny-pinchers, unable to spend money without anxiety. Will recent recessions leave similar psychological scars on people growing up today? A new study by economists suggests they will. -
#maps
The Scariest Map Ever - At Least for Americans
More precisely, this map will be scary for people in the US. It's a time-lapse video of unemployment rates over two years - the darker the color, the higher the rates. Welcome to the jobless future. More » -
#pirates
Somalia's Pirates Have Created Their Own Stock Market - And It's Booming
Excited about the booming pirate economy? Now you can get a tiny cut of Somalian pirate booty by investing in their stock market - that's right, these pirates are now offering stock in their plundering operations. More » -
#madsocialscience
Economists Suggest Mind-Reading As a Way to Determine Public Good
A bizarre experiment carried out at CalTech has led economists to an even more bizarre assertion. Governments allocating spending for public goods like education should use "neurotechnology" - mind-reading via fMRI brain scans - to determine who should be taxed. More » -
#worldcon
Krugman Explains Why Progress Is Slowing Down
It's become a cliche to say that our world is changing faster and faster, as we hurtle towards an ultra-advanced future. But it's not true, Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman told Worldcon. Actually, change is slowing down. More » -
#rant
How Do We Get New Science Fiction Stories? Have New Nightmares
Tired of the creaky entertainment machine churning out copy-cat stories of zombies, superheroes, apocalypses and cyborgs? Then you need to conjure new dreads and fantasies in the real world, since that's where all our science fiction cliches come from. More » -
#futureeconomics
Japan Could Avoid Deflation By Resorting To "Economic Science Fiction"
U.S. economists may dabble in science fiction, but only the Japanese are considering resorting to science-fictional ideas to rescue their economy. To avoid the spectre of deflation, the Japanese are considering abolishing cash altogether. More » -
#batman
What If Batman's Villains Considered Economic Theory?
What would happen if the Joker studied macroeconomics to decide whether to team up with Two-Face or go it alone? An economist known only as ShadowBanker has posted an analysis of the merits and drawbacks of supervillain team-ups, with charts. More » -
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#madeconomics
Employment Maps from the Economic Apocalypse
A series of maps showing job gains and losses in the United States over the past five years makes a fascinating study of how joblessness spread across a country heading for massive economic recession. More » -
#crapfuturism
Consultants Say 2020 Will Be Just Like 2006, Only More!
Want a good (but bitter) laugh? Read "Manufacturing In 2020," a new report by management consulting firm Capgemini. Apparently, trends from two years ago will continue unabated into the Roaring Twenties. More » -
#economicdystopia
The Greatest Depressions (and Economic Recoveries) of Science Fiction
Science fiction never fails to predict bizarre, unwelcome futures and the current global economic meltdown is no exception. We love to imagine all the ways our world will end not with a bang, but with a flood of hemorrhaged garbage cash. Two of this year's scifi film crop, Babylon A.D. and The Road, predict a geopolitical landscape shredded by scarcity. But unlike most politicians, science fiction tales offer a wide range of solutions to economic peril: everything from time-travel-enhanced investments to interstellar hypercapitalism. And yet at the heart of even the most Utopian solution to financial collapse there lurks a tale of human self-destructiveness, a not-so-buried wish to see the species destroyed or enslaved for its economic choices. Do our fantasies doom us to financial failure? More » -
#megacapitalism
The Past and Future of Economic Dystopia
Yesterday marked the beginning of a new era of economic dystopia — at least, if the stock market is any guide. Former U.S. Federal Reserve chief Alan Greenspan called the current stock market freefall a once-in-a-century economic crisis. After the collapse of US investment bank Lehman Brothers, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell more than 500 points, its largest one-day point loss since the September 2001 terrorist attacks. And as U.S. citizens contemplate the collapsing housing market and the insane bailout of lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, things are starting to feel distinctly depressing — or should we say recessing? It's interesting to compare pictures of today's high-tech New York Stock Exchange — filled in this picture with panicked traders — with pictures of the lower-tech one in 1929, just days before the famous stock market crash that began the Great Depression. More »
