Little island full of money

Islands in the Cash Stream 

Tiny island states, usually former British colonies, have been re-colonized by global finance and now depend on “archipelago capitalism” for survival.
A social security card on a plain surface.

When Big Business Backed Social Security

Contemporary conservatives call for the U.S. government to ditch Social Security in favor of private savings. But it wasn't always this way.
Two children playing in the snow

The Snow Day as Modern Festival

An unexpected day off work and school can take on the trappings of a religious ritual.
Someone standing in the room of a hoarder

What’s Causing the Rise of Hoarding Disorder?

Now that the DSM lists severe hoarding as a disorder apart from OCD, psychologists are asking what explains its prevalence.
modern inequality

What Would Adam Smith Think of Modern Inequality?

The "father of modern economics" saw a role for a well-run government that used taxes and regulations to keep the market operating smoothly.
v

How Consumerism Sold Democracy to Postwar Germany

After World War II, the United States was battling the Soviet Union for cultural influence. In divided Berlin, the tactics included lavish consumer goods exhibitions.
Mr and Mrs William Lindow

How 17th Century Unmarried Women Helped Shape Capitalism

Under coverture, married English women had no rights to their property, even though unmarried women did, making for a unique system in Europe.
Sugar cane trade Portugal

Madeira, The Island That Helped Invent Capitalism

Madeira is famous for its wine and scenery today, but in the 15th century it boomed and then busted as the sugar capital of the world.
A posh young woman reclining on a deck chair with her hands behind her head

Luxury: Enemy of Virtue, or Economic Engine?

Today, economists tend to see anything that boosts consumption and production as a good thing. But that was decidedly not the case in earlier centuries.
John Calvin

John Calvin: The Religious Reformer Who Influenced Capitalism

Both the blame and the credit for capitalism has often been placed at the feet of a 16th-century Christian theologian named John Calvin.