Continental Currency $20 banknote with marbled edge (May 10, 1775)

Marbled Money

Marbled paper was a way to make banknotes and checks unique—a critical characteristic for a nascent American Republic.
An illustration of a globe being heated over a fire on a spit

Grilling the Globe

Could meat taxes help to curb over-consumption of beef and mitigate climate change?
An illustration of Financial fluctuations

Environmental, Social, and Governance Factors v. Fiduciary Duty

Asset managers have a fiduciary duty to act in your best interests. Does that include considering ESG factors when investing your money?
Cotton plantation

Understanding Capitalism Through Cotton

Looking at the development of cotton as a global commodity, explains historian Sven Beckert, helps us understand how capitalism emerged.
A pork-butcher's shop

Meat and the Free Market

Significant political changes in three major global cities fueled experimentation with laissez-faire economics, which had peculiar effects on the meat market.
Road travelling horses being accustomised to motor cars, c. 1904

An Uncertain Energy Transition a Century Ago

When it came to the transport of goods within local areas, it took decades for the competition among horses, electric vehicles, and gas trucks to shake out.
A Victorian boy and girl excitedly welcoming their father home, while their mother stands and watches

How Government Helped Create the “Traditional” Family

Since the mid-nineteenth century, many labor regulations in the US have been crafted with the express purpose of strengthening the male-breadwinner family.
CNC machine drilling with coolant

Uneven Impacts: The Virtual Water Trade

The virtual water trade reveals significant disparities between water-rich states and their trade partners.
Rakhine farmers harvest in a rice paddy near Pa Rein village, Myauk Oo township on October 29, 2012 in Rakhine state, Myanmar.

The Challenges of Regulating Rice in Myanmar

The Myanmar government has regulated its agricultural and export industry through one specific crop: rice. What are the future prospects of the rice economy?
Adam Smith

Adam Smith, Revolutionary?

By 1800, Smith—once considered a friend of the poor and an enemy of the privileges of the rich—was already being refashioned into a icon of conservatism.