American Girl Doll Turns 40, Nobel Economists Study Feelings, and Dutch Bros Ditches Drive-Throughs

American Girl Doll just turned 40, and the brand that started as an anti-Barbie experiment is still a billion-dollar business. The Nobel Prize in Economics went to two Americans who proved that managing people's expectations matters as much as setting interest rates. And Dutch Bros Coffee, the third-largest coffee chain in America, opened its first walk-through location — no drive-through required — and it immediately became the best-selling store in the chain.

The Anti-Barbie That Became a Billion-Dollar Brand

In 1986, a middle-aged former educator named Pleasant Rowland quit her career, took $1.2 million in savings, and launched a toy company that did everything the industry said not to do. She created dolls with no makeup, no mini skirts, and no TV commercials. Her dolls were nine-year-old girls — not babies, not adults — and each came with a hardcover book teaching American history. The first three were Kirsten (a Swedish immigrant in 1854 Minnesota), Samantha (an orphan in 1904 Westchester), and Molly (a WWII kid in 1944 Illinois).