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Why Does Anyone Care About the Nobel Prize?
More than a century ago, the Swedes pulled off one of the greatest branding exercises in history.
The New Rules
Exploring the policies, people, and ideas reshaping the global economy
Support for this project was provided by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation.
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This work was commissioned, produced, and edited by The Atlantic's editorial staff. Support for this work was provided in part by the organizations listed here.
The Most Dramatic Shift in U.S. Public Opinion
The size and speed of the immigration backlash over the past four years are nearly unheard-of.
The Truth About Immigration and the American Worker
In many domains, the conventional wisdom among progressives is mistaken, oversimplified, or based on wishful thinking. The economics of immigration is not one of them.
Revenge of the Office
Many of America’s corporate executives have had enough of the remote-work experiment.
We Need Supply-Side Education Policy
Eliminating degree requirements for jobs is very popular with voters but would do almost nothing to help workers who don’t have a college diploma.
Trump’s Most Misunderstood Policy Proposal
Economists aren’t telling the whole truth about tariffs.
Trump’s Deranged Plan to Lower Food Prices by Raising Them
If you wish grocery stores were more expensive and offered less variety, then you’ll love his tariff proposal.
Did the Fed Wait Too Long to Act?
America has officially defeated inflation without experiencing a recession—yet.
Break Up Big Econ
The economics profession has become insular and status-obsessed, and not focused enough on making a positive impact on the world.
The Wrath at Khan
Silicon Valley billionaires claim that antitrust enforcement hurts the little guy. Do they have a point?
Marijuana Is Too Strong Now
As weed has become easier to obtain, it has become harder to smoke.
Bidenomics Without Biden
Kamala Harris is selling the administration’s policies without trying to defend its record.
What Kamala Harris Doesn’t Get About Food Costs
The real culprit is the host of federal laws and regulations propping up prices to benefit corporate interests.
TV Still Runs Politics
Just about every major development in the current presidential campaign started as a television event.
Sometimes You Just Have to Ignore the Economists
Kamala Harris’s proposed price-gouging ban might irritate academics, but it makes sense to everyone else.
Could Donald Trump Break the Fed?
The former president wants to put an end to the central bank’s independence. If he’s elected in November, Republicans in Congress might let him.
Cape Cod Offers a Harbinger of America’s Economic Future
Spiraling housing prices in Provincetown are an extreme version of what’s happening in the U.S. as whole.
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We’re Entering an AI Price-Fixing Dystopia
Algorithmic collusion appears to be spreading to more and more industries. And existing laws may not be equipped to stop it.
My Mom Says She Loves Me. AI Says She’s Lying.
Can machine-learning algorithms distinguish truth from falsehood? We’re about to find out.
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The Urban Doom Loop Could Still Happen
City economies are booming, but the risk of a commercial-real-estate crash remains as real as ever.
Congress Accidentally Legalized Weed Six Years Ago
When lawmakers voted to allow hemp production in 2018, they quietly opened the door to legal THC in all 50 states.
Trump Isn’t Even Pretending Anymore
He used to talk about taking on corporate power. Now he’s openly pandering to plutocrats—and polling more strongly than ever.
What the VW-Rivian Deal Means for Big Auto
The joint venture between a legacy giant and an EV start-up will be a fascinating test of the industry’s effort to embrace technological change.
The Federal Reserve’s Little Secret
No one really knows how interest rates work, or even whether they work at all—not the experts who study them, the investors who track them, or the officials who set them.
The Problem With ‘In Demand’ Jobs
Federal workforce-training programs prepare people for dead-end jobs that no one wants.
Risking Everything to Lose Money
Why do professional athletes keep putting their careers in jeopardy just to bet on sports?
The Constitutional Case Against Exclusionary Zoning
America is suffering from a severe housing shortage. A crucial tool may lie in the Constitution.
The U.S. Economy Reaches Superstar Status
No, really.
The Rise of Poverty Inc.
How helping the poor became big business
Is America Ready for ‘Degrowth Communism’?
Kohei Saito’s theory of how to solve climate change is economically dubious and politically impossible. Why is it so popular?
Nuclear Energy’s Bottom Line
The United States used to build nuclear-power plants affordably. To meet our climate goals, we’ll need to learn how to do it again.
The Next Front in the War Against Climate Change
Clean-energy investment in America is off the charts—but it still isn’t translating into enough electricity that people can actually use.
Reaganomics Is on Its Last Legs
Joe Biden’s new tariffs on Chinese goods mark the decisive rejection of an economic orthodoxy that dominated American policy making for nearly half a century.
China Has Gotten the Trade War It Deserves
The Biden administration’s steep new tariffs are a rational response to Xi Jinping’s aggressive economic policies.
The Biggest Way That Elections Have Consequences
Presidents have surprisingly little influence over the economy—except in a single, vital respect: their agencies that issue regulations.
Taxpayers Are About to Subsidize a Lot More Sports Stadiums
You would think that three decades’ worth of evidence would put an end to giving taxpayer money to wealthy sports owners. Unfortunately, you would be wrong.
Why Your Vet Bill Is So High
Corporations and private-equity funds have been rolling up smaller chains and previously independent practices.
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The Inflation Plateau
Prices have been rising faster than expected for the past three months. What’s going on?
Freedom for the Wolves
Neoliberal orthodoxy holds that economic freedom is the basis of every other kind. That orthodoxy, a Nobel economist says, is not only false; it is devouring itself.