Previously, electric cars were viewed as a poor class of vehicles to be looked down upon; with the release of the Model S, Tesla became a “gold standard” of automotive production and served as a model for other automakers to base their cars on. Tesla had beaten every automaker to the jump on stylish, efficient, and powerful cars, and other leaders of the industry were scrambling to compete.Continue Reading

While the Nordic model may not be completely suitable for other countries, or even sustainable in the long-term, it can still inform our understanding of how other regions around the world can be improved. Key ingredients for its success thus far, such as social cohesion and low levels of inequality, are phenomena to study, and potentially emulate, that could benefit individuals worldwide.Continue Reading

Different from exchange verification, ATM transactions tend to ask only for one’s ID and phone number — and sometimes only one’s phone number. Besides keeping one’s information more secure by asking for less of it, this lower verification threshold could help further democratize finance, allowing entry for those unable to create an exchange, brokerage, or even bank account.Continue Reading

Macroeconomic theory suggests that without any outside intervention, the macroeconomy will self-adjust and return to its long-run state after short-term shocks. The decision for policymakers thus boils down to a cost-benefit analysis taking into account factors like intertemporality and risk tolerance — they can either wait and allow the economy to adjust organically, or sink resources into actively trying to stabilize the economy, taking on the risk of further destabilizing it.Continue Reading