Economy and Business
Money, markets, trade, logistics, companies, and work.
#5399: Who's Actually Behind the AI? Fauxtomation Explained
Amazon's Just Walk Out needed 1,000 workers in India. Google Duplex, Facebook M — the pattern of selling humans as software goes deep.
#5382: 10 Commercial Gear Upgrades for Your Home
Commercial dishwashers, washers, and fridges can outlast consumer gear — if your electrical panel cooperates.
#5373: Why the Same Face Cream Costs 2.5x More in Israel
Same La Roche-Posay cream: $17 on Amazon, 160 shekels in Jerusalem. Here's where the markup actually happens.
#5374: Why Trades Still Say Apprentice, Journeyman, Master
A papyrus contract from 18 BC, a five-euro coin, and the German Walz — how one medieval ladder survived only in the licensed trades.
#5341: The Bankruptcy Stone and the Debtor Blacklist
From Florence's stone of scandal to China's debtor blacklist, a tour of the world's most degrading insolvency rituals — and why the U.S. version is...
#5339: How Auction Insiders Find the $9,000 Forklift
Government surplus, factory liquidation, and bankruptcy sales are three different animals — and the pros who profit know exactly where to look.
#5334: Ten Legal Loopholes Hiding in Plain Sight
Empty boxes dodging a billion pounds in UK business rates, pizza counted as a vegetable, and the squatter-hunter who turned adverse possession into...
#5333: How Screws Conquered the World
The screw spent 2,000 years as a machine before it held anything together. Here's how it became the hardware aisle we know.
#5330: Who Actually Works on a Live 765kV Line?
Helicopter barehand work on a 765kV line is the top few percent of the trade — here's who gets there, and what it costs.
#5324: Retention by the Numbers: Who Actually Trains Their People?
Most small organizations run training programs — they just don't call them that. What the data says about who invests in talent, and why it pays.
#5316: Living in a Building That Pretends to Be Full
The lobby is lit, the desk is staffed, the elevators run — but almost nobody lives there. What happens when a building performs occupancy?
#5309: What Imports-to-GDP Actually Tells You
Imports-to-GDP doesn't measure trade balance — it measures openness. Here's what the 50% line really separates.
#5307: Selling Holy Air and Moon Deeds
Moon deeds, bottled Banff air, and a proposal to sell Holy Air from Jerusalem — what makes novelty gifts actually work?
#5305: The Empty Cup Is a Timer: Rethinking Remote Work Spaces
Cafes fail remote workers for one reason nobody lists: the guilt structure. Here's what to optimize for instead.
#5300: When the Interviewer Isn't Real
AI avatars are already interviewing job candidates — often without saying so. The disclosure toggle ships off by default.
#5288: Slideware, Vaporware, and the Founders Who Never Built Anything
Builder.ai raised $450M with AI that was mostly humans. Here's how pitch decks became the product.
#5285: Two Queues, One Cron Tick: Serverless Batch Pipelines
What does a queue look like when your process is disposable? Two queues, one cron tick, and a 50% batch discount.
#5275: Reading a Supplier in 20 Minutes
How does a two-person firm vet a supplier without a procurement team? Walk in, watch the workshop, read the room.
#5274: A Broken Dremel and the Hidden World of Parts Distribution
A dead rotary tool leads down two rabbit holes: warranty economics and how components actually move around the world.
#5273: Why Bosch Tools Cost More in Israel
A broken Dremel leads to a pricing mystery: why does an exclusive importer charge more than the retailers it supplies?