This is a special edition of the Work in Progress newsletter. And this one is all about you.
What people are now calling “quiet quitting” was, in previous decades, simply known as “having a job.”
Talking with Bill Gates about progress, the best news in the world, and the future of food
Five pieces of career advice, shaped by economics, psychology, and a little bit of existential math
It’s not just the pandemic. For citizens of a wealthy country, Americans of every age, at every income level, are unusually likely to die, from guns, drugs, cars, and disease.
They tend to treat their readers like fools without willpower. So you could argue that they’re wrong for the right reasons.
Look to friends and parents.
The narrative doesn’t match the numbers.
It’s just the latest chapter in the “everything is weird” economy.
In practically every field of human endeavor, the average age of achievement and power is rising.
It’s the numbers that matter, not the nomenclature.
Material-cost inflation, anti-building rules, NIMBY attitudes, and barriers to innovation have created a housing-affordability crisis.
If gas prices are plummeting, why is inflation rising? If jobs are growing, why is GDP falling? If everybody’s on vacation, why are consumers miserable?
Musk cites three reasons for terminating his merger with Twitter. A new lawsuit points out why each of those reasons is extremely flimsy.
Companies need a new kind of middle manager: the synchronizer.
For the past 60 years, U.S. detectives have gotten worse at one of the most basic jobs of law enforcement.
The U.S. seems to suffer from chronic Nothing Works Syndrome.
Company culture may soon resemble what bosses want, rather than what workers want—and that could mean a lot more people in the office.
An old economy is dying, and a new economy is struggling to be born. Now is the time of monstrously confusing data.
Something beyond rising energy and labor costs is leading to sticker shock on once-cheap urban amenities.