Trade and Supply Chains

Economists love imagining Robinson Crusoe on an island with coconuts. But this thought experiment reveals more about economics' limitations than about how real economies work.

Okra traveled from Africa to America in slave ships. Its journey reveals how slavery and colonialism created economic structures that persist centuries later—and why some countries struggle to escape poverty.

What your dinner plate reveals about markets, power, and the future of work. A series exploring how everyday foods expose the hidden forces shaping our economy—from the care economy to corporate power, from automation to trade wars.

In the 1960s, Koreans ate acorns to survive. Today, South Korea is the world's 10th largest economy. The acorn's journey from famine food to nostalgic delicacy reveals how nations actually develop—and it's not the story economists usually tell.

How Norway turned resource wealth into lasting national advantage through institutions, governance, and industrial policy.