Economics & Work Archives

A digital collage with overlapping purple-tinted images, including a traditional building and a sculpture, explores panpsychism under the title "The Nightcrawler" on a black grid background.

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

A black-and-white portrait of smiling Katie Gatti Tassin with glasses is centered on a collage featuring a close-up of a dollar bill, a checkered pattern, and a vintage microphone.

Business

The Katie Gatti Tassin interview: “Go the extra yard — not the extra mile”

The host of the Money with Katie Show has some priceless advice for women on how to approach pay-rise negotiations.

A graphic titled "The Night Crawler" features grayscale and red-tinted images of two men, one writing and one smiling—possibly Brad Feld—overlaid on a grid background with abstract shapes.

Business

The art of mentorship and long-term thinking

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

Split-screen image: left side has the words "an excerpt from" on a pale blue background; right side shows the book cover of "After the Spike," which explores how population and environment shape our future, by Dean Spears and Michael Geruso.

Books

More people, more pollution? Dispelling an environmental myth

In “After the Spike,” Dean Spears and Michael Geruso show why policy, rather than high population density, has the most significant impact on the environment.

Collage featuring photos of wildlife, ancient stone carvings, and a camel, with the text "THE NIGHTCRAWLER" at the top on a gray grid background—an homage to Sean B. Carroll’s explorations of nature and history.

Business

The hidden rules of business — according to nature

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

Collage featuring a snail, two hands gripping a baton symbolizing succession, and a boat, overlaid on a pink and black grid pattern with the text "THE NIGHTCRAWLER" at the top.

Business

Inside the subtle art of succession

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

Abstract illustration of tall, grid-patterned skyscrapers interspersed with textured blue marble-like panels evokes a sense of innovation, reminiscent of a blue ocean strategy, set against a light background.

Business

“Blue ocean strategy”: The red thread connecting Apple with Yellow Tail

When organizations focus on finding new markets, the returns can be spectacular — as a case study from Australia perfectly illustrates.

A grayscale collage features a smiling woman, a silhouetted figure with outstretched arms, and the title "The Nightcrawler" at the top. Geometric shapes and architectural sketches, inspired by Shannon Vallor's work, are layered in the background.

Business

AI vs. humans: A question of humanity

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

Two glowing spheres connected by a thin line suggest a quantum link above a red, knotted rope, with abstract wave patterns in the background.

The Long Game

The “quantum long game”

A meditation on quantum physics, creative endurance, and the unseen forces that shape what lasts.

Book cover of "The Systems Leader" by Robert E. Siegel, featuring geometric orange shapes, next to text that reads "an excerpt from" on a blue background—highlighting concepts of systems leadership.

Business

Why “Systems Leadership” is hard in the best possible way

The corporate world is no cake walk — as a leader you need a framework that can equip you for the cross-pressures.

A person is being recorded on video by a camera mounted on a tripod, with the display highlighting visual literacy as the subject appears in focus and the background is artfully blurred.

Business

6 ways for leaders to hone their “visual literacy”

Leaders may not realize it — they’re not just being watched, they’re being interpreted, filtered, and judged, frame by frame.

Two men in suits stand in front of a graphic collage featuring technical drawings and a building with solar panels, overlaid with the text "The Nightcrawler," evoking innovation that stands the test of stellar age.

Business

The end of extraction and the rise of abundance

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

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.

Business

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.