Monday morning news drop
Why millions of Canadians are planning to choose self-employment, and how to make that transition. We’ve heard a lot about “the great resignation” over the last year: The widespread trend of workers leaving their jobs during the COVID-19 pandemic. But there’s another trend that appears to be on the horizon: Canadians creating their own jobs. Accounting software company FreshBooks says that 30 per cent of traditionally-employed professionals plan to transition to self-employment over the next two years. (Globe and Mail)
A Crypto True Believer Makes His Case Dispatches from a weird economy Separating the technology from the culture of crypto is hard. Because some of this is cultural technology. NFTs are as much culture as technology. But I think what people are missing is that crypto is more like the whole internet than it is like one social network. It encompasses many people who are in opposition to each other. Crypto is a whole ecosystem. (The Atlantic)
In Praise of . . . Enron? Twenty years have passed since the notoriously corrupt energy-trading company collapsed. Maybe it’s time to acknowledge that it wasn’t all bad for Texas. Twenty years later, however, Clemmons isn’t alone in waxing nostalgic about Enron. Interviews with nearly a dozen former employees paint a similarly rosy picture. Working there was “an amazing experience,” one said. “An awesome place to be a young person,” said another. Still, their memories contain contradictions. Enron was an invigorating, dynamic workplace (managed by unapologetic criminals). The company fearlessly pioneered several new markets and industries (while looting others). (Texas Monthly)
Will Real Estate Ever Be Normal Again? After a decade of too little development, the pandemic made the low inventory lower. Construction stopped. Sellers, afraid of inviting the virus into their homes or reluctant to move in uncertain times, didn’t list, and inventory declined by nearly a third from February 2020 to February 2021, falling to the lowest level relative to demand since the National Association of Realtors began record-keeping almost 40 years ago. (New York Times)
I’m A Twenty Year Truck Driver, I Will Tell You Why America’s “Shipping Crisis” Will Not End This slowdown is warehouse management related: very few warehouses are open 24 hours, and even if they are, many are so short staffed it doesn’t make much difference, they are so far behind schedule. It means that as a freight driver, I cannot pick up as much freight in a day as I used to, and since I can’t get as much freight on my truck, the whole supply chain is backed up. Freight simply isn’t moving. (Medium)
Inside Amazon’s Failures to Protect Your Data: Internal Voyeurs, Bribery Scandals and Backdoor Schemes For years, the retail giant has been keeping something from you: It’s handled your information much less carefully than it handles your packages. (Reveal)
Why thieves love to steal catalytic converters In the past few years, this little car part has sparked a massive crime wave. It has a lot to do with the booming market for precious metals. (The Hustle)
To Catch a Turtle Thief: Blowing the Lid Off an International Smuggling Operation The terrapin black market resembles a sinister web, connecting the overlooked marshes fringing America’s coastal vacation lands with buyers around the world. Just because nobody around here eats them doesn’t mean there isn’t a market for them.”(The Walrus)
Inflation Is Suddenly on Everyone’s Mind. How Bad Will It Be? People hate it when prices rise. But this may be the cost we bear for heading off a Covid depression. (Businessweek)
The Fed’s left-face decision on Jerome Powell reign In 2019, he allowed himself to be bullied by President Donald Trump, backing off necessary Fed rate increases amid a booming economy that would have given the central bank extra juice when it needed it during the height of the pandemic-fueled recession. (New York Post)
No More Side Quests What do you actually care about? Do more of that. Simple but not easy. But now you’re ready for the Less is More mentality. Now you can live it, not just nod along to the phrase when you hear it spoken or see it printed. You can embody it. It takes everyone a different length of time to arrive here, and a different pathway, different challenges and obstacles along the way. Not everyone reaches Less is More. Some get there too late. (Reformed Broker)