In the 18th century, Adam Smith offered his theory of the invisible hand and the view that perfect competition is the main spur to economic efficiency. The theory of the invisible hand, as it has evolved in modern economic thought, treats creative activity as being outside the scope of economic...

If a product sells for $3 this week at the local supermarket and $2 next week, what is the "real" price? What if that same product has a different price at a different store? Thanks to scanner technology, food prices differ a lot these days because they can be changed quickly and easily. How do...

People make decisions based on information. Often, with hindsight, they could have made better choices. Economics faces a similar problem: Economic data, when first released, are often inaccurate and may subsequently be revised. In "The Mismeasured Personal Saving Rate Is Still Useful: Using...

Even before the Great Recession, housing market bubbles have been associated with severe financial crises around the world. Why do these booms and busts occur? Leonard Nakamura explains that part of the answer may lie with how mortgage lending practices appear to respond to rising and falling...