Society

Even as the United States continues to experience its longest economic expansion since World War II, concern is growing that soaring corporate debt will make the economy susceptible to a contraction that could get out of control. The root cause of this concern is the trillions of dollars that major U.S. corporations have spent on open-market repurchases (aka “stock buybacks”) since the financial crisis a decade ago. In 2018 alone, with corporate profits bolstered by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, companies in the S&P 500 Index did a combined $806 billion in buybacks, about $200 billion more than the previous record set in 2007. When companies do these buybacks, they deprive themselves of the liquidity that might help them cope when sales and profits decline in an economic downturn. Making matters worse, the proportion of buybacks funded by corporate bonds reached as high as 30% in both 2016 and 2017, according to JPMorgan Chase.

Caplan and Candor. Click to read Bet On It, by Bryan Caplan, a Substack publication with thousands of readers.

So, uh, what happened? The ACLU happened.

In the age of the megaproject, construction professionals must build increasingly complex structures. A suite of new digital tools help make that task possible.

Eye specialists say they are seeing excessive screen use driving up rates of myopia, dry eye and other vision problems — even in children. Some of the progressive conditions are irreversible and put people at higher risk for even more debilitating eye problems as they age.

Online platforms enable the sharing economy and create an entry point for developers.

Amazon took in more than $30 billion in ad revenue last year, money spent to elevate some products over others in the hierarchy of attention. It’s probably true that someone shopping on Amazo…

The invasion of Ukraine supercharged the decline of the country’s already struggling tech sector—and undercut its biggest success story, Yandex.

"But why are you still on Twitter?" Listen. I am an internet ancient. I stood amidst LiveJournal as it crumbled while I watched the fall of Flickr. I was there both times Tumblr burned down, toasting marshmallows over its smouldering ruin, laughing at the folly of Verizon. The death of Twitter was foretold by the dark prophecies of the forgotten internets. I am there to witness its passing as the old internet is dying and the new internet struggles to be born. Now is the time of monsters.

America’s regions are poles apart when it comes to gun deaths and the cultural and ideological forces that drive them.

Only a small percentage of Li-ion batteries are recycled and in several well documented cases, the cobalt needed to make them is mined using child labor.

Microbes maketh man, says Jonathan Kennedy

Screen presence is now a feature of the modern office

The world’s biggest economy is leaving its peers ever further in the dust

Open source microblogging site has seen surge of interest since Musk took over Twitter.

A few Democratic members of Congress understand what needs to be done. More should join them.

Warner Bros. tried to spend its way through the notorious 2011 superhero movie, and it shows.

My preferred AI tax would be a small tax on language model API calls, somewhat like a Tobin tax on currency transactions. This would discourage running language models in a loop or allowing them to “think” while idle. For now, we mostly use large language models under human supervision, such as with AI chat. This is […]

Large platforms face several legal challenges in the United States accusing them of knowingly harming the mental health of young people

You have every right.

The average American my age is roughly six times more likely to die in the coming year than his counterpart in Switzerland.

Many popular online marketplaces—and some you've never heard of—illustrate how an economy based on social connections can work.

Historically, learn-to-code efforts have provided opportunities for the few, but new efforts are aiming to be inclusive.

Rebel flags once flew over Fifth Avenue — and it wasn't just about the 'Gone With the Wind' premiere.

Our new collab with Timex brings back the "90's triathlete" vibes. Read more.

I’ll see if, in a few minutes, I can get at least the outlines of a rant out. I’ve got to get to an appointment in half an hour, but I just saw today’s Dealbook newsletter, which …