The 79-Day Soda Rebellion
April 23, 1985. Coca-Cola made one of the most infamous marketing decisions in corporate history. They changed the formula. "New Coke" was meant to halt Pepsi's growing market share. Internal te...
Why Did Canada Enforce a Digital Services Tax - and Make It Retroactive?
Canada just pulled the trigger on its long-threatened Digital Services Tax. It's a 3% levy on gross revenue tied to Canadian users. Not profit - revenue. That includes digital advertising, user dat...
Who Could Be Trump's Pick to Run the Fed?
Donald Trump has been back in the White House for months, and one priority is already dominating the agenda: slashing interest rates. On June 27, Trump made it crystal clear: he will only appoint a...
Crypto Could Now Help You Buy a House
Can crypto help you buy a house? That's no longer a fringe question. It's now federal policy. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have been ordered to explore it - officially. The FHFA (Federal Housing F...
A History of National Guard Deployments During Unrest
Throughout U.S. history, the National Guard has been called in to deal with unrest. Labor uprisings. Race riots. Campus protests. Civil disorder. Each time, the deployment was a signal: something had ...
Can the President Fire the Fed Chair?
Can the President of the United States fire the Chairman of the Federal Reserve? Short answer: no. Not easily. Not without a fight. The Federal Reserve Act gives the Chair of the Fed a four-year...
How Many Times Have Presidents Gone to War Without Congress?
American presidents have a habit of going it alone. They say it's urgent. They say there's no time to wait for Congress. And then the bombs start falling. From Vietnam to Syria, military actions have ...
Has the Strait of Hormuz Ever Actually Been Closed?
The Strait of Hormuz has never been shut. Not once. But oil markets don't wait for that. Even the hint of trouble sends prices jumping. Roughly 20% of the world's oil moves through that narro...
The Highest Presidential Approval Rating in U.S. History
George W. Bush holds the highest presidential approval rating ever recorded. Ninety percent. That number is almost unthinkable in today's political climate, where polarization is the norm and ev...
When the New York Times Almost Got Delisted
In early 2009, shares of The New York Times Company (NYSE: NYT) dropped below $4. Yes - $4. This was a company that had once been among the most respected and influential media empires in the wo...
The President Who Saw a UFO
Jimmy Carter saw something strange in the sky. It was 1969. He was in Leary, Georgia, standing outside with a group of about 20 people. A bright light appeared in the western sky just after sunset....
What Was the Worst Midterm Loss in U.S. History?
The year was 1894. The United States was reeling from a deep economic depression, and voters were looking for someone to blame. They found their target in President Grover Cleveland and the Democra...
President Trump: The Republican Who Was Also a Democrat, Reform Party Member and Independent
President Donald Trump has never been shy about changing lanes. When it comes to political affiliations, the President has switched sides more than once - and always for reasons that made sense to him...
Taiyuan's "Pretend to Work" Office Says a Lot About China's Job Market Right Now
A new "pretend-to-work" office has opened in Taiyuan, Shanxi Province - and it's exactly what it sounds like. For a small daily fee, people can show up, sit at a desk, use the Wi-Fi, eat lunch, and go...
The Time That President Obama Wore a Tan Suit and Caused a Furore
On August 28, 2014, President Obama wore a tan suit during a press briefing. The topic? National security and the threat posed by ISIS. The reaction? Not what you'd expect. Republicans quickly s...