The terrific public radio show This American Life tackles this week what host Ira Glass calls “the most stoner question we’ve ever posed: ‘What Is Money?'” Along they way they enter the bowels of the Federal Reserve, learn why Brazil created a fake currency, and consider what giant stone coins […]
Outlook
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The data and chart are from the United Nations. Bill Luby adds some detail on the rising prices: Among the various sub-indices, the most dramatic increase has been seen in sugar, which is up 51% in just four months and is up a staggering 239% over the course of the […]
The good folks at Marketplace decided to pick up where the WSJ left off a couple years ago and restart man-on-the-street ‘what’s in your wallet?’ videos (WSJ did Charles Barkley, among others). Here’s their first effort: What’s in Your Wallet: Disney Concert Hall, Los Angeles from Marketplace on Vimeo.
The new $100 bill has overcome its initial difficulties and is now out and about. Here’s the official, dramatic unveiling video from the Treasury:
That’s the total expected cost of the Iraq war, according to Joseph Stiglitz. How can you even grasp such gigantic numbers, which are thrown around daily to quantify government debt, the credit crisis and international policy measures? To help, graphic designer David McCandless created this animation in the format of the […]
Airlines routinely overbook flights, recognizing the statistical likelihood that a certain percentage of booked passengers won’t show. But when it appears that a particular flight will have too many folks ready to board with bags in tow, the airline has to get generous with one of two methods: a pre-emptive offer […]
Programmer Zach Beane produced this remarkable interactive graphic to show movie box office receipts for 2010 – click through to view, then scroll to the right to catch the full year: The height of each movie shows weekly box office revenue, and the width shows its longevity. New colors were […]
CNN Money’s art director Bard Edlund put the 2010 performance of the Dow Jones Industrial Average to music. Click through to experience:
Agata Oleksiak, at 3am one night a couple weeks ago, did a rogue crochet job on the Wall Street bull. Here’s the video: OLEK AND THE CHARGING BULL ON WALL STREET from olek on Vimeo.
NYT’s DealBook broke the story: Goldman Invests in Facebook at $50 Billion Valuation Data: Google Finance 1/3/11 premarket, as of 12/31/10 price and shares outstanding Dan Frommer, BI: “Goldman Sachs got a little extra: It’s now in the driver’s seat to eventually take Facebook public. Beyond whatever it makes on […]
Via Finviz: Commodities and precious metals had particularly strong years, with palladium at the top of the heap. Some drivers behind the near doubling of palladium prices in 2010: An exchange traded fund linked to the metal launched in New York in January, granting much easier access for retail and […]