Economics & Work Archives

Black-and-white portrait of Steve Hanke, an older man in a suit and glasses, centered on a background with graph lines and dotted patterns.

The Steve Hanke interview: “Writing a tweet is the endgame of the Feynman Technique”

The veteran economist joins Big Think to unpack the new rules of social media, explain tariffs, and recount his adventures in Albania.

Collage with clocks, footprints in sand, a hand drawing a world map, binary code, and the text "The Nightcrawler" at the top—an evocative piece rethinking civilization and our journey through time.

Business

Rethinking civilization: A new architecture for humanity

Welcome to The Nightcrawler — a weekly newsletter from Eric Markowitz covering tech, innovation, and long-term thinking.

Bold black letters "MTWTF" on a light background, with the final "F" scribbled over in red crayon-like marks—a playful nod to the 4-day week.

Business

Our jobs and AI: Why the 4-day week should anchor our work-lives

A reduced working week, argues Juliet Schor, is part of a sane response to the impacts of AI and robotization on human labor.

A collage with "The Nightcrawler" text, historic photos of Indigenous people, a blue-toned statue reminiscent of Leonardo da Vinci's art, and blue ocean waves overlapping the images.

Business

How to “outlast”: What Leonardo da Vinci can teach us

Welcome to The Nightcrawler — a weekly newsletter from Eric Markowitz covering tech, innovation, and long-term thinking.

Map showing income per capita in 1300 (US dollars, 1990 PPP) across Europe, the Middle East, North Africa, and Asia, with regions shaded by income brackets.

Strange Maps

Ancient China was less equal than the Roman Empire. Here’s why.

A comparison of wealth gaps in ancient empires reveals stark differences and lasting consequences.

A split image features a sketched portrait of a bearded man above, with rippling water merging into Leonardo Da Vinci-style sketches below.

The Long Game

What Leonardo’s obsession with water teaches us about longevity

What made Leonardo da Vinci last wasn’t magic — it was process — and his study of fluids can help us win the long game.

A geometric collage with partial photos of two people, a delivery robot labeled "prime" inspired by Amazon robotics, and vintage map textures, overlaid by the text "THE NIGHTCRAWLER.

Business

A deep dive into Amazon robotics and AI

Welcome to The Nightcrawler — a weekly newsletter from Eric Markowitz covering tech, innovation, and long-term thinking.

Business

Ask your boss: Can we have a “daydreaming workstation”?

Neuroscience supports the notion that mindfulness and meditation should become essential assets in our workspaces.

Black and white portrait of David Aaker, an older man in a suit and glasses, centered between artistic backgrounds of a handshake, grid, and abstract curved lines.

Business

The David Aaker interview: “Trust is vital and fragile”

The marketing guru outlines the current state of brand-building — and highlights four outstanding opportunities for the immediate future.

Collage with a steam locomotive, a globe with a syringe, and train tracks sparks curiosity, overlaid by the text "The Nightcrawler" on a dark grid background.

Business

Curiosity as a survival skill to navigate change

Welcome to The Nightcrawler — a weekly newsletter from Eric Markowitz covering tech, innovation, and long-term thinking.

David Perell, in a short-sleeve white shirt, sits in front of a blurred background with plants, looking slightly to the side.

The Long Game

The David Perell interview: How to resonate in the “age of engagement”

You no longer need an army of followers to stand out as a writer — “one great piece is all it takes,” says Perell.

A collage features a masked life-saver in surgical attire, a palm tree scene, and bold text reading "The Night Crawler" against a geometric background.

Business

The one concept that saved my life

Welcome to The Nightcrawler — a weekly newsletter from Eric Markowitz covering tech, innovation, and long-term thinking.

A stylized collage featuring an X-ray of human lungs above and a dandelion dispersing seeds below, set against green and beige backgrounds, evokes the easy, slack flow of breath and gentle change.

The Long Game

“Slack”: The key to resilience in a world that keeps breaking

In nature, business, and life, survival doesn’t belong to the optimized — it belongs to those with a built-in buffer.

A collage with “The Nightcrawler” text, a grayscale photo of a tractor in a field, and a blue-tinted portrait of a man in a suit, layered on blue backgrounds with chart graphics that hint at long-term investing trends.

Business

The inner game of long-term investing

Welcome to The Nightcrawler — a weekly newsletter from Eric Markowitz covering tech, innovation, and long-term thinking.

The book cover of "Unstoppable Entrepreneurs" by Lori Rosenkopf features a cracked wall, unveiling insights on entrepreneurship, bootstrapping, and innovation.

Business

“Bootstrapping”: How entrepreneurs can control their own destiny

Warren Buffett famously noted that Berkshire Hathaway would “never depend on the kindness of strangers to stay in business.” Startups take note.

A collage with graphs, a flower, a container ship, and a hand giving a thumbs-up—hinting at lucky investors—overlaid with the title “THE NIGHTCRAWLER” in bold letters at the top.

Business

Barry Ritholtz on luck, humility, and how (not) to invest

Welcome to The Nightcrawler — a weekly newsletter from Eric Markowitz covering tech, innovation, and long-term thinking.

A woman's black and white portrait is centered, crafted by AI creators. An abstract geometric background with orange, black, and yellow segments featuring cube patterns surrounds the photo.

Business

The Morissa Schwartz interview: AI and the new media landscape

The founder of GenZ Publishing joins Big Think from the infinitely unfurling confluence of print and digital.

In a futuristic setting, a medical professional in scrubs interacts with a holographic heart and data display, showcasing their understanding of AI to enhance patient care.

Business

Why all companies should think beyond Large Language Models

By looking outside the current wave of hype, we can create a framework for weighing up the practical impact of AI on any business.

Stylized graphic featuring two separate, partial illustrations of faces in blue and yellow tones against textured backgrounds, subtly capturing a nod to Seth Godin's bold and thought-provoking style.

The Long Game

The Seth Godin interview: What I learned about the long view from sci-fi legends

Bestselling author Seth Godin urges us to rethink our definition of longevity — and to step back and measure what matters.

Abstract design featuring the words "The Nightcrawler," red palm trees, a stylized map, and a large apple symbol—all compelling you to rethink modern aesthetics.

Business

Rebuilding is easy: Rethinking is hard

Welcome to The Nightcrawler — a weekly newsletter from Eric Markowitz covering tech, innovation, and long-term thinking.

Business

How to rethink education in the age of AI

Welcome to The Nightcrawler — a weekly newsletter from Eric Markowitz covering tech, innovation, and long-term thinking.

Collage featuring a historical emergency hospital photo, a palm tree silhouette, and an L.A. County fire helicopter soaring above the cityscape—a testament to build better, resilient urban landscapes.

The Long Game

What if we built something better? When disaster sparks reinvention

The history of catastrophe shows that true resilience comes not from restoration, but from reinvention.

A grayscale portrait of a smiling person wearing glasses, exuding Warren Buffett wisdom, is centered within graphic elements featuring blue stripes and charts.

Business

What I learned over lunch with Warren Buffett

Investor Guy Spier joins Big Think for a chat about the “Oracle of Omaha,” generative AI, what confuses him, and more.

Collage featuring a hand filing papers, an airplane, and numerical data on a grid background. Text reads "The Night Crawler: A Journey for Investigative Investors.

Business

An investigative approach to stock investing

Welcome to The Nightcrawler — a weekly newsletter from Eric Markowitz covering tech, innovation, and long-term thinking.

A miniature tank made from rolled and stacked U.S. hundred-dollar bills is displayed on a red background.

The Present

How the United States turned the world economy into a battlefield

By weaponizing the global economy, the U.S. initiated a new era of economic warfare and transformed how major powers compete.

A stylized image showcases poker chips and a green Swiss army knife, intricately overlaid with circuit patterns, hinting subtly at AI risk. The word "Nightcrawler" graces the top, adding an enigmatic touch.

Business

The risk of outsourcing judgment to AI

Welcome to The Nightcrawler — a weekly newsletter from Eric Markowitz covering tech, innovation, and long-term thinking.

A weaver's resilient hand skillfully crafts vibrant, geometric patterns into the woven fabric.

The Long Game

The hidden cost of AI: Trading long-term resilience for short-term efficiency

Many expect AI to follow a familiar pattern — technological disruption followed by adaptation — but what are we losing in return?

Abstract collage with red dice and handwritten text overlay, featuring a hand writing with a pen. Against a background of grid and bookshelf patterns, it captures an existential crisis. The title "The Night Crawler" hovers above, probing life's uncertainties.

Business

The “existential crisis” of knowledge work

Welcome to The Nightcrawler — a weekly newsletter from Eric Markowitz covering tech, innovation, and long-term thinking.

Collage featuring a woman smiling, the text "The Nightcrawler," power lines, and multiple sticky notes with handwritten text detailing tiny experiments.

Business

How tiny experiments can lead to exponential outcomes

Welcome to The Nightcrawler — a weekly newsletter from Eric Markowitz covering tech, innovation, and long-term thinking.

Collaged image with a Buddha statue, newspapers on finance, and text "The Nightcrawler" against a grid background. Featuring stock market graph details, it embodies the concept of mujo—impermanence—in the ever-changing financial landscape.

Business

Investing in an impermanent world: Lessons from mujō

Welcome to The Nightcrawler — a weekly newsletter from Eric Markowitz covering tech, innovation, and long-term thinking.