Like many Americans, I’m a relatively late convert to soccer fandom. In the last six or so years that I’ve applied myself to following the…
KEEP WORKING ON IT
Trump wants to merge the US education and labor departments. It isn’t a terrible idea
For decades, Republicans have attempted, and failed, to abolish the US Department of Education. Former president Ronald Reagan was the first to try to take…
GOAL ORIENTED
Eight World Cup players to watch not named Messi or Ronaldo
You don’t have to be a soccer fan, or even a sports fan, to have heard of Lionel Messi or Christian Ronaldo. Messi, the diminutive…
RICH LEGACY
Even after his death, a Nobel prize-winning economist is taking on inequality
In a new paper, decorated economist Gary Becker and his coauthors argue that wealthy families stay rich because they pass down not just money to…
WHAT’S OLD IS NEW AGAIN
The US is talking about “great power competition.” What does that mean?
The US is creating a new naval command and redeploying the Second Fleet in the Atlantic, the department of defense announced yesterday (May 4), putting…
SPEED TRAP
Why horses in the Kentucky Derby aren’t getting faster—but humans are
When the winning horse crosses the finish line of the Kentucky Derby today, it’s almost certain it will finish somewhere between one minute and 59…
BEAN COUNT IS UP
Starbucks didn’t lose money after its race scandal—and may even profit from it
If Starbucks was shaken by the aftermath of arrests at a Philadelphia store, you couldn’t tell from its quarterly earnings call. After CEO Kevin Johnson…
MIND THE GAAP
19 creative accounting schemes for money-losing startups
WeWork, the shared-office startup, isn’t just pioneering new ways of working, but new ways of accounting. In its bond prospectus this week, it introduced a…
YAKYU TIME
On opening day, Japanese baseball is in the MLB spotlight
When the US Major League Baseball season begins today (March 29), one of the most closely watched players will be Shohei Ohtani, who is debuting…
NOBLESSE OBLIGE
Our system is so broken, we’re turning to billionaires like Bezos to save us
In the end, maybe it’s inevitable that the solution to America’s health-care crisis won’t come from government, business, or academia, but from the charitable impulses…
OFF THE WALL
Four things Trump could spend $18 billion on instead of a border wall
US president Donald Trump announced this week that he wants $18 billion to pay for the first phase of a planned wall along the border…
A NEW LOW
Forget politics—weather is now dividing America into red and blue states
The East Coast of the US has been plunged into a deep freeze. Waterfalls are icing over, sharkicles are washing ashore, and frozen iguanas are…
