Every day millions of people get together -- virtually -- to trade goods, slay beasts and talk to wizards -- all from the comfort of their computer chairs. At first blush, the fantastic world of ...

It’s unlikely any other economist has made the claim that Edward Castronova did in his most recent scholarly study. “I faced many dangers,” he wrote, “and died many, many times in order to gather ...

"Private currencies have always existed, from notes printed by individual banks to the S & H Green Stamps that consumers once redeemed for household items. Today's economy has seen an explosion of new ...

You can be whoever you want to be online, but you'll still make less money if you're a woman. That's the conclusion of a recent study by a noted economics professor, who examined price differences ...

A couple of interesting points came out of last week's review of The Raid, and I'm going to use them as a springboard for this week's column. There were two topics that dominated the discussion: one ...

Scott Jagow: Personally, I think living one life is hard enough, but millions of people are now living second lives. Second Life is an online virtual world where people interact, play and do business.

On Thursday, the MacArthur Foundation is announcing a $240,000 grant to Edward Castronova for his online game, "Arden: The World of Shakespeare." The idea behind the project is to produce a virtual ...