Downsizing itself is an inevitable part of any creatively destructive economy.

The world's central banks and the International Monetary Fund still have vaults full of bullion, even though currencies are no longer backed by gold. Governments hold on to it as a kind of magic symbol, a way of reassuring people that their money is real.

Movies' mistrust of capitalism is almost as old as the medium itself.

Unlike most government programs, Social Security and, in part, Medicare are funded by payroll taxes dedicated specifically to them. Some of the tax revenue pays for current benefits; anything that's left over goes into trust funds for the future. The programs were designed this way for political reasons.

On Wall Street, fraudulent schemes tend to thrive during economic booms, and to blow up when times turn tough.

The profit motive, indecorous though it may seem, may represent the best chance the poor have to reap some of globalization's benefits.

In part because individual judgement is not accurate enough or consistent enough, cognitive diversity is essential to good decision making.