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The barrow boys

Dec 11, 2023
When markets favored street smarts over fancy degrees.
Costermongers or street sellers, also known as "barrow boys," were often recruited to work as financial traders in London.
London School of Economics Library via Wikimedia Commons

The nicer the car, the more likely the driver is to break the law

There's a whole body of research that draws a correlation between wealth and self-interested behavior. We take a closer look.
"At this point, we've got dozens of different studies looking at different facets of behavior that tell us that the more wealth you have, the less attentive to other people you become," says Paul Piff, a professor of psychological science at the University of California, Irvine.
olaser/Getty Images

The unfairness of capitalism

Dec 4, 2023
We’re watching “Trading Places” in December.
A screenshot from the trailer of 1983's "Trading Places." From left to right: Don Ameche, Eddie Murphy and Ralph Bellamy.
Paramount Pictures via YouTube

How the Osage are fighting to protect their language from extinction

Nov 28, 2023
What may be less apparent after watching “Killers of the Flower Moon” is just how hard the Osage Nation has fought to protect and preserve its language.
Apple TV

How settlers abused financial guardianship in the Osage Nation

Government policies deemed Osages unable to handle their own money, opening the door to widespread exploitation.
A map of the Osage Indian Reservation showing oil and mineral drilling boundaries, 1917. The wealth generated by Osage reservation land was subject to theft and graft by settlers.
National Archives

How government-mandated “guardianship” enabled the Osage murders

Nov 13, 2023
A terrible irony of guardianship is that the federal government’s legal duty to protect Native Americans did not extend to protecting Osage people from the conspiracy to kill tribal members for their oil rights.  
E.G. Burkhart’s application for guardianship over Mollie Burkhart, May 23, 1922. 
National Archives

The history of economic exploitation in "Killers of the Flower Moon"

How settlers stole the wealth and resources of citizens of the Osage Nation, whose reservation land in Oklahoma was rich in oil.
The film, directed by Martin Scorsese, depicts the mechanisms by which settlers could exploit the resources and wealth of the Osage Nation of Oklahoma.
Apple TV

For public good, not for profit.

The curse of “black gold”

Nov 6, 2023
We’re watching “Killers of the Flower Moon” in November.
Lily Gladstone and Leonardo DiCaprio star in “Killers of the Flower Moon.”
Apple TV+

Yes, young people can fall victim to scams

Anti-scam education “is not information to just pass on to your grandmother,” says Emma Fletcher of the Federal Trade Commission.
Rip-off schemes involving investments, jobs and online shopping usually target younger people, says Emma Fletcher, senior data researcher at the Federal Trade Commission.
Matt Cardy/Getty Images

Your scam stories

Oct 30, 2023
Econ Extra Credit newsletter #172: Readers share their cautionary tales and we provide some tips on how to protect yourself.
A telemarketer points out immigrant-owned businesses that have supported police groups out of fear or a misguided belief they would receive protection.
“Telemarketers”/HBO