What we’re reading (1/14)
“Balance Of Power Shifts Back Toward Bosses” (Wall Street Journal). “On the surface, the job market looks as strong as ever. Beneath the surface, workers are getting a very different message: Their bosses are back in command. Big companies are tightening remote-work policies, shrinking travel budgets and cutting back on benefits.”
“Meta to cut 5% of staff based on performance” (Axios). “Meta notified employees Tuesday that it plans to lay off the lowest-performing 5% of its staff, or roughly 3,600 people…The eliminated roles will be backfilled, a Meta source confirmed to Axios.”
“Sony PlayStation Is Adding Smell—Yes, You Read That Right—To Its Games” (Fast Company). “Unveiled at CES 2025, the Future Immersive Entertainment Concept (FIEC) features a huge, room-size setup designed to push the boundaries of immersive gaming. A trailer for the concept shows a giant cube built from high-definition LED screens that enables players to step directly into their favorite games (unfortunately, this isn’t something you’ll be setting up in your living room anytime soon).”
“A Guide For Investment Analysts: The Prehistory Of The US Markets” (CFA Institute). “Jeremy Siegel’s path-breaking compilation of stock returns to 1802 used exclusively stocks listed in New York for most of the antebellum period. This is true for the Goetzmann, Ibbotson and Peng dataset back to 1815. I believe using exclusively stocks listed in New York introduces considerable survivorship bias. There’s a reason that the NYSE ultimately rose to national dominance. Economic, political, and financial conditions were more favorable for wealth accumulation through investing in New York City than anywhere else. I found much lower stock returns in Philadelphia and Baltimore, with more failures and busts, which had the effect of substantially lowering the stock returns reported in my paper in the Financial Analysts Journal, relative to those reported in Jeremy Siegel’s book, Stocks for the Long Run.”
“The Anti-Social Century” (The Atlantic). “Over the past few months, I’ve spoken with psychologists, political scientists, sociologists, and technologists about America’s anti-social streak. Although the particulars of these conversations differed, a theme emerged: The individual preference for solitude, scaled up across society and exercised repeatedly over time, is rewiring America’s civic and psychic identity. And the consequences are far-reaching[.]”
