Economics & Work Archives

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

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.

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Business

When research is cheap, conviction becomes priceless

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

A football player, an OKR genius on the field, throws a ball amid overlaid statistical charts and abstract shapes.

Business

How John Doerr used football to land OKRs

The legendary investor explains the transformative Objectives and Key Results goal-setting framework with an imaginary Super Bowl strategy.

An open book reveals calm water on the left page, symbolizing serenity, while the right page showcases a silhouette of a head with a star inside, representing a well-being fix.

Business

Leaders: Your well-being fix should be your highest priority

Major League Baseball and Ivy League research confirm that tackling well-being is hard work — but well worth the effort.

Collage featuring a construction worker, a person with a hand on their back, silhouettes, and the text "The Nightcrawler" in green and black, highlighting the power of in-person connection.

Business

The rising value of in-person connection

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

An open magazine reveals a woman wearing a hijab and headphones on one page, with de-bias technology illustrations mapping the faces of three individuals on the opposite page.

Business

We can’t “de-bias” our brains but we can change our systems

By designing smart systems, we can help ourselves live up to our best intentions — and perform even better in our workplaces.

Collage of a man speaking, an electricity pylon, and the title "The Nightcrawler" on a graphic background, hinting at the integration of next-gen AI.

Business

Investing in the next generation of AI

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

An open magazine displays a snapshot of AI efficiency: on the left page, a person types diligently on a laptop, while the right page showcases an abstract blue and white digital design, symbolizing the seamless integration of technology and human creativity.

Business

Why AI for business means a revolution in efficiency

Philosopher and author Christopher DiCarlo outlines the key areas where AI continues to reshape the labor landscape.

A person stands on stage with four humanoid robots, powered by NVIDIA technology, presenting to an eager audience.

Business

The inside story of NVIDIA

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

A composite image features a stock market graph in the upper half and a black-and-white photo of runners' legs pushing through the pain cave in the lower half.

The Long Game

Lessons from the “pain cave”: What marathoners can teach investors

Resilience isn’t just about pain and perseverance — it’s about embracing the journey.

A superintelligent robot stands against a striking backdrop of red and gray financial graphs and a globe, with the text "The Nightcrawler" boldly emblazoned above.

Business

Sam Altman: The superintelligent robots are coming

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

Two maps show relative GDP per capita in Europe comparing 1900 and 2010. Darker shades indicate higher GDP relative to the EU average.

Strange Maps

Mapped: How Europe’s wealth has shifted since 1900

In 1900, the UK clearly was the richest country in Europe. That’s no longer the case.

A bee with pollen on its legs hovers near a pink flower, casting a spell of psychological magic against the clear blue sky.

Business

How to embrace “psychological magic” to be more creative

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

A man with curly hair wearing a suit and headset microphone gestures while speaking on stage.

The Long Game

The Rory Sutherland interview: Bees, magic, and the folly of “Laplace’s demon”

Why the advertising legend — and author of Alchemy — believes that inefficiency can be genius and insects can unlock innovation.

A person sits on a sidewalk near an escalator entrance, next to an overturned shopping cart on a metal grate.

The Present

Can science solve the poverty problem?

An evidence-based policy movement is arming the fight with tools and programs that are more effective than ever before.

A person with a backpack stands on rocky terrain, contemplating the distant, mist-covered volcanic mountain under a clear blue sky, pondering the longevity of nature's breathtaking beauty.

Business

How to build something that lasts

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

View from below of tall trees with lush green leaves against a clear blue sky, with sunlight peeking through the branches.

Business

10 lessons I learned in 2024

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

A halftone image exemplifies the art of outlasting, featuring a golden brown pagoda roof atop a blue swirl pattern, elegantly divided by a white horizontal line.

The Long Game

The art of outlasting: What we can learn from timeproof Japanese businesses

Playing the long game in Japan is about creating something so enduring that it becomes timeless.

A black and white collage of three women: one adjusting sunglasses, one walking on a runway, and one in a scarf, all captured in different settings. Each embodies the essence of women redefining leadership through their unique styles and confident presence.

Business

5 ways women are redefining leadership

Women bring new and innovative ways of exercising power to the table, argues Gaia van der Esch. All business teams will benefit.

Business

Inside Google’s quantum computing breakthrough

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

A large anthropomorphic figure blows bubbles labeled with financial terms, while a crowd of people chase after them, unaware of the bubble revisionism at play.

Business

The key to techno-scientific progress? “Bubbles”

From tulips to Bitcoin, bubbles have been given a bad rap as destroyers of dreams — but they’re essential for our brightest future. Here’s why.

Satellite view of the United States at night reveals illuminated cities and areas, with dense clusters of lights in the eastern region, highlighting vibrant economic hubs reminiscent of workforce data concentrations, contrasted by the sparser illumination in the western regions.

The Present

America’s workforce desperately needs a data overhaul

A National Center for Data and Evidence could supplement our archaic and expensive system and more accurately measure AI’s impact on jobs.

A sepia-toned illustration of a man with wavy hair, reminiscent of Keats, resting his chin on his hand and gazing thoughtfully into the distance, embodying the contemplative patience of playing the long game.

Business

What long-term investors can learn from John Keats

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

A classical marble statue's head embodies Roman resilience, adorned with an orange construction helmet against a teal background.

Business

What we can learn about resilience from the Pantheon

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

Collage of architectural designs: a detailed stone arch with sculptures reflecting ancient architecture, an ornate geometric pattern, and a faded image of the Taj Mahal.

The Long Game

Why every long-term investor should study ancient architecture

Magnificent time-tested buildings are filled with lessons in resilience and stability — and the benefits for investment strategy can be huge.