The Internet Might Be Keeping Inflation Low
Looking for news you can trust?Subscribe to our free newsletters. Austan Goolsbee and Peter Klenow have taken a crack at estimating e-inflation: the inflation rate of items bought online compared to those bought offline. They make use of the Adobe Analytics dataset to calculate a Digital Price Index (DPI) and then compare it to a…
Blockchain’s Latest Triumph: Mango Tracking
Do you know where these mangoes are from? Probably not, thanks to your primitive recordkeeping. But if you had blockchain, you’d know in 2.2 seconds!Momen Faiz/NurPhoto via ZUMA Looking for news you can trust?Subscribe to our free newsletters. This morning the LA Times greets me with this headline: Could blockchain have solved the mystery of…
The Best Parts About Summer Are Also the Worst for the Planet
Madison McVeigh/CityLab Looking for news you can trust?Subscribe to our free newsletters. This story was originally published by CityLab and appears here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. It’s finally (almost) summer, and cities are coming alive with outdoor festivals, farmers markets-turned-street fairs, movie screenings in the park, and food-truck rallies. Much of that activity runs on mobile…
What If We Held a Constitutional Convention and the Right-Wingers Prevailed?
Wikimedia Commons/Public Domain Looking for news you can trust?Subscribe to our free newsletters. Nature’s rights, universal basic income, keeping money out of politics: These are some of the principles guiding a coalition of left-wing Californians who want to serve as the “progressive voice” at a convention—which they believe is inevitable—to amend the United States Constitution.…
The French Queen of Pop Still Dazzles at 74.
Looking for news you can trust?Subscribe to our free newsletters. Françoise HardyPersonne d’autreParolphone France/Arts Music Since vaulting to international stardom as a teenager in the pre-Beatles ’60s, Françoise Hardy has been France’s leading female pop singer. Amazingly, she continues to cast a spell today. On her 24th album, and her first longplayer in six years,…
The Coal Industry is Dying, and It’s Leaving Communities Like This One to Pick Up the Pieces
This story was originally co-published with ProPublica and Bloomberg BusinessWeek. John Arnett chose Adams County, Ohio, as his home long before he was old enough to vote, drink beer or drive a motorcycle along the Ohio River. After his parents split up, Arnett opted at age 10 to spend most of his time with his…