The insightful Tyler Cowen has studied the way technology can radically change a wide variety of industries — how smart machines might displace human beings.  But rather than focus on the typical piece predicting the future of work, Cowen penned an intriguing Op-Ed which tries to imagine…

One of the potential revolutions that has most captivated the public — especially since we are still waiting for our jetpacks — are cars without drivers.   From the Batmobile, to Christine, to Das Hoff, the days when a self-driving vehicle answers our call are soon coming.  Indeed, Google’s driverless cars have already traveled over a quarter million miles,…

Like many people, we are big fans of startup communities. We’d like to think that the benefits of these groups, and their economic and social impact, is self-evident. But we’re even bigger fans of contrarian reasoning, and having one’s beliefs challenged is thought-provoking, so this post naturally caught our eye…

Finance is rarely entertaining.  But when it is, it’s a doozy.  Last year the activist hedge fund titan Bill Ackerman bet that Herbalife — a company with 33 years of history and $3.5 billion in annual revenue — was a souped-up pyramid scheme…

Can an online microjobs market help lift up the poor?  British economist Tim Harford thinks that it is possible.  In his recent post, Harford points to an interesting new site, Slivers of Time.  Slivers is an online marketplace that aims to bring the same crowd-sourcing approach..

In 1998 Netflix was formed with a simple idea: rent DVDs by mail under a subscriber model: no late fees, and you don’t have to leave your house. The company went public in 2002 with annual revenues north of $75 million.  The virtual model was one originally embraced by the marketplace…

One of the minor signs of professional accomplishment is that dreaded moment where some enterprising young person asks career advice. Often one has to balance between the practical (pursue a typical corporate gig to pay off student debt?) and the promise…

t’s a question asked of everyone who has ever started a business: can it scale? The optimal final shape of different businesses can vary, but every new business is consumed with growth. Two different pieces from the Harvard Business Review argue that the notion and advantages of scale economics is changing…

Although an unabashed, unapologetic believer in the inherent virtues of both capitalism and entrepreneurial culture to drive economic growth and raise overall living standards,…

What if the USA were a business?  Not a novel concept, but trust Mary Meeker to take the idea a little further than simple metaphor.  Meeker, internet research queen before joining the venture firm

It’s a little early for April Fools, and perhaps it is just my long exposure to entrepreneurs, but there is actually an argument circulating which labels entrepreneurs as tax cheats.  This is because entrepreneurs…

Amid financial and regulatory oil slicks is an ongoing debate about carried interest, which Warren Buffet once characterized by asking why his receptionist was paying a higher tax rate than he was. She did so because investment funds…