Work, Leisure and the Covid Economy: Owl Wisdom Podcast

As the world slowly gets back to work, and as many continue to work from home, I thought I’d share my thoughts on work, leisure and the Covid economy. It was prompted in part by my reading Thorstein Veblen’s Theory of The Leisure Class in which he talks of how the leisure class came into being and also about conspicuous consumption.

I look at the relevance of his theory in today’s digital age, especially under the impact of Covid-19 and also compare his views with those of Karl Marx, whose prophesy seems to be coming true in the 21st century.

I hope you enjoy listening to this edition of my Owl Wisdom Podcast and look forward to your comments. Below are a list of suggested readings and links to articles related to this podcast that you might enjoy reading.

Links for suggested reading:

https://www.economist.com/business/2020/07/11/slackers-and-stakhanovites

https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/05/coronavirus-unemployment-jobs-work-impact-g7-pandemic/

The effects of COVID-19 on international labor markets: An update

https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/us-dual-recession-low-wage-workers-hardest-hit-by-laura-tyson-and-lenny-mendonca-2020-08?utm_source=Project+Syndicate

https://wid.world/world/#sptinc_p99p100_z/US;FR;DE;CN;ZA;GB;WO/last/eu/k/p/yearly/s/false/5.070499999999999/30/curve/false/country

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/07/19/why-the-wealthy-no-longer-doubt-rally-still-fear-stock-investing.html

Theory of The Leisure Class by Thorstein Veblen

Das Capital by Karl Marx

Capital in the Twenty-first Century by Thomas Piketty

This edition of the Owl Wisdom Podcast uses music tracks by Mixaunds and Purrple Cat from Free-stock-music.com in the main sections, and music by Twisterium from Freebackgroundtracks.net in the introduction, interludes and end sections. I thank them all for the same.