Articles 2024
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Gadgets and Gizmos That Inspired Adam Smith
Reason, July 2023
Adam Smith appreciated the beauty and allure of intricate systems.
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The Brilliance of Guo Pei
American Purpose, May 01, 2023
Questions of appropriation and cultural legacy are explored in Chinese couturier Guo Pei’s challenging and extravagant dresses.
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Notes on Progress: Artificial flavoring
Works in Progress, April 06, 2023
"Artificial" didn't scare Americans in the 19th century. Why does it scare us now?
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Aviators Make Biden an All-American Badass
Foreign Policy, March 24, 2023
The sunglasses are a symbol of loyalty, persistence—and the U.S. president.
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Synthetic Meat Will Change the Ethics of Eating
The Wall Street Journal, December 23, 2022
Consumers will soon be able to dine on chicken and other animal proteins grown in a factory, upending the way we think about nature and technology
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What Shopping Did for American Equality
The Wall Street Journal, December 08, 2022
From five-and-dimes to suburban malls, the experience of browsing and buying has helped to define public life
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‘Status and Culture’ Review: Making the Cut
The Wall Street Journal, October 07, 2022
Review of Status and Culture: How Our Desire for Social Rank Creates Taste, Identity, Art, Fashion, and Constant Change by W. David Marx
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Marc Andreessen’s Housing NIMBYism Is Losing Ground
Bloomberg Opinion, August 09, 2022
The investor and his neighbors want to block multiunit construction in America’s most expensive town. But California’s reforms are gradually overriding such local opposition.
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Can the US Housing Crisis Be Fixed By Abolishing Zoning?
Bloomberg Opinion, July 31, 2022
A conversation with author M. Nolan Gray on the social and economic costs of urban zoning and what American cities can learn from Houston.
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Sneaky Shrinkflation Is Driving People Crazy
Bloomberg Opinion, July 26, 2022
Packaging less stuff for the same price doesn’t fool consumers or economists. But diminishing quality imposes equally maddening extra costs that are almost impossible to measure.