How did an affable 18th-century “moral philosopher” become the patron saint of cutthroat capitalism? Does “the invisible hand” mean what everyone thinks it does? We travel to Smith’s hometown in Scotland to uncover the man…

In this special episode of Freakonomics, M.D., host Bapu Jena looks at a clever new study that could help answer one of parenting’s most contentious questions.

No — but he does have a knack for stumbling into the perfect moment, including the recent FTX debacle. In this installment of the Freakonomics Radio Book Club, we revisit the book that launched the…

It used to feel like magic. Now it can feel like a set of cheap tricks. Is the problem with Google — or with us?

The banana, once a luxury good, rose to become America’s favorite fruit. Now a deadly fungus threatens to wipe it out. Can it be saved?

It’s fun to obsess over pop stars and racecar drivers — but is fandom making our politics even more toxic?  

The last two years have radically changed the way we work — producing winners, losers, and a lot of surprises.

It was supposed to boost prosperity and democracy at the same time. What really happened? According to the legal scholar Anthea Roberts, it depends which story you believe.

One Yale economist certainly thinks so. But even if he’s right, are economists any better?

New research finds that bosses who went to business school pay their workers less. So what are M.B.A. programs teaching — and should they stop?