Economy

Latest Stories

Shopping ‘Wonky’ Keeps Imperfect Goods From Going to Waste

5 min read

A trend that started with fresh produce is now giving new life to toys, homewares, beauty products and beyond.

Building More Than Trails

6 min read

Recreation makes rural communities more resilient. And its not just about tourists — it makes life better for locals, too.

Free Bus Passes Are Giving Indian Women More Financial Freedom

5 min read

In several Indian states, this simple move is empowering women to join the workforce and granting them independence.

Job Sharing Is Helping Parents Keep Their Careers on Track

5 min read

For working moms and dads seeking better work-life balance, splitting a full-time job is one way to stay in the game.

For People in Prison, Career Training Begins in a Virtual World

5 min read

Incarcerated folks are fighting fires, fixing cars and working in hospitals — all in virtual reality — so they’ll walk out of prison ready to hire.

Affordable, Flexible Childcare Helps Indian Mothers Earn More and Worry Less

4 min read

A childcare cooperative in Ahmedabad has become a lifeline for women working in the informal sector.

A ‘Human-Led Approach’ to Loans Is Changing Lives in Rural India

6 min read

For those who lack access to formal financial institutions, peer-to-peer lending can be a ticket out of years of debt.

‘It Affects All of Us’: Free Financial Counseling Helps Tulsans Thrive

4 min read

Through one-on-one, non-judgmental sessions, Tulsa residents achieve financial goals, sending positive ripples across the community.

New York Delivery Workers React to Their New Minimum Pay

3 min read

Higher pay is on the horizon for the app-based workers who zip around the city.

A Simple Fix Lifts Single Moms Out of Poverty in India’s Slums

5 min read

Fund A Mom’s direct cash payments are helping mothers in Jaipur feed their kids and change their lives.

Nimble ‘Maker Pods’ Give Fashion Jobs a Light Footprint

4 min read

Paskho’s new manufacturing model disperses good-paying jobs among marginalized communities.

Minnesota’s Prison-to-Grilled-Cheese Pipeline Is Changing Lives

4 min read

What started as a restaurant has become a path to entrepreneurship, turning formerly incarcerated folks into lawyers and soul food impresarios.

America’s Green Boom Needs More Electricians, and Women Are Stepping Up

5 min read

Only 2% of electricians are women, leaving plenty of room for growth in a field that is finding creative new ways to recruit them.

When Tackling Homelessness, Prevention is Often the Best Medicine

4 min read

By intervening early, often with small rent payments, a Portland shelter kept nearly 100 families out of homelessness last year, saving thousands of dollars in future rehousing costs.

Does No-Resumé, No-Interview Hiring Work? New Data Say Yes

5 min read

Three years ago, The Body Shop adopted “open hiring,” in which the most basic skills automatically get you the job. A new analysis suggests it’s working.

How Washington State Redefined ‘Homeless’

7 min read

While federal laws require people to sleep on the street before they can get housing assistance, Washington State is more realistic about what homelessness looks like today.

‘Co-Buying’ Is Surging — and Making Housing More Affordable

10 min read

A rise in the number of people purchasing real estate with someone they know is helping legions of buyers quit renting and start building equity.

The Green Jobs Boom Is Benefiting the People Who Need It Most

5 min read

As the US races toward climate resilience, a hiring bonanza is taking hold in communities that rarely see one.

From Textile Waste to Refugee Livelihoods

4 min read

At Seattle’s Refugee Artisan Initiative, immigrant and refugee women find good-paying jobs and start their own businesses.

‘Green Banks’ Are Turning Climate Action Dreams into Realities

5 min read

A highly successful model for getting green infrastructure projects off the ground is about to go national thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act.

The Supermarket Helping Shoppers Get Loans for Groceries

4 min read

With interest-free loans, a supermarket chain is shifting the anti-hunger paradigm from donated canned goods to fresh produce for all.

India’s Retired Sex Workers Get a Second Act

6 min read

In May, India’s Supreme Court ruled that sex work is a legitimate profession. Now, its older practitioners are finding ways to start their life anew.

Companies Are Helping Their Workers Commute Sustainably

5 min read

Businesses are rewarding employees for leaving their cars at home, handing cities a powerful new tool in their quest to reduce car use.

Black Residents Are Actually Benefiting from Washington’s Spectacular New Park

5 min read

The $92 million park will span a former bridge — and send real estate prices soaring. A home buyers club is helping residents cash in rather than get displaced.

How to Hire Remote Workers from Economically Distressed Countries

6 min read

The platform iWorker connects workers in countries like Venezuela with businesses abroad, offering benefits to both.

A Seaweed Farming Boom Is Preparing Maine for Life After Lobsters

11 min read

A state that has long relied on a single ocean species for economic prosperity is turning to sustainable kelp as a new cash crop.

Traditional Cheesemaking Is Restoring Bosnia’s Landscapes and Livelihoods

16 min read

After decades of war, an artisanal product that sustained a region for generations is bringing new life to a nearly forgotten town.

No College? No Problem

4 min read

“Skills-based hiring” is catching on as fewer employers require college diplomas, a major step toward shrinking the racial wealth gap.

Happier Employees, Higher Profits: Covid’s Surprising Lesson for Restaurants

7 min read

As the pandemic pummeled the industry, some restaurateurs bucked trends by paying their employees even more. Now it’s paying off.

‘Internships’ for Adults Are Helping Women Rejoin the Workforce

3 min read

Covid put a multi-year gap in millions of resumés. Now some companies are offering a supportive path back.

Meet the Co-ops Building a More Ethical Food Delivery System

5 min read

The Grubhub model is here to stay. But community-based delivery services could be lifelines for small restaurants battling huge commission fees.

Liberia’s Beekeepers Harness the Power of Simplicity

5 min read

“Once you have the skills to build one beehive, you can make 100.”

South Africa Is Pioneering a Better World for Domestic Workers

6 min read

How a country known for labor abuses under apartheid became a place where groundbreaking worker protections are forged.

Where Immigrant Women, Usually Exploited by Fashion, Run the Show

5 min read

How one Chicago cooperative is reverse-engineering apparel’s colonialist business model.

2021 Was the Year Cargo Shipping Pivoted Green

4 min read

Political, economic and technological stars are aligning to make a stubbornly carbon-intensive industry sustainable.

The Computer Designed to Last

4 min read

Repairable, upgradable computers are here, and could make your next laptop something you own for a very long time.

Inside the Pandemic’s Worker-Powered Co-op Business Boom

7 min read

As the world reels through uncharted economic territory, the co-op model has become more popular than ever.

Why ‘Work from Anywhere’ Works for Refugees

4 min read

As remote employment becomes the norm, some refugees are discovering new opportunities and autonomy.

Grandparents Watching the Kids? Your Job Could Be Paying Them

6 min read

An app that helps employers pay for babysitting — even when those babysitters are friends and family — is changing child care economics.

The Surprising Lives of Germany’s ‘Basic Income’ Raffle Winners

& 6 min read

For nearly a decade, a German contest has given hundreds of people 12 months of no-strings cash to see how it might change their lives.

How Bogotá’s Waste Pickers Reinvented Their Jobs for a Modern City

5 min read

As waste collection gets professionalized, the people who keep Bogotá clean and green are making sure they’re not left behind.

Making the Business of Juneteenth Pay Off for Black America

5 min read

Corporations are embracing Juneteenth. Are they living up to the day’s true meaning?

Akron Citizens Earn ‘Reward Points’ For Shopping Local

4 min read

It’s a system modeled on the loyalty clubs used by many retailers — but for an entire city.

When One City Gave People Cash, They Went Out and Got Jobs

5 min read

Residents of Stockton, California who received $500 a month disproved the notion that handouts make people lazy.

When Italians Abandoned This Village, Refugees Brought It Back to Life

3 min read

Camini was down to 300 residents when it transformed itself into a magnet for refugees. Now it’s thriving.

Spain’s Four-Day Work Week Is a Game Changer

3 min read

Most experiments with four-day weeks have been motivated by corporate self-interest. That could be changing.

We Can Eliminate Child Poverty

4 min read

The U.S. stimulus bill includes guaranteed monthly payments to families with children. Will it work? It already has.

The Bakery That’s Owned by an Idea

7 min read

When sales at a Bay Area bread company took off, its owner struck an unusual deal to make sure its employees would always benefit.

The Deal That’s Saving San Francisco’s Restaurants

5 min read

As the lockdowns began one year ago, Lenore Estrada discovered a customer base that would save dozens of businesses like hers.

A 19th Century Fund Is Still Helping Philadelphia’s Smallest Businesses

5 min read

Founded at a time when the government offered little, the Merchants Fund continues to keep tiny businesses afloat.

Libraries Are Going Fine-Free

4 min read

As fees for overdue items are forgiven, bookworms are flocking back.

Vancouver Gave Homeless People $5,800. It Changed Their Lives.

6 min read

A single infusion of cash helped recipients pay their rent, get to work — and put their lives back on track.

The Surprising Effect of a One-Time Gift

4 min read

How a single infusion of cash can help folks turn their lives around.

The Year the ‘Third World’ Came in First

4 min read

The pandemic has finally busted the outdated myth that so-called developing countries are less resilient than their wealthier peers.

The Casino That Farms Its Own Food

7 min read

A stone’s throw from the blackjack tables, bison are grazing, beehives are buzzing, crops are growing — and nature is winning.

Berlin’s Second-Hand Craze Is Turning It into a ‘Zero-Waste City’

5 min read

Buying used goods is trendier than ever, and the capital’s retailers are responding.

A New Generation of Black Farmers Is Cultivating Self-Determination

6 min read

By going back to the land, Black farmers are resuming a journey toward “food sovereignty” that began centuries ago.

We Know How to Fix Student Debt

6 min read

The U.S. government spends more on higher education than many countries where students graduate with far less debt. Is there a better way?

How Portland Makes Local Food Work for Everyone

6 min read

A food hub known as the Redd solves the business and logistical challenges of local food — and helps small farmers become a big deal.

No-Strings Cash Is Helping Black-Owned Businesses Survive

5 min read

Money from friends and family is what helps many startups survive during tough times. One organization is playing that role for black entrepreneurs.

Germany Is Leading the World Toward a Green Recovery

6 min read

As Europe’s biggest economy reboots, it — and many others — are planning to transition away from fossil fuels.

No Resumé? No References? No Problem

3 min read

What happens when you hire the first qualified job applicant who walks through the door?

The Planet-Saving Potential of Whale Poop

5 min read

How a chance encounter on the high seas between scientists and an IMF economist led to a trillion-dollar epiphany about earth’s largest creature.

Are You Going to Eat That?

6 min read

A chain of German supermarkets is selling expired yogurt, mislabled jam and chocolate Santas in July. Is this the grocery store of the future?

Make Trains Not War

6 min read

A landmark deal to let China build Boston’s new subway cars shows how a little creative collaboration could rescue America’s infrastructure.

The Slow Demise of Cash Bail

6 min read

As it bans holding defendants on bail for nonviolent crimes, New York is the latest state to challenge America’s bizarre system of money for freedom.

Sowing the Seeds of a New Agricultural Economy

6 min read

Economic risk prevents poor Cambodian farmers from switching to crops that are more valuable and better for the land. What if they had guaranteed income?

Austerity Is Not the Only Way: Portugal!

& 7 min read

While other European countries cut their budgets to the bone, Portugal lent its citizens a helping hand. Guess who came out on top.

Free the Floodplains!

6 min read

Millions of Americans live at risk of flooding, but slow federal flood buyouts drain precious time and resources. How one community is rising above the storm, taking matters into their own hands, and returning the floodplain to nature.

Dead Plants are Powering Stockholm

6 min read

The biochar process is ingenious, turning green waste into heat before returning it to the soil as an agricultural nutrient. No wonder it’s turning a profit.

DIY: Cleveland Comes Back

6 min read

Inside the laundry-and-lettuce co-op empire that’s reviving local industry in Cleveland—this time, on the employees’ terms.

How China Sold Us a Solar-Powered World

3 min read

All those pictures of smog-cloaked Chinese cities mask the fact that China’s cheap solar panels have fueled the world’s green-energy revolution.

Doing the Right Thing is Good Business

4 min read

These days, fossil fuels look like a shakier investment than ever. As more investors decide the smart money is on clean energy, a tipping point appears near.

The Viking Guide to Oil Wealth Management

10 min read

While other countries let corporate interests plunder their oil, Norway strong-armed the CEOs into giving its citizens a windfall.

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