A display of Halloween products for sale in West Covina, Calif., on Sept. 10, 2025. Frederic J. Brown/Getty ImagesHalloween is a fun, scary time for children and adults alike – but why does the holiday seem to start so much earlier every year? Decades ago, when I was young, Halloween was a much smaller affair, and people didn’t start preparing until mid-October.
skynesher/GettyWhen we talk about diversity in business, it’s usually in moral or social terms – fairness, inclusion and representation. But our new research suggests diversity also pays off in a very practical way: helping companies make better financial and investment decisions.
Oscar Wong/Getty ImagesYou check prices online for a flight to Melbourne today. It’s $300. You leave your browser open. Two hours later, it’s $320. Half a day later, $280. Welcome to the world of algorithmic pricing, where technology tries to figure out what price you’re willing to pay.
When Starbucks announced that it would phase out its mobile-order pickup-only locations beginning in 2026, it raised a question: Why abandon a format seemingly built for speed and efficiency?
Economists Joel Mokyr, Philippe Aghion, and Peter Howitt. Ill. Niklas Elmehed © Nobel Prize Outreach Three economists working in the area of “innovation-driven economic growth” have won this year’s Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences.
When Shohei Ohtani stepped onto the field at the Tokyo Dome in March 2025, he wasn’t just playing a game – he was carrying forward more than 100 years of baseball ties between the U.S. and Japan.
Auscape/GettyThough they still haven’t been officially confirmed, reports China’s state-owned buyer told steelmakers to stop purchasing iron ore from Australian mining giant BHP have rattled both markets and Canberra.
NurPhoto/GettyReports of the death of the US dollar appear to be greatly exaggerated (like that of author Mark Twain).
For years, I’ve puzzled over a question that seems to defy common sense: If stock markets are hitting records and tech innovation seems endless, why aren’t companies pouring money back into new projects?
Yes, they’re still investing – but the pace of business spending is slower than you’d expect, especially outside of AI.
What do the luxury sector and the automotive sector have in common? Until recently, even asking the question would have seemed incongruous, given the apparent dissimilarity between brands engaged in mass production in search of economies of scale and those based on lavish spending and limited editions. The arrival of Luca de Meo (formerly of Renault) at the head of Kering signals a change for the group founded by French entrepreneur François-Henri Pinault, but also for the entire sector. Is playtime officially over?
