Tuesday morning news drop
The Rise of the Worker Productivity Score: Across industries and incomes, more employees are being tracked, recorded and ranked. What is gained, companies say, is efficiency and accountability. What is lost? (New York Times)
Falling Oil Prices Defy Predictions. But What About the Next Chapter? Oil is under $90 a barrel, and consumers are benefiting. Geopolitics, the economy and unforeseen events will determine whether the relief will last. (New York Times)
Why gas is actually cheap in America: Gas is at record-high prices in the United States, but it still costs far less than elsewhere in the world. And in the long run, Americans might pay for that privilege. (The Hustle)
Bill Gates and the Secret Push to Save Biden’s Climate Bill: The billionaire philanthropist was among those lobbying Joe Manchin, starting before Biden took the White House. A look at the influencers who secured a rare climate win. (Bloomberg)
The Rise And Fall Of Chimerica: For decades, America gave China a vision of future prosperity. But today, America has mostly ceased to offer a model for China or anywhere else, leaving China’s leaders without a guide as they chart a course into a future filled with potential turmoil. (NOEMA)
The Sleuths Who Protect Crypto From Hackers Are Raking in Money: VC investment in crypto security firms has surged this year ‘We have spent sooooo much money on audits,’ Crypto CEO says. (Bloomberg)
Behind Enemy Lines, Ukrainians Tell Russians ‘You Are Never Safe’: Clandestine resistance cells are spotting targets, sabotaging rail lines and killing those deemed collaborators as they seek to unnerve Russian forces. (New York Times)
Russia’s spies misread Ukraine and misled Kremlin as war loomed In the final days before the invasion of Ukraine, Russia’s security service began sending cryptic instructions to informants in Kyiv. Pack up and get out of the capital, the Kremlin collaborators were told, but leave behind the keys to your homes. The directions came from senior officers in a unit of Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) with a prosaic name — the Department of Operational Information — but an ominous assignment: ensure the decapitation of the Ukrainian government and oversee the installation of a pro-Russian regime. (Washington Post)
The ‘Real’ Home-Run Record Is 73, Not 61: If you’ve paid any attention to sports discourse over the past 20 years, you will also know that the names Bonds, McGwire, and Sosa no longer stand for home-run power — not anymore. Now they stand for steroids. Which means that to most people, they stand for cheating. That’s why for some, a narrative has begun to coalesce around Judge’s epic season: This is for the real record. Because Bonds’s, McGwire’s, and Sosa’s marks are seen as “tainted,” the notion has arisen that if Judge is able to pass Maris’s team and AL mark, he should be the true, bona fide Home Run King. (New York Magazine)