Benoit Mandelbrot was one of the great innovators of the twentieth century and will be forever linked with the science he named, fractal geometry. Fractals pop up all over the place, but one place that they can be found is in economic data. Could you use this insight to make money?
Easter Island is famously one of the remotest places in the world. It is also famous for its huge statues. They are both relics of and key components of one of the most haunting of tales of environmental destruction. The inhabitants of Easter Island arrived by boat and created a unique culture, of which the erection of their statues was a key part. But this culture was not sustainable. It required the use of large quantities of wood, and over a few centuries all the wood was used up.
