Vanessa Ogle

Vanessa Ogle is a historian at Yale. She is at work on a book about the history of tax havens and the offshore economy. (February 2026)

Rolling with the Economic Tides

Ian Kumekawa’s Empty Vessel follows the lifespan of one barge, from bunkhouse to floating prison to barracks and back, as it traces the shadowy outer limits of the maritime economy.

Empty Vessel: The Story of the Global Economy in One Barge

by Ian Kumekawa

February 12, 2026 issue

Nothing Gold Can Stay

Gold is both a vehicle for disguising illicit financial flows and a product of illicit activity itself.

February 1, 2025

Shipping’s Shadow World

The shipping industry, which moves more than 80 percent of global trade, is poorly regulated, environmentally dangerous, and rife with labor violations.

April 9, 2024

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