Efficiency has been a critical concept ever since the industrial revolution. Increasing productivity and efficiency have been core assumptions and goals of the field of economics since day one. Increasing efficiency is a complex challenge and there are numerous ways to do so. Typically, efficiency can be approached at a unit-level or at a system-level. Expand
Economics
Deglobalization
One of the largest and most significant aftershocks of the Covid-19 pandemic of 2020 will be felt in the manufacturing sector globally. The pandemic is set to accelerate the global trend towards deglobalization. A range of factors had begun to change the pattern of global production and global supply-chains ahead of 2020, such as rising wages in Expand
The Future of LA Tech: Manufacturing, not Media
The city of Los Angeles has long been the global capital of film. Hollywood’s storytelling power is unmatched, and its movies have influenced cultures far and wide. But LA has a deeply diversified economy beyond Hollywood and most recently the city has rapidly emerged as a hub for technology companies. This rapid rise has a Expand
Economic Democracy in the Startup Age
With the collapse of communism and the crumbling of the Soviet Bloc in 1991 the triumph of liberal capitalism seemed complete. The liberalization of countries of the former Soviet Bloc, and of economies worldwide saw an explosion of trade coinciding with a period of profound economic growth from the late 1980s to mid-2000s. Capitalism seemed Expand
Imagining a Post-Work World
You pull out your phone and swipe right to order a ride. Moments later, a sleek black car pulls up to the curb, and you take your seat. You’re greeted by a lush interior—and no driver. As you cruise to work, you pass a truck carrying all sorts of cargo. The truck has no cockpit; Expand
Recession 2016: The Debt Anchor
In Antifragile, author Nassim Nicholas Taleb makes the argument that when we try to remove disorder from a system and render it predictable we in fact set this system on a course to major shocks and even destruction. This is precisely what has happened to the world economy since the financial crisis. Government responses to Expand
Desperate in Diriyah
The harsh deserts surrounding Diriyah in central Saudi Arabia played host to a meeting that would shape the destiny of the Arabian Peninsula for centuries to come. Here in Diriyah, in the 18th century, the House of Saud forged an alliance with Muslim preacher Ibn Abdel-Wahhab and went on to conquer much of the Arabian Expand
The Economics of a Multipolar World
On December 26th 1991 the Soviet Union was dissolved with 12 states emerging out of the wreckage of this former superpower. What followed was over 2 decades of unparalleled economic, political and moral dominance by the United States – the lone surviving superpower. The United States had (and continues to have) the world’s largest economy, Expand