pxix - If you can overcomplicate simple things loudly, people will pay attention.

pxx - trends toward “okayness”

p8 - vibes are the economy

p18 - “James Baldwin once said, ‘The hardest thing in the world is simplicity.’”

p21 - money is a social contstruct based on trust

p54 - In most cases, a supply chain breakdown is the result of a policy failure. And policy will be required to repair it.

p68 - aim for equilibrium rather than perpetual growth

p92 - a lot of price hikes are story-telling – conditioning people to understand that prices have increased for a reason, and there is no other option than to accept them. … Companies usually raise prices when they can

p105 - In the past, it was possible for baby boomers to buy a new house right out of college, work for the same company for forty years, and raise 2.5 kids on their 9-to-5 salary. That isn’t true anymore.

- it doesn't feel like this is an unreasonable ask

p106 - During the pandemic, the wealthiest 1 percent of households in the United States saw their wealth increase by 35 percent, while the bottom 50 percent saw their wealth decrease by 4 percent.

p108 - If minimum wage had moved with productivity growth (as it did up until 1968), it would now be about $24.00 per hour.

p108 - there is no place in the United States where a minimum wage worker can afford a two-bedroom apartment.

p108 - A worker would have to make [yes, the same amount as mentioned above] $24.00 an hour to comfortable (aka have enough income for food, healthcare, housing and so on) be able to affort two bedroom. $20.00 for one bedroom. With the current minimum wage they have to work nearly 100 hours per week for a two-bedroom and 80 for a one bedroom.

p116 - The top is protected, while the bottom gambles to get by. The top is made easier, while the bottom is made harder. Re-inforcing feedback loops.

p131 - Compared to industrial giants of the past, Meta, Twitter, & Google are very specialized: they are overwhelmingly advertising firms. (period). Advertising themselves. Advertising for others. Advertising for profits.

p139 - The market is overvalued relative to GDP.

p152 - Market blowups … occur when people forget they actually exist in reality.

p155 - the financialization of everything

p190 - governments exist to spend money. especially if the borrowing is being spent on productive things such as infrastructure or education.

p209 - politicalization of markets

p216 - turns out, if you want to save a species, you don’t spend your time staring at the bird you want to save. You look at the things it relies on

p221 - The amount of energy needed to refute bullshit is an order of magnitude bigger than to produce it.

p225 - balance is the answer to “how much”

p226 - marxism - “a classless society pitch”

p227 - We are increasingly forgetting about our commonalities. disintegration of communities

p228 - no one ever knows what to do, why do we act like we can control fate?

p233 - productivity lost by mental disorders, anxiety and depression is a $1 Trillion per year industry.

p234 - produce, produce, produce… what are we producing?

p234 - work might not actually be the key to self-actualization

p235 - GenZ and Millennials are the first generations to truly be nihilistic.

p235 - We don’t have many physical third spaces – places that aren’t work or school or home.

p237 - a booming economy begins with education

p239 - but we are too focused on creating assets out of experience.

p239 - We prevent ourselves from fully experiencing the world when we hyper-analyze what we think, what we are feeling, and what it “means” according to various psychological theories, as opposed to simply feeling the feeling. we’re constantly trying to fit our feelings into neat boxes.

p246 - When we don’t really understand what is going on but pretend we do, we create systems that trap us further.

p251 - children are the future – they are arguably the most important thing

p252 - homes shouldn’t be speculative assets. they should be homes.

p257 - the government can’t do everything, but it can incentivize everything