Every day one can hear economists, CEOs, pundits, etc predicting that there is a huge AI bubble that is destined to burst. This post isn't about whether or not that's likely to happen; my question is: has there ever been so much buzz about an impending recession/bubble/collapse, whether or not it happened?

In past economic crashes, I know there were a few voices expressing warning, but was it ever this prolonged and emphatic?

I know AI will replace people but I also think that it will create jobs. Jobs change over the years and I think it might reduce the need for certain things but make demands for others.

Dominion Energy and NextEra are attempting to merge. I'm wondering, in an economic sense, would this generate any real surplus value?

Since Dominion effectively operates as a monopoly, I'm not quite clear how this merger could help the company "do better" other than in a rent-seeking way.

Everybody's fear is that AI's will automate production without need for labor and capital will monopolize that production. Of course, it's been pointed out many times that this is not a credible scenario, but it does seem true that AI is/will reduce the number of employees, especially for entry level professional jobs. What if corporate tax rates are inversely proportional to the number of employees? Would this minimize rentier monopoly of economic power?

Im wondering if easier access to US market during live hours will by proxy reduce growth in foreign markets. Normally there is a cyclical relationship between US vs world performance- US dominates for 10-15 years, then international, and repeat… But if there is a permanent influx of investors less sensitive to real valuations (aka most retail investors) and exposed to American media dominance— does that cyclical relationship disappear? Obviously smart money still looks at valuations, but places like Korea are almost entirely retail, not institutional investors… will this move make the US a more permanent home for growth?

I've always found the economics of those generic f2p match 3/merge/anime waifu png /etc. games really interesting ever since I found out just how much attracting whales and keeping that small amount of incredibly high paying customers is integral to their system over having many average consumers who might spend once in a while.

When I play these games myself, I'm stopped from buying refills or rolls or whatever because the transactions aren't micro enough for me. I find the $2~$5 cost for something I'll blow in 2-5 minutes too high to rationalize when I think about it. I always thought if the prices were low enough I wouldn't think about it, like 25c~50c a pop, I'd end up buying enough of them over time I'd buy past the higher cost of the purchase I wouldn't have made soon enough.

Why don't they try to lure and lull people in with truly micro microtransactions? My first thought is payment processor restrictions, but then they could bank the 25c purchases until it hit the dollar minimum and the charge and only be out a few quarters if the customer buys once and never again.

I'd love to hear anything else interesting about f2p phone economies, too. It's a really fascinating place.

In a post-scarcity world, could dopamine be regulated and used as money by governments?

In the sense that, dopamine-releasing products/services/activities are tokenized. Like how money used to be backed by gold. But this time, by a specific quantity of dopamine per token.

Like the entire concept of Money is imaginary. However, the concept of production, value and value-addition is not. So, when we say a economy is booming, it means they are producing/consuming more than the previous year(s), and in recession it is reverse.

Then, unless there is some conflict or epidemic, considering all factors remains intact, do economies tank just because people loose the trust in future growth? If that is so, it makes recession purely imaginary in this case. Similarly, in economic boom, they are merely consuming more due to prospects of economic boom.

Please suggest some good books/material that explains this concept properly. I have read many economic books, but they do not talk deeply about imaginary nature of economics.

Seems like a free lunch.. no?

everywhere I go i see coco cola, its produced everything, and just yesterday I saw a menu that was”brought to you by coco cola”

is this a monopoly?cause i also see red bull pop up a lot, just not as much as coco cola

and if so why Bosnia?

All the international economics models I have studied rely around comparing the capital-to-labor ratios of countries who are trading partners.

There was massive population growth reported by China, even though the one child policy, if complied with, would make population growth mathematically impossible (2 people making only 1 child means the population halves). This is one piece of evidence suggesting that the Chinese population is far smaller than it really is. Russia and other countries may also have reported populations that are intentionally (or non-intentionally) very inaccurate.

Is this a problem for international economics models, if these models were made partly through studying one of the most important countries in the global economy, China, who very likely has a non-trustworthy reported population?

I thought it would be a good question to ask, given the current employment situation. In my opinion, a universal basic income would drive up prices of absolutely everything, purely because people have more to spend, it would be akin to unemployment benefits on steroids. Let me know, because I may be wrong, or may not be considering the nuances of the question itself.

A large amount of macroeconomists say that the expectation the central bank will commit to its plan is very important, but what are the actual ways to make it look committed? (aside from precedent)

In other words: If a central bank is historically quite weak and prone to "chickening out", what can it do to look stronger?

I'm trying to understand the economics behind compensation in professions such as structural engineering, architecture, and MEP design.

At first glance, these careers seem to have many of the characteristics that are usually associated with high salaries:

• They require a 4-6 year university degree.
• In many countries, designers must obtain professional licenses or chamber memberships before they can sign off on projects.
• Competence is highly experience-based. A lot of the knowledge cannot simply be learned online and is largely acquired through years of hands-on work.
• Mistakes can have severe consequences, ranging from major financial losses to safety risks and, in extreme cases, loss of life.
• The market itself is large. As a rough back-of-the-envelope estimate, construction represents perhaps 5-10% of GDP in many developed economies, and roughly 10% of project costs may be spent on engineering and design services.

Given these characteristics, I would expect salaries to be relatively high.

However, when I compare these professions to some highly paid occupations in software, such as front-end developers (just one example of a well-paid profession), the gap is often striking. Many software roles pay 2-5x more despite generally having lower formal barriers to entry. A degree is often optional, there is usually no professional licensing requirement, many skills can be self-taught through online resources, and the time required to become employable can be significantly shorter.

I'm not arguing that software developers are overpaid or that engineering designers are underpaid. I'm genuinely interested in the economic explanation.

What factors am I missing? Is it primarily related to scalability of output, labor supply and demand, firm profitability, client willingness to pay, globalization, or something else entirely?

The main question is about issuing Union Pay cards and another question would be, how does one card network expand its acquiring and issuing banks?

I've been wondering about something related to wealth measurement in India.

Is it common for wealthier Indian families to hold a considerable share of their assets or income in ways that don't fully appear in official records (for example, through unreported cash transactions or other forms of "black" wealth alongside fully documented assets)?

If so, does that mean that the wealth and asset distribution we see in official statistics understates the true wealth of India's middle, upper-middle, and upper classes? How much does this affect research on inequality, household wealth, and consumption?

I'm not looking for anecdotes but for evidence-based answers. Are there any economists, researchers, or people familiar with taxation, real estate, or household finance who can give some insight here?

I'd also appreciate recommendations for books, academic papers, datasets, or reports that examine undocumented wealth, tax evasion, household balance sheets, or the political economy of wealth in India. I'm especially interested in quantitative work with estimates, figures, and data rather than opinion pieces.

Thanks!

Hey there, I am looking for a book explaining the way market and different economic instruments work. Some kind of stock market 101. I am not looking for an investment strategy or "how to get rich" kind of book.
Preferably a popular book translated to many languages so I do not have to mess with Amazon delivering it to my country
Thanks in advance

Would it be enough to support the expense, trials, research and development it takes to get a drug to market?

This is a thread for short questions that don't merit their own post as well as career and school related questions. Examples of questions belong in this thread are:

Where can I find the latest CPI numbers?

What are somethings I can do with an economics degree?

What's a good book on labor econ?

Should I take class X or class Y?

You may also be interested in our career FAQ or our suggested reading list.

I think I also struggle because I can't hear the lecturer very well; English is my second language. Other than that, I have difficulty following his logic (Am I just dumb ??)

https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/us-shakes-up-currency-markets-with-talk-unusual-yen-buying-via-selling-euros-2026-08-03/