Technology & Innovation

“Times are tough, but women’s intuition can serve as a tool for sustainability. Relying on it will help you rethink your current business.”

How does the problem of asymmetric information affect the billion-dollar market for male prostitutes in the U.S.—and should there be a premium paid to those willing to post pictures of their faces online?

“Easy money from the Bank of England is setting up Britain’s economy for another bust.” The Adam Smith Institute says government monetary policies feed boom and bust economic cycles.

“A surprising number of high-profile economists, on both the left and the right, think it’s time for the Fed to try one more measure: injecting the economy with a healthy dose of inflation.”

“Where does the overlap occur between desirable and investible?” The Wall Street Journal asks if investing in your passion—be it wine or art—creates financial and emotional returns.

I.B.M. announces its new contract to “supply the computing technology and services for an upgraded cellphone network across 16 nations in sub-Saharan Africa.”

The Christian Science Monitor compiles of list of tablet computers being talked about right now, from tablets that have an impending release date to those still under development.

“A Wall Street Journal investigation has found that popular children’s websites install more tracking technologies on personal computers than do the top websites aimed at adults.”

“People consider work of just about any kind to be better than no work at all, and it improves their mental health in most cases, several studies have found.” The L.A. Times reports.

Princeton philosophy professor Kwame Anthony Appiah stopped by the Big Think offices this past week to talk how the concept of “honor” can be mobilized as a force for change.  […]

“The World Trade Organization has found that much of the $22 billion benefit Boeing enjoyed from tax breaks and defence and research contracts was also an illegal subsidy.”

“In regions scarred by intractable poverty, innovative programs to build new sources of wealth through these four businesses are providing lessons for entrepreneurs.”

“Science validates the notion that people with a strong social network live longer. It’s not yet clear if the benefits apply to those who turn to the Internet for friendship.”

A mobile-web advertising company is facing a proposed class action over its use of an HTML5 ‘trick’ to track iPhone and iPad users across a number of websites.

Is piracy an enemy or a necessary part of business in a digital world? This Swedish video game developer sees it as the latter and even a benefit in terms of marketing.

“A survey of 71 nations placed the U.S. third in entrepreneurial performance, after Denmark and Canada.” America’s frail technology sector and lack of high-growth business is at fault.

“How do you get your hands on power? And how do you keep hold of it once you’ve got it?” The Economist says that management gurus are surprisingly disappointing on this subject.

“Can we, and should we, do without foreign correspondents?” What is the difference between a local blogger and a ‘parachute journalist’? Newspaper economics may provide the answer.

Almost two years ago global brewing powerhouse InBev bought U.S.-based Anheuser-Busch for a staggering $52 billion, creating AB InBev, which now controls about a quarter of the world’s beer market. […]

In a dramatic attempt by Cuba to shift its nearly bankrupt economy toward a more market-oriented system, the government will lay off more than five-hundred thousand workers.

“For the most part, a lot of those early users were actually Steve and me with aliases. We had silly user names that we just generated in order to make […]

“The tools used by the commercial industry to detect our thoughts and brain states are very different, and somewhat limited, compared to those used in the research lab.”

“Mark Zuckerberg founded Facebook in his college dorm room six years ago. Five hundred million people have joined since.” The New Yorker profiles the young Internet entrepreneur.

“Reach distils what made Halo such a trailblazer in the first place: the combat is extraordinarily good fun. … Halo remembers that, above all else, the art of battle is what counts the most.”

“These days, the energy market is about as complicated as it gets, with a range of issues buffeting stock prices.” The Wall Street Journal breaks down the energy market by sector.

“The key issue facing everyone in the next decade is figuring out how to use the Internet and how to discern its societal benefits from its over-hyped Utopian promises.”

“Anyone who’s ever waited at the Post Office, applied for a driver’s license, or filled out a tax return knows that government is no model for efficiency.” The Adam Smith Institute Blog opines.

“Government policies to prop up the housing market not only have failed to fix the problem, they are prolonging the agony.” Nobel Laureate Joseph Stiglitz on how to fix the housing crisis.

Laboratory tests find that exposure to sexual stimulus makes individuals impatient. Does this mean that people in more sexualized societies are less likely to save money?

“Did computerization create the Great Divergence?” Slate asks if the current American class divide was worsened by the emergence of computers and the 1990’s digital divide.