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Long reads on how we actually think, decide and live.

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Ideas

Envy is a social bet on the future

The mind is built for a different world. It copes remarkably well with this one.

By Alina Petrova16 Jul 202610 min read
Illustration of a bare tree over a faint grid, overlaid with rust-red, pale blue and black-spotted circles
Ideas

Why we keep score

Economists have a model. The rest of us have a Tuesday.

By Alina Petrova29 Dec 202513 min read
Illustration of a bare tree over a faint grid, overlaid with rust-red, pale blue and black-spotted circles
Ideas

In praise of the shortcut

Economists have a model. The rest of us have a Tuesday.

By Alina Petrova9 Jan 202511 min read
A lone figure climbing a pale stone staircase towards an arched window filled with light
Ideas

Generosity is a social bargain

We are far better at explaining our choices than at making them.

By Alina Petrova21 Oct 202410 min read
Illustration of a head in profile facing two overlapping rust-red circles and a cluster of thin vertical lines

Ideas worth reading. Every week.

Essays, data and ideas on economics, rationality and why we do what we do.

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