The Japanese have a term for the act of buying books but letting them pile up without reading them. It’s tsundoku. This is part of a complete episode.
When investing or trading stocks, the last thing you want is to take a bath — or, for that matter, a haircut. The first of these refers to getting cleaned out of money. The second is an allusion to being left with as little as two bits, or 25 cents...
tofu concrete n.— «The bodies of thousands of dead children were dragged from the rubble of Sichuan schools built on a base of what the Chinese call “tofu” concrete, chicken wire and unforgivable corruption, as builders grew...
scare word n.— Note: A boo word. «The worries are real—including, among some economists, about the risks of a depression, which despite its scare-word status is just another term for an especially long or deep recession.» —“izing Up...
jet-pooling n.— «Teams will build their own cars and engines, with or without manufacturer support. They’ll do it with even fewer employees and fewer sponsors. Drivers will park their fancy motorhomes and private planes and share flights...
pay-as-you-drive insurance n.— «A few years later, Edlin was serving on the President’s Council of Economic Advisers when he floated an idea that economists had long found attractive: pay-as-you-drive (PAYD) insurance. It seemed like an...