Results for “markets in everything”
1899 found

South Korean aspirational markets in everything

by  Tyler Cowen in

Instead of Amazon, I spent the past week browsing a new breed of websites known as “dopamine sites,” a trend that emerged in South Korea. These websites — like Dopamine Shop and FoodNeverComes — recreate the entire ritual of online shopping: You search for products, compare reviews, add items to your cart, enter a shipping address, place an order, and even track your delivery.

Then … nothing happens. No money changes hands. No package arrives.

Here is more from Itika Sharma Punit.  Via the excellent Samir Varma.

Russia markets in everything

by  Tyler Cowen in

While Western export bans have severed Russia from much of the auto market, they have not tempered the demand for brand-name SUVs and trucks. That has given rise to a sophisticated network of criminals that steals cars, hides them in shipping containers and sends them to Russia, often by way of the Middle East…

Interpol, the international police organization, received 4,798 reports that stolen Canadian vehicles had been found in Russia from February 2024 to July 2026, according to data obtained by The New York Times and confirmed by two law enforcement officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity because it is considered sensitive.

Pickup trucks like Dodge Rams, Toyota Tundras and Ford F-150s are in particularly high demand.

The Interpol figures significantly undercount the problem, but Russia is by far the top international destination for Canadian cars reported to Interpol, according to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

Here is more from Jane Bradley and Michael Swirtz at the NYT.

Crypto markets in everything? (moo)

by  Tyler Cowen in

Farmers in Parana, Brazil, struggling to get banks to loan them cash, became the first to tokenize livestock and place 10 dairy milk cows’ tokens for trade on the country’s B3 national stock exchange. They generated nearly $20,000 in credit backed by their cattle, signaling the potential of tokenizing RWAs as a financing tool.

The dairy cow tokenization in Brazil is a world first and serves as a test in a real-world scenario in which farmers are facing increasingly stringent lending limits imposed by local banks on small agricultural businesses.

“We take the cow, which is a real and tangible asset, and transform it into a digital asset backed by a unique code monitored in real time,” Thiago Martins of Cowmed, a Brazilian Agtec company, told CNNBrasil recently.

…“This digitization allows for formal registration with B3 as a movable asset,” Martins added. “The process is simple and gives the producer an advantageous opportunity to finance themselves, opening a new alternative for collateral at a time of strong credit restrictions in agribusiness.”

To turn cattle into trusted financial guarantees or collateral without requiring inspectors to visit the property, Cowmed equips cows with an AI-powered Smarty Collar. These collars constantly monitor health, behavior, and location. The raw data is then converted into an encrypted digital identity tied directly to the B3 credit agreement.

Continuous tracking of cattle prevents farmers from double-pledging the same cattle across multiple loans. It also includes built-in safeguards that allow the farmer to swap one dead cow for a live one.

Cowmed already tracks about 100,000 dairy cows across more than 1,000 farms. The herd is worth over $395 million. The company expects up to 20% of its network to adopt this tokenized financing model, unlocking $77.6 million in fresh credit for the agricultural sector.

Here is the full story.

Betting markets in everything

by  Tyler Cowen in

Alan and Karen Miller’s first dance was a win-or-lose moment for many of their wedding guests.

As the couple glided across the floor during their reception in New Rochelle, N.Y., last year, attendees kept track of the chosen artist and the length of the dance. Earlier in the night, they had noted their guesses on prop bet sheets.

Proposition, or prop, bets are usually tied to sporting events. Users place wagers on specific details that aren’t necessarily correlated with a game’s outcome, like points scored by certain players. Now, these bets have entered the world of weddings.

More couples have been integrating betting into their celebrations in recent years through digital apps or printed cards. While the Millers, who live in New York City, aren’t avid sports bettors or gamblers themselves, they wanted to make their June 2025 celebration more interactive and distinctive for their 175 guests.

“I’ve been to many New York and New Jersey weddings, and sometimes I feel like for cocktail hour, it kind of has a little bit of a lull, even though there’s a lot of good food,” said Karen, 38. “We wanted to make sure our guests had an activity that a lot of people could partake in.”

She bought a prop bet template from Etsy and customized it on the graphic design platform Canva. Among the questions on the couple’s prop bet sheet: Who will give the longest toast? Will the couple cry during the speeches? How many outfits will the bride wear on the wedding day?

…“If the groom’s known to be an emotional man, it’s fun to bet on how early in the day he’s going to cry,” Drachenberg said. “I think it engages them a bit more in the day.”

Here is more from Ellen O’Brien at the NYT.  Supposedly more than 25,000 couples have attempted some version of this on the app.

Via the excellent Samir Varma.

Markets in everything?

by  Tyler Cowen in

Peter Brook‘s five-hour-plus film adaptation of “The Mahabharata” is set for a BFI Blu-ray release on Aug. 10, presented in high definition from a new 4K restoration of the 1989 production.

The release centres on the triptych version of the film, running 332 minutes, which sits between Brook’s three-hour cinema cut and the six-hour television version he shot concurrently. Based on the ancient Hindu epic, the film was originally produced by Brook with screenwriters Jean-Claude Carrière and Marie-Hélène Estienne, and features an international cast drawn from 16 nationalities.

Here is the Variety article, but will there be a version suitable for U.S. players?  The work is highly recommended, real genius.  For the pointer I thank Sam Mendelsohn.

James Mirrlees auction markets in everything

by  Tyler Cowen in

To mark what would have been Jim Mirrlees’ 90th birthday on 4 July, Nuffield College (Oxford University)  is auctioning off some signed books from Jim’s personal collection and other special items of Jim’s generously donated by the Mirrlees family and the artist Yu Ji. The proceeds will support a fund for scholarships in Jim’ s memory.

The auction is conducted entirely online and is open to all.

Our auction is a simplification of the Product-Mix Auction that Paul Klemperer (Jim’s successor as Oxford’s Edgeworth Professor) designed for the Bank of England in 2007-8 at the beginning of the financial crisis. The Bank still runs its version regularly, and has now sold almost £400 billion of repos using it. (We expect to raise a little less!) This version has been programmed by Edwin Lock (Nuffield Research Fellow, 2021-24) who, along with Elizabeth Baldwin (Nuffield Research Fellow 2016-2017), has been involved with Paul in the further development of the Product-Mix Auction. (For more on this auction, see this paper, or this 5-minute film published by the Guardian newspaper.)

…The auction is focused on “social welfare”, not expected revenue…

SEE THE ITEMS AND BID HERE

Here is the link, via Tim Harford and Paul Klemperer..

Korean banana markets in everything

by  Tyler Cowen in

Did you know Korea sells “one-a-day” banana packs?

Instead of every banana ripening at once, each one is at a different stage.

One is ready today.

The next one is ready tomorrow.

The last one is still spiritually in college, “experimenting.”

Simple. Genius. Solves the entire banana problem.

What do you think? Would you prefer your bananas this way?

Here is the tweet from Sovey.

Forward markets in everything, lunar edition

by  Tyler Cowen in

A company called GRU Space publicly announced its intent to construct a series of increasingly sophisticated habitats on the Moon, culminating in a hotel inspired by the Palace of the Fine Arts in San Francisco.

On Monday, the company invited those interested in a berth to plunk down a deposit between $250,000 and $1 million, qualifying them for a spot on one of its early lunar surface missions in as little as six years from now.

Here is the full story, via the excellent Samir Varma.

Adam Smith markets in everything

by  Tyler Cowen in

Gustavo Dudamel — the Oscar L. Tang & H.M. Agnes Hsu-Tang Music & Artistic Director Designate — conducts the World Premiere of the wealth of nations, a highly anticipated commission from the Pulitzer Prize–winning composer David Lang. Inspired by economist Adam Smith’s 1776 magnum opus, Lang dramatizes this foundational work about economics as inspired by Handel’s treatment of Biblical texts in Messiah. “I want this work to be enjoyable and thought-provoking,” says Lang, “encouraging audiences to consider what we truly value.”

Here is the link.

Markets in everything?

by  Tyler Cowen in

If you don’t yet have a REAL ID, you can continue to fly, but it’s going to cost you. Beginning Feb. 1, 2026, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) will start collecting a $45 fee from travelers using non-compliant forms of identification at airport security checkpoints.

The agency previously proposed a fee of $18 to cover the administrative and IT costs of ID verification for those traveling without a REAL ID or passport but increased the total to $45 in an announcement released earlier this month.

Here is the full story, via the excellent Samir Varma.

Prediction markets in everything

by  Tyler Cowen

Prediction market Kalshi Inc. and sneaker marketplace StockX are offering a new way to bet on the resale prices of in-demand sneakers and collectibles such as Labubus and Pokémon cards.

In a partnership announced Wednesday, Kalshi will use StockX data to create so-called event contracts tied to sneakers, trading cards and figurines. Users will be able to trade on outcomes such as whether an item will surpass a price threshold after release day, or predict the best-selling brands during a major shopping event like Black Friday.

Products that will be listed include highly-anticipated drops of Jordan sneakers, Supreme hoodies and blind boxes that contain random Labubus.

Here is more from Bloomberg, via John De Palma.

Markets in everything?

by  Tyler Cowen in

Wealthy foreign gun enthusiasts paid Bosnian Serb forces for the chance to shoot residents of Sarajevo during the siege of the city during the 1990s, according to claims being investigated by Italian magistrates.

The investigation was prompted by new evidence that “weekend snipers” paid handsomely to line the hills around Sarajevo and join in the Bosnian Serb siege, which killed more than 11,500 people between 1992 and 1996 during the Balkan Wars.

The investigation into the alleged “human safari” in Sarajevo has been opened after years of research by the Italian writer Ezio Gavazzeni, who said a key source was a former Bosnian intelligence officer.

“What I learnt is that Bosnian intelligence warned the local office of the Italian secret service … about the presence of at least five Italians who were taken to the hills above Sarajevo to shoot civilians,” he told the Italian daily La Repubblica.

Here is more from the Times of London.