The Lessons of America’s ‘First Age of Terror’ In the waning years of the 19th century, a spate of bombings by anarchists raised fears of an enemy within. Stephen Mihm revists an era when ideologues bombed New York City on a monthly basis, and fears about immigration were high. How Self-Driving Cars Will Change Urban Life Autonomous vehicles will reshape American cities; the only question is how. Conor Sen foresees a world with idling fleets of robot cars and upper-middle-class NIMBYs doing battle over repurposed parking garages. For Better Yelp Ratings, Pay the Reviewers A Chinese auction site lets merchants give rebates to all customers who post online feedback, and a new study shows the system benefits sellers as well as buyers. Scott Duke Kominers explains why paid reviews pay off. Please Don’t Call It a Blockchain If It Isn’t One Accenture found a way to make the blockchain more appealing to high finance — and take away its distinctive blockchain-ness in the process. The bigger issue, Elaine Ou says , is that the technology behind Bitcoin won’t solve all the financial world’s problems. Japan’s Central Bank Experiments at the Wrong Time The Bank of Japan hasn’t always been at the forefront of experimental monetary policy, but it’s gotten edgier recently and on Wednesday pushed the envelope even further. Mohamed El-Erian warns that the BOJ might have stumbled into a lose-lose-lose situation. (Wondering what the yield curve is, and why Japan’s central bank is targeting it? Bloomberg QuickTake has you covered.) Ritholtz’s Reads Silicon Valley’s secrets are hiding in Marc Andreessen’s library ( Wired ) Marijuana legalization is facing a major challenge from the alcohol industry ( Business Insider ) (Read Barry Ritholtz’s full daily news roundup .) Bloomberg Gadfly This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of […]
