61
How the Hunt Brothers Cornered the Silver Market and Then Lost It All
In 1980, two brothers from Texas controlled two-thirds of all the privately held silver on earth. This is the story of how one of history's biggest bets went bust.
Priceonomics Blog
Priceonomics turns data into great stories. We come up with interesting topics, analyze data, and turn the insights into amazing content!
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Visit priceonomics.com → RSS feedOn Hacker News Feb 2012 – May 2021
Society, Policy & Culture 65Tech Industry & Business 41History & Retro Computing 27Life, Learning & Writing 17Career & Management 10Science & Space 7
62
The Aol Chat Room Monitor Revolt (2014)
In 1999, America Online's volunteer chat room monitors sued the company for back wages. Do today's hot Internet companies risk the same fate?
63
Why Do Famous People Get Paid $250k to Give a Speech?
The organizations willing to spend $20,000-$200,000 to hear a luminary speak include Wall Street banks, summer camp executives, and national associations of bakers.
64
What Happens to Donated Cars?
What is so lucrative about car donations?
65
A History of Tug-of-War Fatalities
Ignore simple physics and your appendage could be amputated by a tug of war rope.
66
A Tipless Restaurant is a Well-Run Restaurant?
There are many reasons to oppose tipping. Most recently, a natural experiment in two San Diego restaurants suggests that tipping actually detracts from restaurant quality.
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68
Why Do Colleges Give Honorary Degrees?
For more than 500 years, the honorary degree has provided an opportunity for colleges to build relationships with the rich, famous, and well-connected, in hopes of securing financial donations and cheap publicity.
69
The Rise of the $8 Ice Cube
At $8 a piece (or $325 for 50), luxury ice cubes probably cost more than whatever you're drinking.
70
The Lava Lamp Just Won't Quit
In the 1960s, a British nudist invented a lamp that inadvertently became the poster child for psychedelia. Thirty years later, it came back with a vengeance.
71
How the Father of Claymation Lost His Company
Will Vinton brought clay to life with characters like the California Raisins and the Noid -- until Nike billionaire Phil Knight stepped in and bought the business for his son.
72
How Much Are People Making from the Sharing Economy?
We analyzed how much money people make from their side-gigs on Uber, Airbnb, Lyft and more.
73
The Economics of Writing a Book
Self-publishing is on the rise. Ebooks sales are exploding. Authors have more options than ever. Is making money still one of them?
74
How Filipino WWII Soldiers Were Written Out of History
How hundreds of thousands of Filipino soldiers fought in the U.S. military and helped win World War II. And how history -- and the American government -- forgot them.
75
How Employers Get Out of Paying Their Workers
Employers illegally siphon billions of dollars out of low-wage workers' paychecks each year, but the vast majority of these crimes go unreported.
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77
Making a Living Collecting Cans
Why is San Francisco, one of the most liberal, environmentally conscious cities in the country, systematically shutting down recycling centers that have been so important to reducing litter and offering low income individuals a safety net?
78
The Discovery of Statistical Regression
We explore the hotly contested history of the crowning jewel of statistics.
79
What Happens When You Enter the Witness Protection Program?
The history of the Witness Protection Program is full of Hollywood-worthy intrigue. It also challenges our assumptions about crime and identity.
80
How to Ship a Beluga Whale via UPS
As a UPS cargo load master, Bland Matthews has been tasked with shipping everything from Terracotta Army soldiers to beluga whales.
81
Why Can't I Take an Orange Through Customs?
Fruit flies, agroterrorism, and how a healthy snack became a threat to national security.
82
The SEO Dominance of RetailMeNot
How a $1.8BN company could implode if Google changes its search algorithm.
83
The Economics of a Hit TV Show
Making a pilot for a new TV show can cost over $125,000 a minute. Netflix just paid $100 million for a new show, sight unseen. Why is finding the next hit show so darn expensive?
84
The Man Who Invented Scotch Tape
How a scrappy "misfit" engineer with no college education revolutionized the world of tape.
85
The United States of Toxins
Ranking the cities and states and release the most toxins into the environment.
86
Can You Buy A License to Speed?
Why does every nice car in California have a license plate frame from a charity that supports highway patrol officers? They think they'll get out of speeding tickets.
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Joshua Norton, Emperor of the United States
In the mid-1800s, the United States had an emperor -- and he was supreme.
89
Legal Weed is Hurting San Francisco's Hippies
Legalized weed is putting California's drug dealers out of business, as well as its hippies.
90
The Man Who Writes His Dissenting Opinion in All Caps
Terence Faulkner wrote 1/3 of the opposing arguments in this year's SF voter guide. And large chunks of them read like he's yelling at you.