Richard Thaler of the University of Chicago won the Nobel Prize in economics Monday for research showing people’s financial choices often don’t follow rational economic theory. His work brought greater understanding of the psychology of economics, Swedish Academy of Sciences Secretary-General Goran Hansson said.
Toys R Us announced late Monday it had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection to ward off creditors owed $5 billion. The company said its stores would remain open for business as usual through the holiday shopping season. The retailer has struggled since its heyday in the 1980s and ’90s as toy sales have migrated online and to discount retailers such as Walmart. More recently, children have turned away from traditional toys and toward mobile devices for entertainment.
In The Upside of Inequality, a runner-up for WORLD’s 2016 Book of the Year in the Understanding America category, Edward Conard attacks the notion that the richest 1 percent of Americans are causing slower or no wage growth among the rest. He shows how innovators or entertainers who achieve economywide success will multiply their money in comparison with teachers or bus drivers who can’t serve more people than they used to.
Business | About 1.4 million people signed a pledge to boycott Target stores over the company’s transgender bathroom and fitting room policy. Target’s same-store sales during the same quarter were down for the first time in two years.
