The fundamental problem with banks is what it's always been: they're in the business of banking, and banking, whether plain vanilla or… — James Surowiecki Banking Copy Share Image
“The basic idea here is that for most people will power is a limited resource: if we spend lots of energy controlling… — James Surowiecki Impulses Copy Share Image
Now, modern economies have a very effective mechanism for deciding if salaries are really too high: it's called the free market. That's… — James Surowiecki Copy Share Image
Unlike fuel-economy standards, the most common method of reducing demand for oil over the past thirty years, a gas tax doesn't tell… — James Surowiecki Behavior Copy Share Image
Businesses that have gone through an episode of hyperinflation become understandably alert to the threat of it: at the first hint of… — James Surowiecki Business Copy Share Image
What corporations fear is the phenomenon now known, rather inelegantly, as 'commoditization.' What the term means is simply the conversion of the… — James Surowiecki Barriers Copy Share Image
Academics, who work for long periods in a self-directed fashion, may be especially prone to putting things off: surveys suggest that the… — James Surowiecki Copy Share Image
In a world where companies increasingly know about their business in real time, it makes no sense that public reporting mostly follows… — James Surowiecki Business Copy Share Image
Speculators get a bad rap. In the popular imagination they're greedy, heedless, and amoral, adept at price manipulations and dirty tricks. In… — James Surowiecki Copy Share Image
When Americans think of college these days, the first word that often comes to mind is 'debt.' And from 'debt' it's just… — James Surowiecki Bribery Copy Share Image
Medical tourism can be considered a kind of import: instead of the product coming to the consumer, as it does with cars… — James Surowiecki Copy Share Image
There are certainly valid reasons for taking a company private, and it's also possible that C.E.O.s perform better when monitored by a… — James Surowiecki Business Copy Share Image
Technology is supposed to make our lives easier, allowing us to do things more quickly and efficiently. But too often it seems… — James Surowiecki Copy Share Image
In the heart of the Great Depression, millions of American workers did something they'd never done before: they joined a union. Emboldened… — James Surowiecki American workers Copy Share Image
In the struggle between capital and labor, more often than not capital has won, because the real source of value for most… — James Surowiecki Copy Share Image
Flexible supply chains are great for multinationals and consumers. But they erode already thin profit margins in developing-world factories and foster a… — James Surowiecki Chains Copy Share Image
When all is said and done, cheap gas is an illusion, because our reliance on gas creates a whole series of costs… — James Surowiecki Accidents Copy Share Image
Unfortunately, there is something of a flaw in this idealized picture of the way the scientific community discovers truth. And the flaw… — James Surowiecki Community Copy Share Image
In terms of productivity - that is, how much a worker produces in an hour - there's little difference between the U.S.,… — James Surowiecki America Copy Share Image
The Xbox 360 is the best game console ever designed. It's fast and powerful - games look as good on the 360… — James Surowiecki Ability Copy Share Image
But, if recent history has taught us anything, it’s that self-regulation doesn’t work in finance, and that worries about reputation are a… — James Surowiecki Corporate Copy Share Image
Of course, looking tough on inflation is part of any central banker's job description: if investors believe that inflation is going to… — James Surowiecki Bankers Copy Share Image
Linux is a complex example of the wisdom of crowds. It's a good example in the sense that it shows you can… — James Surowiecki Copy Share Image
I typically don't adopt the ascetic approach. In part, that's because I do use the Net for research even as I'm writing… — James Surowiecki Approach Copy Share Image
Technological innovation has dramatically lowered the cost of computing, making it possible for large numbers of consumers to own powerful new technologies… — James Surowiecki Computers Copy Share Image
One of the problems that exacerbates procrastination is the feeling that you have lots of different things to do and no clear… — James Surowiecki Copy Share Image
The world's central banks and the International Monetary Fund still have vaults full of bullion, even though currencies are no longer backed… — James Surowiecki Central bank Copy Share Image
Instead of mindlessly tossing billions at or taking billions from the Net as such, investors should be spending their time making sure… — James Surowiecki Copy Share Image
The Internet has become a remarkable fount of economic and social innovation largely because it's been an archetypal level playing field, on… — James Surowiecki Copy Share Image
It may be that the very qualities that help people get ahead are the ones that make them ill-suited for managing crises.… — James Surowiecki Copy Share Image
Being out of a job can erode people's confidence and their sense of possibility; and employers, often unfairly, tend to take long-term… — James Surowiecki Confidence Copy Share Image
Life insurance became popular only when insurance companies stopped emphasizing it as a good investment and sold it instead as a symbolic… — James Surowiecki Commitment Copy Share Image
Discussions of health care in the U.S. usually focus on insurance companies, but, whatever their problems, they're not the main driver of… — James Surowiecki Care Copy Share Image
The financial crisis of 2008 was not caused by investment banks betting against the housing market in 2007. It was caused by… — James Surowiecki Betting Copy Share Image
Workers who come to the U.S. see their wages and their standard of living boosted sharply simply by crossing the border. That's… — James Surowiecki Argument Copy Share Image
Corporations hope that the right concept will turn things around overnight. This is what you might call the crash-diet approach: starve yourself… — James Surowiecki Approach Copy Share Image
As technology improves, on-screen avatars look more and more like real people. When they start looking too real, though, we pull away.… — James Surowiecki Avatars Copy Share Image
The value of a currency is, ultimately, what someone will give you for it - whether in food, fuel, assets, or labor.… — James Surowiecki Copy Share Image
Publishers, naturally, loathe used books and have developed strategies to depress the secondhand market. They bring out new, even more expensive editions… — James Surowiecki Book Copy Share Image
A general principle of good taxation is that similar jobs, and similar kinds of compensation, should be taxed the same way: otherwise,… — James Surowiecki Compensation Copy Share Image
