non-fungible token

Mastering Ethereum: Building Smart Contracts and DApps
by Andreas M. Antonopoulos and Gavin Wood Ph. D.
Published 23 Dec 2018

-Decentralized Message Communications Protocols Ethereum as platform for, From General-Purpose Blockchains to Decentralized Applications (DApps) frontend (web user interface), Frontend (Web User Interface) IPFS and, IPFS Swarm and, Swarm web3 and, The Third Age of the Internet data authentication, oracles and, Data Authentication data field, Transaction Value and Data-Transmitting Value to EOAs and Contracts data mapping, ERC20 data structures data payload, transmitting to EOAs and contracts, Transmitting a Data Payload to an EOA or Contract-Transmitting a Data Payload to an EOA or Contract data storageDApps and, Data Storage IPFS, IPFS Swarm, Swarm decentralized applications (see DApps) Decentralized Autonomous Organization (see DAO) declarative programming, Introduction to Ethereum High-Level Languages decorators, Vyper, Decorators deedand ERC721 non-fungible token standard, ERC721: Non-fungible Token (Deed) Standard-ERC721: Non-fungible Token (Deed) Standard as ENS top layer, Top Layer: The Deeds Auction DApp and, A Basic DApp Example: Auction DApp defined, Quick Glossary, ERC721: Non-fungible Token (Deed) Standard default function (see fallback function) default visibility specifier security problem, Default Visibilities-Real-World Example: Parity Multisig Wallet (First Hack)preventative techniques, Preventative Techniques real world example: Parity Multisig Wallet hack, Real-World Example: Parity Multisig Wallet (First Hack) vulnerability, The Vulnerability defensive programming, Security Best Practices delegatecall method, Raw call, delegatecall DELEGATECALL opcode security threat, DELEGATECALL-Real-World Example: Parity Multisig Wallet (Second Hack)preventative techniques, Preventative Techniques real-world example: Parity Multisig Wallet hack, Real-World Example: Parity Multisig Wallet (Second Hack)-Real-World Example: Parity Multisig Wallet (Second Hack) vulnerability, The Vulnerability-The Vulnerability denial of service (DoS) attacks, Denial of Service (DoS)-Real-World Examples: GovernMentalpreventative techniques, Preventative Techniques real-world example: GovernMental, Real-World Examples: GovernMental vulnerability, The Vulnerability deployment bytecode, Contract Deployment Code deployment scripts, Truffle migrations — understanding deployment scripts-Truffle migrations — understanding deployment scripts deterministic (seeded) walletsabout, Deterministic (Seeded) Wallets defined, Wallet Technology Overview hierarchical (see hierarchical deterministic wallets) development culture, Ethereum, Ethereum’s Development Culture difficulty setting, Quick Glossary Diffie, Whitfield, Public Key Cryptography and Cryptocurrency digital fingerprint, Cryptographic Hash Functions digital signatures, Keys and Addresses, Digital Signatures-Raw Transaction Creation with EIP-155creating, Creating a digital signature defined, Quick Glossary ECDSA and, The Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm ECDSA math, ECDSA Math-ECDSA Math mechanism of operation, How Digital Signatures Work private key and, Public Key Cryptography and Cryptocurrency separating signing and transmission, Separating Signing and Transmission (Offline Signing)-Separating Signing and Transmission (Offline Signing) signature prefix value (v) and public key recovery, The Signature Prefix Value (v) and Public Key Recovery signing in practice, Transaction Signing in Practice verifying, Verifying the Signature Wikipedia definition, The Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm directed acyclic graph (DAG), Ethash: Ethereum’s Proof-of-Work Algorithm discrete logarithm problem, Public Key Cryptography and Cryptocurrency distributed state machine, Ethereum as, Ethereum: A General-Purpose Blockchain DoS attacks (see denial of service attacks) Dual_EC_DRBG, Ethereum’s Cryptographic Hash Function: Keccak-256 duress wallet, Optional passphrase in BIP-39 dynamically sized arrays, Avoid Dynamically Sized Arrays E ECDSA (see Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm) EIP-155 Simple Replay Attack Protection standard, Raw Transaction Creation with EIP-155 EIP-55 (Ethereum Improvement Proposal 55)checksum for addresses, Hex Encoding with Checksum in Capitalization (EIP-55)-Detecting an error in an EIP-55 encoded address detecting an error in an encoded address, Detecting an error in an EIP-55 encoded address EIPs (Ethereum Improvement Proposals), Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIPs)defined, Quick Glossary workflow, Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIPs) Ellaism, Other Notable Ethereum Forks elliptic curve cryptography, Public Key Cryptography and Cryptocurrency, Elliptic Curve Cryptography Explained-Elliptic Curve Arithmetic Operationsarithmetic operations, Elliptic Curve Arithmetic Operations basics, Elliptic Curve Cryptography Explained-Elliptic Curve Arithmetic Operations libraries, Elliptic Curve Libraries public key generation, Public Keys-Elliptic Curve Libraries public key generation with, Generating a Public Key Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm (ECDSA)about, The Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm defined, Quick Glossary mathematics of, ECDSA Math-ECDSA Math signature creation, Creating a digital signature transaction signing in practice, Transaction Signing in Practice Embark, Embark, Testing Smart Contracts Emerald Platform, Emerald Platform Emerald Wallet, Choosing an Ethereum Wallet EMOD (Ethereum Modification), Other Notable Ethereum Forks empty input test, Which Hash Function Am I Using?

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-Full Node Advantages and Disadvantages local blockchain simulation advantages/disadvantages, Local Blockchain Simulation Advantages and Disadvantages MetaMask and, Quick Glossary public testnet advantages/disadvantages, Public Testnet Advantages and Disadvantages NFTs (see nonfungible tokens) NIST (National Institute of Science and Technology), Ethereum’s Cryptographic Hash Function: Keccak-256 nodedefined, Quick Glossary transaction propagation, Transaction Propagation Node.js, Installing the Truffle framework non-fungible tokens (NFTs), Tokens and FungibilityERC721 non-fungible token standard, ERC721: Non-fungible Token (Deed) Standard-ERC721: Non-fungible Token (Deed) Standard non-repudiation, The Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm nonces, The Transaction Nonce-Concurrency, Transaction Origination, and Noncesconcurrency, Concurrency, Transaction Origination, and Nonces confirmation, Gaps in Nonces, Duplicate Nonces, and Confirmation defined, Quick Glossary duplicated, Gaps in Nonces, Duplicate Nonces, and Confirmation gaps in sequence of, Gaps in Nonces, Duplicate Nonces, and Confirmation keeping track of, Keeping Track of Nonces transaction origination, Concurrency, Transaction Origination, and Nonces world state and, Ethereum State nondeterministic (random) wallets, Wallet Technology Overview-Nondeterministic (Random) Wallets nonfungible tokens (NFTs)Auction DApp and, A Basic DApp Example: Auction DApp defined, Quick Glossary O offline signing, Separating Signing and Transmission (Offline Signing)-Separating Signing and Transmission (Offline Signing) ommer, defined, Quick Glossary one-way functions, Public Keys, Cryptographic Hash Functions open source licenses, Using Code Examples OpenAddressLottery honey pot, Real-World Examples: OpenAddressLottery and CryptoRoulette Honey Pots OpenSSL cryptographic library, Elliptic Curve Libraries OpenZeppelin, Preventative Techniques, Contract Libraries, OpenZeppelin-OpenZeppelin oracles, Oracles-Conclusionsand data authentication, Data Authentication broadcast/multicast, Oracle Design Patterns client interfaces in Solidity, Oracle Client Interfaces in Solidity-Oracle Client Interfaces in Solidity computation oracles, Computation Oracles-Computation Oracles data authentication with, Data Authentication decentralized, Decentralized Oracles design patterns, Oracle Design Patterns-Oracle Design Patterns immediate-read, Oracle Design Patterns publish-subscribe, Oracle Design Patterns reasons for using, Why Oracles Are Needed request-response, Oracle Design Patterns use cases/examples, Oracle Use Cases and Examples Oraclize, Data Authentication, Computation Oracles, Oracle Client Interfaces in Solidity-Oracle Client Interfaces in Solidity overflow, Arithmetic Over/Underflows-Real-World Examples: PoWHC and Batch Transfer Overflow (CVE-2018–10299)defined, The Vulnerability protecting against, Protecting Against Overflow Errors at the Compiler Level P Paritybasics, Parity defined, Quick Glossary for first synchronization, Running Geth or Parity installing, Installing Parity libraries for, Software Requirements for Building and Running a Client (Node) nonce counting, Keeping Track of Nonces Parity Multisig Walletfirst hack, Real-World Example: Parity Multisig Wallet (First Hack) second hack, Real-World Example: Parity Multisig Wallet (Second Hack)-Real-World Example: Parity Multisig Wallet (Second Hack) passphrases, Optional passphrase in BIP-39 password stretching algorithm, Nondeterministic (Random) Wallets payable function, Functions payment, Transaction Value and Data PBKDF2 function, From mnemonic to seed Populus, Testing Smart Contracts PoS (see proof of stake) PoW (see proof of work) PoWHC (see Proof of Weak Hands Coin) pre-image, Cryptographic Hash Functions prime factorization, Public Key Cryptography and Cryptocurrency private blockchain, Local Blockchain Simulation Advantages and Disadvantages private function, Functions private keys, Keys and Addresses, Private Keys-Generating a Private Key from a Random Number(see also keys and addresses) defined, Quick Glossary extended, Extended public and private keys generating from random number, Generating a Private Key from a Random Number hardened child key derivation, Hardened child key derivation wallets and, Choosing an Ethereum Wallet, Control and Responsibility PRNG (pseudorandom number generator) contracts, Real-World Example: PRNG Contracts proof of stake (PoS)Casper as Ethereum PoS algorithm, Casper: Ethereum’s Proof-of-Stake Algorithm consensus via, Consensus via Proof of Stake (PoS) defined, Quick Glossary Proof of Weak Hands Coin (PoWHC), Real-World Examples: PoWHC and Batch Transfer Overflow (CVE-2018–10299) proof of work (PoW)consensus via, Consensus via Proof of Work defined, Quick Glossary Ethash as Ethereum PoW algorithm, Ethash: Ethereum’s Proof-of-Work Algorithm propagation of transactions, Transaction Propagation prototype of a function, Transmitting a Data Payload to an EOA or Contract proxy, ZeppelinOS pseudorandom number generator (PRNG) contracts, Real-World Example: PRNG Contracts public function, Functions public key cryptography, Public Key Cryptography and Cryptocurrency-Public Key Cryptography and Cryptocurrency public key recovery, The Signature Prefix Value (v) and Public Key Recovery public keys, Public Keys-Elliptic Curve Libraries(see also keys and addresses) defined, Quick Glossary elliptic curve cryptography and, Elliptic Curve Cryptography Explained-Elliptic Curve Cryptography Explained extended, Extended public and private keys generating, Generating a Public Key public testnets, Public Testnet Advantages and Disadvantages publish-subscribe oracles, Oracle Design Patterns pure function, Functions Q QR codes, Ethereum Addresses and Transactions in this Book R race conditions, Race Conditions/Front Running(see also front-running security threat; reentrancy attack) random (nondeterministic) wallets, Wallet Technology Overview-Nondeterministic (Random) Wallets random numbers, private key generation from, Generating a Private Key from a Random Number receipt, defined, Quick Glossary Recursive Length Prefix (RLP), Quick Glossary, The Structure of a Transaction reentrancy attacks, Reentrancy-Real-World Example: The DAOblind calls and, Raw call, delegatecall defined, Quick Glossary preventative techniques, Preventative Techniques real-world example: DAO attack, Real-World Example: The DAO vulnerability, The Vulnerability-The Vulnerability reentrancy bug, The Reentrancy Bugattack flow, Attack Flow technical details, Technical Details reentrancy honey pot security threat, Real-World Example: Reentrancy Honey Pot-Real-World Example: Reentrancy Honey Pot reference specification, Components of a Blockchain registering a name, Registering a Name-Registering a Name Remix IDE, Compiling the Faucet Contract, Creating the Contract on the Blockchain-Creating the Contract on the Blockchain remote clients, Remote Ethereum Clients-Mistbrowser wallets, Browser Wallets mobile wallets, Mobile (Smartphone) Wallets wallet compared to, Should I Run a Full Node?

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tokens, Tokens-Conclusionscounterparty risk, Counterparty Risk ERC20 standard, The ERC20 Token Standard-ERC20 implementations ERC223 standard proposal, ERC223: A Proposed Token Contract Interface Standard ERC721 non-fungible token standard, ERC721: Non-fungible Token (Deed) Standard-ERC721: Non-fungible Token (Deed) Standard ERC777 standard proposal, ERC777: A Proposed Token Contract Interface Standard-ERC777 hooks fungibility, Tokens and Fungibility gas and, Issues with ERC20 Tokens ICOs and, Tokens and ICOs intrinsicality, Tokens and Intrinsicality on Ethereum, Tokens on Ethereum-ERC721: Non-fungible Token (Deed) Standard reasons to adopt, Utility Tokens: Who Needs Them? uses of, How Tokens Are Used-How Tokens Are Used using token standards, Using Token Standards-Security by Maturity utility/equity types, Using Tokens: Utility or Equity-Utility Tokens: Who Needs Them?

DeFi and the Future of Finance
by Campbell R. Harvey , Ashwin Ramachandran , Joey Santoro , Vitalik Buterin and Fred Ehrsam
Published 23 Aug 2021

From a panel discussion at the Computer History Museum, see newsbtc, “Google Chairman Eric Schmidt: Bitcoin Architecture an Amazing Advancement,” newsbtc, 2014, https://www.newsbtc.com/news/google-chairman-eric-schmidt-bitcoin-architecture-amazing-advancement/. 2. Fungible tokens have equal value just as every dollar bill has equal value and a $10 dollar bill is equal to two $5 dollar bills. Non-fungible tokens, in contrast, reflect the value of what they are associated with (e.g., one non-fungible token may be associated with a piece of art like a painting). They do not necessarily have equal value. 3. Steve Ellis, Ari Juels, and Sergey Nazarov, “ChainLink: A Decentralized Oracle Network,” September 4, 2017, https://research.chain.link/whitepaper-v1.pdf?

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A deflationary approach would likely consist of using the governance token also as a utility token to pay fees to the platform, which would be burned, or removed, from the supply rather than going to a specific entity. The MKR token of MakerDAO used to be burned in this manner in an older version of the platform. NON-FUNGIBLE TOKENS As the name suggests, the units of a non-fungible token (NFT) are not equal to those of other tokens. NFT Standard On Ethereum, the ERC-7213 standard defines non-fungibility. It is like ERC-20, except that rather than all IDs being stored as a single balance, each unit has its own unique ID that can be linked to additional metadata, which differentiate it from other tokens stemming from the same contract.

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Table of Contents COVER TITLE PAGE COPYRIGHT FOREWORD PREFACE I INTRODUCTION FIVE KEY PROBLEMS OF CENTRALIZED FINANCIAL SYSTEMS IMPLICATIONS NOTES II THE ORIGINS OF MODERN DECENTRALIZED FINANCE A BRIEF HISTORY OF FINANCE FINTECH BITCOIN AND CRYPTOCURRENCY ETHEREUM AND DeFi NOTES III DeFi INFRASTRUCTURE BLOCKCHAIN CRYPTOCURRENCY THE SMART CONTRACT PLATFORM ORACLES STABLECOINS DECENTRALIZED APPLICATIONS NOTES IV DeFi PRIMITIVES TRANSACTIONS FUNGIBLE TOKENS NON-FUNGIBLE TOKENS CUSTODY SUPPLY ADJUSTMENT INCENTIVES SWAP COLLATERALIZED LOANS FLASH (UNCOLLATERALIZED) LOANS NOTES V PROBLEMS DeFi SOLVES INEFFICIENCY LIMITED ACCESS OPACITY CENTRALIZED CONTROL LACK OF INTEROPERABILITY VI DeFi DEEP DIVE CREDIT/LENDING DECENTRALIZED EXCHANGE DERIVATIVES TOKENIZATION NOTES VII RISKS SMART CONTRACT RISK GOVERNANCE RISK ORACLE RISK SCALING RISK DEX RISK CUSTODIAL RISK ENVIRONMENTAL RISK REGULATORY RISK NOTES VIII CONCLUSIONS: LOSERS AND WINNERS NOTE ACKNOWLEDGMENT REFERENCES GLOSSARY INDEX End User License Agreement List of Tables Chapter 6 Table 6.1 The Problems That MakerDAO Solves Table 6.2 Problems That Compound Solves Table 6.3 Problems That Aave Solves Table 6.4 Problems That Uniswap Solves Table 6.5 Problems That the Yield Protocol Solves Table 6.6 Problems That dYdX Solves Table 6.7 Problems That Synthetix Solves Table 6.8 Problems That Set Protocol Solves List of Illustrations Chapter 2 Figure 2.1 Western Union transfer from 1873 Figure 2.2 Iraqi Swiss dinars and new dinars Chapter 4 Figure 4.1 Linear bonding curve Figure 4.2 Superlinear bonding curve Figure 4.3 Logistic/sigmoid bonding curve Figure 4.4 Different bonding curves for purchases and sales Figure 4.5 The mechanics of automated market makers Chapter 6 Figure 6.1 The Mechanics of MakerDAO's DAI Figure 6.2 Collateralization Ratios in Compound Figure 6.3 Savings and Lending Rates in Compound Figure 6.4 The Mechanics of Compound's Equity Token (cToken) Figure 6.5 The Mechanics of an Aave Flash Loan Figure 6.6 The Mechanics of a Uniswap Automated Market Maker Figure 6.7 The Mechanics of a Flash Swap in Uniswap Figure 6.8 The Mechanics of Fixed-Rate Borrowing in the Yield Protocol Figure 6.9 The Mechanics of Arbitrage with dYdX Figure 6.10 Perpetual Futures with dYdX Figure 6.11 The Mechanics of Synthetix DeFi and the FUTURE of FINANCE Campbell R.

The Metaverse: And How It Will Revolutionize Everything
by Matthew Ball
Published 18 Jul 2022

What makes this distinction strange is the fact that there is no technical distinction between these two purchases—the only difference is that bitcoin is a “fungible” crypto-based token, in that every bitcoin is substitutable with another, while buying an NFT piece of artwork is a non-fungible token, in that it isn’t substitutable with any other token. Things get more confusing if the right to this non-fungible token is fractionalized into fungible tokens (think of selling shares to a piece of artwork). These “shares” can be bought and sold via the iPhone app. Regardless, Apple’s murky policies produce an experience that benefits neither developers nor customers—one which resembles that faced by cloud game-streaming apps.

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See Activision Blizzard Blockbuster, 166, 273 blockchains, 206–35 Android and, 212–14 Avalanche blockchain, 211 compared to other data structures, 231 decentalized apps (“dapps”), 210–11, 214–16, 222–23, 283 decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs), 225–29, 230, 300 early cryptocurrency, 206–12 gaming and, 222–25 “Layer 1” vs. “Layer 2,” 211–12, 230 in the Metaverse, 231–35 non-fungible tokens (NFTs), 216–22 obstacles to, 230–31 as “permissionless,” 209–12, 214, 218, 222, 288 public vs. private, 211n as self-sustaining, 209–10 sidechains, 212, 230 “smart contracts,” 226–30, 300 Solana blockchain, 211, 230 sustainability in, 222–23 as “trustless,” 209–12, 214, 218, 222, 227, 231, 288 as a virtual vending machine, 225–27 see also cryptocurrency; non-fungible tokens (NFTs) Bloomberg, xii, xiii, 227 Blue Origin, 4 Bluetooth, 143, 161–62, 189, 196 Border Gateway Protocol (BGP), 53, 86 Bored Apes Yacht Club, 218, 265 BP, 166 Bradbury, Ray, 5 brain-to-computer interfaces (BCIs), xi, 154–55, 204–5 Branson, Richard, xi broadband operators, 15–6, 38, 49, 271 Broadcom, 212, 243 Bumble, 215 Bush, Vannevar, ix–xi, 4, 7, 305 Buterin, Vitalik, 210, 228 ByteDance, xiii, 19.

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Not all virtual worlds will move to widely interoperable model, of course. Despite the prevalence of free-to-play multiplayer online games today, many titles are still paid, single-player, offline, or all three. Web3-focused readers might be wondering why I’ve not yet addressed blockchains, cryptocurrencies, and non-fungible tokens. These three interrelated innovations look likely to play a foundational role in our virtual future and are already operating as a sort of common standard across an ever-expanding series of worlds and experiences. But before examining these technologies, we must first examine the role of hardware and payments in the Metaverse

Number Go Up: Inside Crypto's Wild Rise and Staggering Fall
by Zeke Faux
Published 11 Sep 2023

I introduced myself and blurted out nervously that it was a funny coincidence we both found ourselves in the Bahamas. “I don’t know if it’s a coincidence,” he said. “I prefer synchronicity.” * * * — PIERCE TOLD ME that Chakra was not his personal ship. Like-minded crypto fans could buy an NFT (non-fungible token, a kind of one-off crypto asset), then stay on the yacht when they pleased as it traveled from the Caribbean to Art Basel in Miami, the Monaco Grand Prix, and the Cannes Film Festival. He described it as “the first mega yacht club for the crypto community” and a floating home for crypto superheroes.

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They told me that after Mashinsky trusted Stone with huge sums, he’d moved to Puerto Rico and gone on an epic spree of risky bets and partying before leaving the company in a bitter dispute. “He’s an absolute psycho,” said one source. He meant it as a term of endearment. Stone, they said, was behind an anonymous Twitter account called “0xb1,” which used an image of a demonic mutant ape as its avatar. The ape image was an NFT, or non-fungible token, and it cost the unbelievable sum of $1.1 million. (More on that later.) On Twitter, Stone wrote about all kinds of crazy cryptocurrencies he was investing in, from SushiSwap to FODL Finance to OHM—a “decentralized and censorship-resistant reserve currency” that paid yields as high as 7,000 percent.

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When I asked to attend, the host had told me that I didn’t understand a huge part of crypto, and I was wondering if he was right. Solana Monkey Business was a collection of five thousand pixelated images of monkeys wearing hats that looked like the characters from an imaginary Nintendo game from the 1980s. This was what crypto people called NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, and the market for them had taken off with the rest of the everything bubble. In 2021, tens of billions of dollars’ worth had changed hands. What connected them to the crypto world was that the ownership of each monkey image was registered on a blockchain. This meant that, for the first time, it was possible to identify an owner of a digital image.

Uncomfortably Off: Why the Top 10% of Earners Should Care About Inequality
by Marcos González Hernando and Gerry Mitchell
Published 23 May 2023

The common factor in the strategies of high-income earners described in this chapter is the desire to distance themselves from these trends, even though nearly all of them inevitably will, if they haven’t already, affect them and their children. 142 Jumping ship, but where to? A more tangible future One of the most interesting technological and financial developments of the last decade is the rise of cryptocurrencies – digital currencies that seek to do away with inflation and central banking through a decentralised registry system, the ‘blockchain’ – and NFTs (non-fungible tokens)57 – which, in the simplest terms, are an attempt to replicate the logic of private property for online informational objects such as memes. Both are interesting economic and sociocultural phenomena; digital in nature but increasingly important for speculators. The most famous cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, began in January 2013 being traded at USD$13.30 and by January 2014, was worth $770.

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This repurchase reduces the number of shares outstanding, thereby inflating (positive) earnings per share and, often, the value of the stock (Ghosh, 2022a). Soper, 2020, p. 69 Sandel, 2013 Reich, 2020 Savage, 2022a Dunne and Gabbatiss, 2022 Evans, 2022 Monbiot, 2022 Cited in Fisher and Gilbert, 2013, p. 90 Stronge and Lewis, 2021, p. 95 Davies, 2022 197 Uncomfortably Off 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 Mason, 2022 Ghosh, 2022b A non-fungible token is a unique digital identifier in a blockchain (a decentralised log shared across a network) that cannot be copied, merged or subdivided. Its purpose is to certify the authenticity or ownership of a digital object, turned into a commodity. Pymnts, 2022 European Central Bank, 2022 Olson, 2022 Blundell et al, 2020 Coyle, 2011, p. 11 Chapter 7 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 Wilkinson and Pickett, 2019 See Markovits, 2020 Dorling, 2014, p. 46 Dorling, 2014, p. 46 Dorling, 2014, p. 46 Dorling, 2014, p. 40 Mandler, 2022, pp. 44–5 Jones, 2012, p. 258 Lister, 2004 Tilly and Tilly, 1998, p. 22; Dhar, 2020 ‘No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main.’

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A abortion, top 10% attitudes towards 6, 16 academics/academia 5, 9–10, 54 knowledge production and enabling of the wealthy 132–3 acceleration, of the pace of life 128–9 accountancy firms 67, 68, 108, 109, 126 accumulation 135–6 Advani, A. 179, 180 affluence 22, 144, 162, 180 see also top 1%; top 10%; wealth age profile of the top 10% 8 agency 49 Alamillo-Martinez, Laura 73 Amazon 180 Ambler, L. 132–3 anti-elitism 12, 46, 96 anxiety 72, 130, 150 and status 135, 165 see also mental health ‘anywheres’ 96 ascriptive identities 153 attitudes to cultural issues 42, 84 to economic issues 6, 8, 11, 16, 18–19, 42, 42, 77, 92–3, 161–4 to political issues 8, 16–17, 42, 76–99 to social issues 6, 8, 16, 18–19, 42, 65–71, 77, 92, 92–3, 161–3, 164–6 austerity policies 10, 11, 13, 16, 76, 78–9, 105, 115–16, 169–70 automation 79, 158, 160 B Bangladeshi ethnicity, in the top 10% 30 Bank of England 78, 105, 164, 175 ‘bank of mum and dad’ 29, 111 Barber, Rob 1, 2, 4, 181 Barclay family 121 BBC 11 Beck, U. 64 Bell, Torsten 2, 6 Berman, Y. 34 Berry, C. 82 Bezos, Jeff 144 Biden, Joe 142 Big Four accountancy firms 67, 68 see also accountancy firms Bill of Rights 121 Bitcoin 143 Black African/British/Caribbean ethnicity, in the top 10% 30 Black Lives Matter 113 Black Report 1977 115 Blair, Tony 9, 84, 185 Blakeley, Grace 139, 176 Bolsonaro, Jair 96, 98 ‘boundary work’ of elites 45 Bourdieu, Pierre 40 Brahmins 38, 41–2, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 50, 51, 59, 61, 68, 73, 74–5, 84, 96, 167, 185 ‘brain drain’ 124 see also mobility Brexit 11, 16, 76, 80, 86–7, 97, 101–2, 125 Brown, Gordon 175 Bullough, Oliver 113–14 bunkers 130, 131, 144, 187 Burgon, Richard 1, 3, 6 business support schemes, COVID-19 pandemic 15, 104, 126–7, 140, 151 C Cambridge University 28–9, 119 Cameron, David 84 capital, income from 33–4 capital flight 124 capital tax, global 180 car ownership 153 carbon emissions 54, 114–15, 135, 143, 145, 171, 172, 178 see also climate change 236 Index care see social care Centre for Economic Performance 163 Chancel, L. 176–7 charitable donations 70–1 charitable sector 132 child poverty 170 see also poverty children of the top 10% 27, 35–6, 100–1, 109, 111–12, 183–4, 186 ‘bank of mum and dad’ 29, 111 childcare costs 135–6 downward social mobility 31–2, 162 social reproduction 135–7 US 57 Chinese ethnicity, in the top 10% 30 class 39–40 cultural signifiers of 39, 40–1 ‘death of ’ 39 and education 40–1, 46, 51, 58–9 inherited nature of 148 middle class 33, 39, 40, 133, 136, 148 and social mobility 57–8 terminology of 38–9 upper class 38–9, 133 upper-middle class 4, 16, 27, 31–2, 38–54, 39 (see also top 10%) working class 24, 39, 57, 101–2, 148 climate change 54, 100, 101, 114–15, 125, 135, 141, 171–2 carbon emissions 54, 114–15, 135, 143, 145, 171, 172, 178 need for collective action on 122–3 net zero 174, 176–7 coalition government (Conservative/ Liberal Democrat) 78 collective denial 139–42 common sense 11, 19, 74, 89, 90, 108, 126, 130, 147 community gender and community involvement 70 top 10%’s lack of awareness of/ involvement in 45–6, 49–50, 127–31, 131, 150–1, 154–7, 164–6 ‘compensatory consumption’ 129, 134 Conservative Party/Conservatives 3, 16, 53, 76–7, 84, 85, 88, 97, 99, 120, 179 leadership election, 2022 39 taxation policy 3, 53 traditional supporters 44 consumption 152–4, 169, 171, 178 ‘compensatory consumption’ 129, 134 environmental impact of 135 luxury consumption, and climate change 114–15 Corbyn, Jeremy 11, 16, 80, 84, 85, 87, 96, 97 corporate governance 174 corporate responsibility 70–1 corporate sector 46, 51, 59, 64, 65–6, 67–8, 71, 88–9, 108, 128, 153 corporation tax 105–6, 113, 180 cost of living crisis 14, 52, 76, 101, 104, 106, 127, 177–8 council tax 110, 180 COVID-19 pandemic 13, 15, 72–3, 103–4, 116, 126, 134, 142, 144, 151 furlough and business support schemes 15, 104, 126–7, 128, 140, 151 political impact of 87–8 Coyle, Diane 145 crises cost of living crisis 14, 52, 76, 101, 104, 106, 127, 177–8 of democracy 119–21 global financial crisis, 2008 31, 77–9, 126, 140 cryptocurrencies 143–4 cultural attitudes of the top 10% 42, 84 cultural capital 40, 41, 46, 51 cuts, in public services 78–9, 105, 117, 170 D deindustrialisation 28 democracy crisis of 119–21 erosion of 76, 81–2 demographic profile of the top 10% 8 depression 130, 150 see also mental health ‘deserving’, the 23, 57, 74 see also ‘undeserving’, the disability and social mobility 58 welfare benefits 78, 79, 175 Disability Rights UK 175 diversity and inclusion targets 57 domestic work see unpaid work Dorling, Danny 35, 146–7, 156, 183 downward orientation 35, 46, 47 downward social mobility 14, 36, 73, 136, 152, 162, 182 237 Uncomfortably Off children of the top 10% 31–2, 162 income and status insecurity 51–2 Dubai 133 Durose, Oly 39–40 E Earth4All 177 economy economic attitudes of the top 10% 6, 8, 11, 16, 18–19, 42, 42, 77, 92–3, 161–4 economic common sense 89, 90 GDP, as indicator of success 176 Economy 2030 Enquiry 109 EDF 106 Edmiston, Daniel 49 education and class 40–1, 46, 51, 58–9 inequalities 17, 100–1, 117–19, 136 Ofsted ratings and league tables 137 and political attitudes 41, 42 and social capital 60 and social mobility 58–60, 147–8 state education 36, 60, 119, 136, 137, 148, 170 see also higher education; private education Ehrenreich, Barbara 152 Elections Bill 2021 120 Electoral Calculus 173 Electoral Commission 120 electoral system reform 172–3 Eliasoph, Nina 81 elites 39, 44–5, 77 anti-elitism 12, 96 employment 151 blue-collar 28 good jobs 55–61 hard work 48, 50, 61–73, 162 impact on society of 65–71 inequalities 17, 100, 107–9 low-wage work 62, 127 precarity 61, 107–9 presenteeism 64 public sector 109 and purpose 66–7, 71, 75, 162 and self-respect 55–6 and status 55–7, 68, 74 structural labour market change 27–8, 158 top 10% 6, 16, 24, 25, 26–8, 55–75 total British employed 2 white-collar 28 work-life balance 18, 171 workplace reform 71–2 see also unpaid work energy costs 101, 104, 105–7, 175 energy industry privatisation of 177–8 windfall taxes 177 environmental issues 54, 161 carbon emissions 54, 114–15, 135, 143, 145, 171, 172, 178 net zero 174, 176–7 equality of opportunity 57, 153 equality of outcome 57 ESS (European Social Survey) 89, 92 ethnicity see race and ethnic origin Eton College 26, 119 EU-SILC (European Union Statistics on Living Conditions) 24, 28, 29–30, 32, 33 Eurofound 27–8, 36–7 European Convention on Human Rights 121 European Social Survey (ESS) 89, 92 European Union Statistics on Living Conditions (EU-SILC) 24, 28, 29–30, 32, 33 experts, anti-elitist attitudes towards 12 Extinction Rebellion 84 ‘extraction capitalism’ 112 F Farage, Nigel 96 ‘fear of falling’ 152, 182 see also downward social mobility feminism 56 financial sector 51–2, 88–9 food food banks 93, 175 ‘right to’ 178 foreign policy, top 10% attitudes towards 6, 42 formal work see employment ‘fortification mentality’ 134–5 Frank, Robert H. 48 Friedman, Sam 27, 29, 31, 40, 57 furlough scheme, COVID-19 pandemic 15, 104, 128, 140, 151 G Gallup Poll, US 22, 26 Gates, Bill 144 GDP, as indicator of success 176 gender gender profile of the top 10% 8, 29–30 inclusivity 152–3 social mobility 57–8 general election, 2019 1, 76, 97, 120, 173 Generation Z 17, 100, 118 gentrification 133–4 238 Index Germany 159, 169 Gethin, Stephen 121 Ghosh, J. 132–3 Giddens, A. 64 Gilens, Martin 42–3 gilets jaunes (yellow vest) movement, France 115 global financial crisis, 2008 31, 77–9, 126, 140 global warming see climate change globalisation 39 offshoring 79, 109, 158 Good Friday Agreement 121 good jobs 55–61 see also employment Goodhart, David 96–7 Gove, Michael 84 government debt 140 government employees, as members of the top 10% 5 government spending 169–70 see also public services; welfare state Graeber, David 46, 66, 75, 129, 157 Great British Class Survey 2013 39 Green, Duncan 184 Green New Deal 176 Green Party 87, 120, 178 Guinan, J. 82 H House of Commons Committee for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy 107 household debt 152 housing 52 and climate change 114 house prices 33 housing costs 110, 111 inequalities 17, 100, 107–9, 133–4 insulation grants 176 mortgages 33, 52, 106, 110 and state education 137 see also home ownership; homelessness human rights 121 Human Rights Act 1998 121 I Haldane, Andy 164 hard work 48, 50, 61–73, 162 HC-One 107 healthcare 144, 168 inequalities 112–14, 138, 139 NHS 91, 94, 116, 137, 138, 170 private healthcare 116, 137, 140, 159, 167–8, 182 Hecht, Katharina 62 higher education 30–1, 58, 136, 147–8, 183 elite 17, 26, 28–9, 73, 74, 100 and employment 57, 61 inequalities 17, 100, 117–19 mental health issues 73 post-1992 28 and social capital 118 student debt 37 US 57, 74 Hills, John 168 HMRC, income survey 5–6 hoarding 135–6, 144 home ownership 33, 52, 110, 111 see also housing homelessness 93 see also housing immigration, top 10% attitudes towards 6, 16, 42, 43 income distribution 133, 168 misconceptions around 1–4 Palma ratio 22–3 UK breakdown, 2019/20 7 income from capital 33–4 income tax 178–9, 181 Indian ethnicity, in the top 10% 30 inequalities 53, 77–8, 92–3, 100–23, 129–30, 153–4, 165–6, 183 and the COVID-19 pandemic 127 and education 17, 100–1, 117–19, 136 and employment 17, 100, 107–9 global 177 growth of 14, 32–3 healthcare 112–14, 138, 139 higher education 17, 100, 117–19 housing 17, 100, 107–9, 133–4 intergenerational 14, 17, 100, 109, 111–12, 117–18 labour market 60–1 and politics 87 private sector responsibility 69–71 and the top 10% 8, 17, 101–23 and the ‘undeserving’ 148–50 inflation 101, 105 Inflation Reduction Act 2022, US 169 informal work 56–7 inheritance, and housing inequality 111 Institute for Fiscal Studies 26, 105 Institute for Government 104 insulation 125–7, 130, 144 interdependence 175–6 Intergenerational Commission 118 intergenerational inequalities 14, 17, 100, 109, 111–12, 117–18 International Labour Organization 56 interview panels 40 239 Uncomfortably Off IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) 114 Ireland 5, 13, 33, 155 isolation 127–31, 131, 144, 150–1 Ivy League universities, US 57 J jobs see employment Johnson, Boris 11, 26, 76, 84, 87, 97, 119, 121 Johnson, Paul 105 Jones, Owen 133, 148 K Kawachi, I. 116–17 key workers 127, 144, 150, 165 Khan, Shamus 152–3 King’s Fund 138 Kwarteng, Kwasi 3, 105 L labour market 60–1, 79–80 Labour Party/ Labour 1, 2, 44, 76, 80, 82–3, 84, 85, 89, 120, 122, 180, 194 New Labour 9, 78, 85 Lamont, Michèle 44–5 land values 110 Lansley, Stewart 112, 114, 151 Laurison, Daniel 27, 29, 31, 40, 57 Lawson, Neal 154 Le Pen, Marine 96, 98 left, the and Brahmins 41 social attitudes of the top 10% 16, 4 2 LGBTQ+ people, top 10% attitudes towards 43 Liberal Democrat Party 76, 84, 85, 86, 102, 120 liberalism small-l liberalism 96, 98, 182 life expectancy 79, 115, 138 Lindner, Christian 169 living standards 23–4 see also cost of living crisis local government 81–3, 117 local politics 81, 82–3 low-wage work 62, 127 luck 48, 59, 61 luxury consumption, and climate change 114–15 Lynch, Mick 178 M Major, John 60 Make Votes Matter 84 management consultants 47, 59, 70, 86, 90, 108, 126, 130, 147 Mandler, Peter 148 manners elite 45 market failures 105–7, 141 marketisation 137–9 Markovits, D. 20 Marmot reports, 2010 and 2020 115–16, 117 Mason, Paul 142 May, Theresa 84, 87 Mazzucato, Mariana 173–4 mean-tested benefits 77, 93–4, 159 media control of 120 as members of the top 10% 5, 26 Members of Parliament (MPs) 5, 76 men community involvement 70 see also gender mental health anxiety 72, 130, 135, 150, 165 depression 130, 150 higher education 73 unequal societies 130 working hours reduction 171 Merchants 38, 41–2, 43, 45, 46, 47, 48, 50, 53, 61, 65, 68, 69, 72, 73, 88–9, 96, 98, 160, 162, 174 meritocracy 6, 11, 18, 19, 20, 39, 47, 58, 65, 68, 74, 100, 109, 111, 118, 146–9, 165, 170, 181, 184–5, 186 middle class 33, 39, 40, 133, 136, 148 Mijs, Jonathan 118, 155–6, 156–7 Milanovic, Branco 14, 34 Millennials 17, 100, 117, 118 minority rights, top 10% attitudes towards 6, 43 mobility 17–18, 124–5, 144, 148, 167 money, cultural taboos around 3 money elite 45 monopolies 140 and energy market failure 106–7 morals elite 45 mortgages 33, 52, 106, 110 MPs (Members of Parliament) 5, 76 multinational companies, taxation of 180 Murdoch, Rupert 120 N NatCen Social Research 24, 39 National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers 178 240 Index Nationality and Borders Bill 2021 120 neoliberalism 142 net zero 174, 176–7 networking 63 see also social capital New Labour see Labour Party/Labour NFTs (non-fungible tokens) 143–4 NHS 91, 94, 116, 137, 138, 170 Nietzsche, F. 46 Nixon, B. 82 Northern Ireland 121 O Obama, Barack 96 occupation see employment Occupy movement 181 OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) data 23, 31 Office for National Statistics (ONS) 24, 29 offshoring 79, 109, 158 Olson, Dan 144 online shopping, and the COVID-19 pandemic 134 online working see working from home ONS (Office for National Statistics) 24, 29 Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) data 23, 31 overwork 69, 75 see also working hours Oxford Brookes University 29 Oxford University 28–9, 119 P Pakistani ethnicity, in the top 10% 30 Palma ratio 22–3 Parra, Nicanor 32 Parsons, Tony 3 participation, political 80–5, 172–3 ‘partygate’ scandal 76 Paugam, Serge 49–50 pensions, state 138 performance management 72 Personal Independence Payment 79 PFIs (private finance initiatives) 139 Piketty, Thomas 5, 14, 31, 38, 41, 42, 113, 180 Polanski, Jack 178 polarisation, political 14, 85–6, 98, 102, 172 Policing Bill 2021 120 politicians, as members of the top 10% 5, 26 politics 76–99, 181 centre ground 85–8 contemporary context 77–80 party membership 82–3, 84 political change 184–5 political participation 80–5, 172–3 political polarisation 14, 85–6, 98, 102, 172 political reform 172–3 and trust 76, 82 populism 11, 14, 16, 76, 77, 98, 102 positionality of authors 8–11 poverty 59, 78, 93, 151, 174, 175 child poverty 170 and education 118 and the ‘undeserving’ 148–50 precarity, of employment 61, 107–9 presenteeism 64 private education 54, 118–19, 136, 137, 147–8, 159, 162, 167, 170, 182 school fees 26, 33, 35, 36, 37 and social capital 60, 118 see also education private finance initiatives (PFIs) 139 private healthcare 116, 137, 140, 159, 167–8, 182 see also healthcare private sector 19–20 corporate sector 46, 51, 59, 64, 65–6, 67–8, 71, 88–9, 108, 128, 153 financial sector 51–2, 88–9 insecurity in 109 involvement in public services 139, 170 raising expectations of 171 privatisation excess profits of privatised companies 101 of utility companies 177–8 professionals anti-elitist attitudes towards 12, 46, 96 professionals and managers 24, 25, 26–8, 39, 55 see also top 10% property tax 180–1 protest, right of 120 Protestant work ethic 50 public sector employment 109 public services 159, 173 cuts in 78–9, 105, 117, 170 destigmatisation of 170 and marketisation 137–8 private sector involvement in 139, 170 and the top 10% 8, 19, 56, 77, 91–2, 138–9, 140, 144, 159, 163, 166–8, 183 universal 56, 77, 93–5, 144, 159 241 Uncomfortably Off Putnam, Robert 81, 129, 157, 158 Q Question Time, BBC 1, 2, 181 R race and ethnic origin and inclusivity 152–3 and social mobility 58 of the top 10% 8, 30 Raworth, Kate 135 redistribution 139, 161, 163, 182 top 10% attitudes towards 6, 42, 42, 43, 77 Reed, Howard 151 Reich, Robert 141 relocation see mobility renewable energy 141 see also climate change; energy costs Resolution Foundation 2, 34, 112, 163 rich, the see top 1%; top 10% richness 47 right, the 16 and Brexit 102 centre right 89, 97 and control of the media 121 far right 15, 97–8 and Merchants 41 political attitudes of the top 10% 16, 42 rights and responsibilities 158–60 Rivera, Lauren 57, 119 Rosa, Hartmut 129 Rothermere, Lord 120 Russell Group universities 57 Russia-Ukraine war 76, 104, 105–6 S Saez, E. 31 Salvini, Matteo 98 same-sex marriage, top 10% attitudes towards 6, 16, 42 Sandbu, Martin 179 Sandel, Michael 142, 150–1 Sanders, Bernie 96 Savage, Mike 183 savings levels of the top 10% 36 school fees, private education 26, 33, 35, 36, 37 Schor, Juliet 171 Scotland, devolved government 121 Scottish Greens 121 Scottish National Party 121 self-respect, and employment 55–6 Sherman, Rachel 35, 45–6 Shrubsole, Guy 110 ‘sink’ schools 137 Sinn Féin 121 small-l liberalism 96, 98, 182 ‘smart’ working 64 social capital decline in 157–8 and private education 60, 118 social care 117 low pay of care workers 103 market failure in 107 Social Democratic Party of Germany, Programme for the Future 159 social media ‘echo chambers’ 128 social mobility 19, 28, 36, 57–9 downward 14, 36, 73, 136, 152, 162, 182 children of the top 10% 31–2, 162 income and status insecurity 51–2 and education 58–60 meritocracy 6 and networking 63 structural barriers to 62 upward 18, 36, 50, 64, 136 Social Mobility Commission 60 social reproduction 135–7 social security top 10% attitudes towards 77 see also welfare benefits; welfare state society, attitudes to impact of work on 65–71, 74–5 sociological imagination 13, 49, 128, 160 solidarity 94, 127, 142, 157, 158, 159, 170 ‘somewheres’ 96 Soper, Kate 74 Spain 5, 73, 149, 155, 169 stamp duty 110–11 Starmer, Keir 87 state, the 161 raising expectations of 173–6 top 10% attitudes towards 91–5, 92 state education 36, 60, 119, 136, 137, 148, 170 status and employment 55–7, 68, 74 status anxiety and insecurity 14, 51–2, 135, 165 Stevenson, Gary 15 stigma, and unemployment 56 Streib, Jessi 31–2 structure 49 student debt 37 suburbia 40 Summers, A. 179, 180 Sutton Trust 29 Sweden 5, 23, 155 242 Index T tactical voting 172–3 taxation 97, 161, 163, 164, 178–81, 182 corporation tax 105–6, 113, 180 council tax 110, 180 income tax 2, 105–6, 178–9, 181, 185 property tax 180–1 stamp duty 110–11 tax avoidance/evasion 178, 181 tax cuts 169 tax fraud 181 top 10% attitudes towards 8, 42, 43, 77, 88–91, 92 Truss government tax cuts 105–6 wealth tax 179 windfall taxes, energy industry 177 technology and acceleration of the pace of life 129 automation 79, 158, 160 Thatcher, Margaret 105, 180 third sector, as members of the top 10% 5 Thomas, Mark 120 top 1% 2, 4, 13, 14, 15, 32, 41, 52, 64, 65, 93, 126, 128, 162 and employment 58–9 enabling of 131–4 inequality in 155 top 10% 4–7, 8, 11–13, 18, 33 accumulation and hoarding 135–6, 144 and austerity policies 1, 11, 13, 16 barriers to sense of belonging 18, 146–60 collective denial 139–42 contradictory isolation of 53–4 cost of living pressures 14, 15 and the COVID-19 pandemic 13, 15, 18, 127 furlough and business support schemes 15, 104, 126–7, 128, 151 cultural attitudes 42, 84 demographic profile 8 economic attitudes 6, 8, 11, 16, 18–19, 42, 42, 77, 92–3, 161–4 education 28–9, 30–1 employment 6, 16, 24, 25, 26–8, 55–75 enabling the wealthy 131–4 future prospects for 34–7, 95–9, 98, 182-7 gender profile 8, 29–30 HMRC income data 5–6 income and status insecurity 14, 51–2 inequalities 8, 17, 101–23 insulation 125–7, 130, 144 internal diversity of 32 isolation/lack of awareness of others’ lives 45–6, 49–50, 127–31, 131, 150–1, 154–7, 164–6 location 8, 29 and marketisation 137–9 and meritocracy 6, 11, 18, 19, 20, 39, 47, 58, 65, 68, 74, 100, 109, 111, 118, 146–9, 165, 170, 181, 184–5, 186 mobility 17–18, 124–5, 144, 148 overview and profile of 13–15, 21–37, 154–5 perceptions of income distribution 38, 47–51 political attitudes 8, 16–17, 42, 76–99 political participation 80–5 political influence of 5, 11, 76 and public services 8, 19, 56, 77, 91–2, 138–9, 140, 144, 159, 163, 166–8, 183 qualitative analysis of 15–16, 38–54 race and ethnic origin 8, 30 response to social and economic pressures 17–18, 124–45 rights and responsibilities 158–60 and the role of the state 91–5, 92 savings levels 36 social attitudes 6, 8, 16, 18–19, 42, 65–71, 77, 92, 92–3, 161–3, 164–6 social reproduction 135–7 uncertainty and insecurity of 68–9 Törmälehto, Veli-Matti 36–7 Toynbee, P. 89 trade unions 165, 172 membership 72, 157, 158, 163 Trump, Donald 11, 47, 96, 97, 98 Truss, Liz 105, 141, 186 Trussell Trust 175 trust 130–1 and politics 76, 82 Trust for London 23–4 U UBI (Universal Basic Income) 160 UK devolved government 121 Palma ratio 23 UKIP 87 Ukraine-Russia war 76, 104, 105–6 ‘undeserving,’ the 23, 148–50, 163 see also ‘deserving’, the 243 Uncomfortably Off unemployment 56 welfare benefits 138 Universal Basic Income (UBI) 160 universal welfare benefits 93, 168 see also welfare benefits universal public services 56, 77, 93–5, 144, 159 see also public services universities/university education 30–1, 58, 136, 147–8, 183 elite 17, 26, 28–9, 73, 74, 100 and employment 57, 61 inequalities 17, 100, 117–19 mental health issues 73 post-1992 28 and social capital 118 student debt 37 US 57, 74 Unlock Democracy 83 unpaid work 56, 150, 175–6 upper class 38–9, 133 upper-middle class 4, 16, 27, 31–2, 38–54, 39 see also top 10% upward orientation 35, 45–6, 47, 50, 51 upward social mobility 18, 36, 50, 64, 136 US and the COVID-19 pandemic 141 downward social mobility 31–2 elitism in higher education 150–1 employment and social class 57 inequalities and social segregation 156–7 Inflation Reduction Act 2022 169 middle class 33 universities/university education 57, 74 utility companies, privatisation of 177–8 V volunteering 69, 70–1 W Walker, D. 89 water industry, privatisation of 178 wealth distribution of 142 enabling of the wealthy 131–4 historical accumulation of 113 inequalities 112–14 unequal distribution of 14 wealth tax 179 Weber, Max 50 welfare benefits 138, 159–60, 167–8 cuts in 78, 79, 169 increasing of in line with inflation, 2022 175 mean-tested 77, 93–4, 159 universal 93, 168 welfare state 167, 174 anti-welfare attitudes 42, 42–3 top 10% attitudes towards 42, 93–4 and the ‘undeserving’ 149–50 see also public services well-off, the social attitudes and perceptions of 21–2 see also top 1%; top 10% White ethnicity, in the top 10% 30 Whitmarsh, Lorraine 114 Whyte, William 55–6 Williams, Zoe 134, 178 women anti-exclusion policies 43 community involvement 70 gender pay gap 30 life expectancy, decrease in 115 and online working 64 top 10% 8, 29–30 trade union membership 72 unpaid work 56, 150, 175–6 working class, and employment 57 see also gender Woodward, A. 116–17 work hard work 55, 61–73 see also employment work-life balance 18, 171 working class 24, 39, 148 and Brexit 101–2 and employment 57 working from home 27, 64, 104, 126, 128, 165 working hours 64 reduction in 171 World Bank 47 World Inequality Database 13, 32, 54 Wren-Lewis, Simon 78–9, 90 Y yellow vest (gilets jaunes) movement, France 115 Young, Michael 184–5 Younge, Gary 181 Z Zahawi, Nadim 107 244 

MegaThreats: Ten Dangerous Trends That Imperil Our Future, and How to Survive Them
by Nouriel Roubini
Published 17 Oct 2022

Market reports keep tabs on steep price fluctuations. Attention should certainly be paid to a $1 trillion marketplace built on bold innovation. The modern finance lexicon is full of words that make heads spin, from crypto coins to non-fungible tokens that assign stratospheric prices because they are unique and other investors say they have value. Graphic artist Matt Winkelmann made news in early 2021 when twenty-one of his non-fungible tokens fetched almost $4 million over a single weekend online auction.25 But now even the NFT bubble is bursting as the market value of most of these pseudo-assets is collapsing. Whatever its fans, scammers and carnival-barkers proclaim about DeFi, however, whopping risks abound from this over-hyped financial innovation.

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Ratios in the red-hot tech sector reached stratospheric levels, into the 50s and above. Another signal comes from exotic investments. A piece of digital art fetched $65 million. Cryptocurrencies that were effectively “shitcoins” with no intrinsic value reached stratospheric values until 2021. The buzz of crypto, decentralized finance (DeFi) and non fungible tokens (NFT) gave FOMO to retail suckers—investors hoodwinked by insiders in this unregulated Wild West. A firm whose only asset was a delicatessen in New Jersey with slim revenues rocketed to $100 million in market value.8 Home prices followed suit as apartment dwellers raced to trade urban ambience for suburbs and backyards.

You've Been Played: How Corporations, Governments, and Schools Use Games to Control Us All
by Adrian Hon
Published 14 Sep 2022

Caitlin Harrington, “California Senate Passes Warehouse Workers Bill, Taking Aim at Amazon,” Wired, September 9, 2021, www.wired.com/story/california-senate-passes-warehouse-workers-bill-taking-aim-at-amazon. 12. “NFT Gamification: 7 Ways Crypto Artists Are Using NFTs to Engage with Collectors,” NFT Culture, accessed November 28, 2021, www.nftculture.com/nft-art/nft-gamification-7-ways-crypto-artists-make-collecting-nfts-fun; “Non-Fungible Tokens (NFT),” Plethori, updated April 2021, https://docs.plethori.com/gamification/non-fungible-tokens-nft; “Zapper Is Leveling Up,” Learn, Zapper, May 27, 2021, https://learn.zapper.fi/articles/zapper-is-leveling-up; “Ether Cards,” Ether Cards, accessed November 28, 2021, https://docs.ether.cards/platform.html.

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Features like live betting, microevent betting (e.g., betting on who’ll win the next point or game in tennis, rather than the outcome of the more lengthy match), and instant cash out (so any winnings can be instantly bet again) all contribute to an accelerated “online sports betting loop” designed to keep punters playing longer.55 Many betting companies now offer a nonstop series of virtual sports events like sixty-second-long greyhound races every minute of the day, complete with computer graphics and audio commentary comparable to the latest video games.56 And to close the loop, officially licensed non-fungible tokens (NFTs) like NBA Top Shot’s gacha-style digital trading cards have enabled athletes and bettors to collect, trade, and speculate on video highlights of basketball games for vast sums of money.57 Legislators and regulators are rightly focusing on video games engineered to consume hundreds or thousands of hours of players’ time and monetise the inevitable frustration.

Death Glitch: How Techno-Solutionism Fails Us in This Life and Beyond
by Tamara Kneese
Published 14 Aug 2023

Some have monetary value, while others do not, at least in isolation. Assets may include Bitcoin wallets, PayPal accounts, airline miles, online investment portfolios, or commercial domain names, but they are just as likely to include items of affective significance, such as personal websites, email accounts, digital photo albums, or social media profiles. Non-fungible tokens (NFTs), which are essentially just a record of digital ownership, point to a new possible complication for inheritance. What are the protocols for transferring NFT ownership from one person to the next? What is the NFT equivalent of grandma’s brooch?35 Even personal accounts are monetizable, as shown by YouTubers and Instagram influencers, so there is some degree of slippage between affective and financial value with respect to personal accounts or avatars.36 Companies and individuals might have different interpretations of value, and families may find themselves in legal disputes with corporate platforms.

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See also digital memorialization practices; estate planning “Mother of Invention” (Okorafor), (i) mourning photography, (i) Mulvin, Dylan, (i)n72 Murphy, Michelle, (i)n6 Murray, Stuart J., (i) Musk, Elon, (i) MyHeritage, (i) MyLifeBits, (i) MySpace, (i), (ii), (iii) National Association of Estate Planners and Councils (NAEPC), (i) Nature (journal), (i) necropolitics, (i), (ii), (iii) Neiman Marcus, (i), (ii), (iii) Nellesen, Keith, (i)n64 neoliberalism, (i) network anthropology, (i) Networked Mortality, (i) network society, (i) New Yorker (magazine), (i) New York Times (newspaper), (i), (ii), (iii), (iv) NFTs (non-fungible tokens), (i) #NotOneMore campaign, (i) NPR (National Public Radio), (i) Nyong’o, Tavia, (i) Okorafor, Nnedi, (i) O’Neil, Cathy, (i) O’Reilly, Tim, (i) Ostler, Blaire, (i), (ii) parabiosis, (i) Parham, Marisa, (i)n11 Paris attacks (November 2015), (i) Pasek, Anne, (i)n8 PasswordBox, (i) PayPal, (i) Pederson, Todd, (i)n64 Penmachine (blog), (i) Perpetu, (i), (ii), (iii) Perpetual Memorials (website), (i) Peters, Ben, (i)n65 Peters, John Durham, (i), (ii)n65 Phillips, Whitney, (i) Phoenix, Joaquin, (i) photographs, (i) planned obsolescence, (i), (ii), (iii), (iv), (v) platform temporality: concept and impact of, (i), (ii); digital estate planning and, (i), (ii), (iii); illness blogs and, (i); power structures and, (i); Silicon Valley culture and, (i); social media memorials and, (i), (ii), (iii), (iv) Posada, Julian, (i)n8 postmortem photography, (i) Pow, Whit, (i), (ii)n8 power structures and power relations: digital death care practices and, (i), (ii), (iii); digital platforms and, (i); kinship networks and, (i); labor and, (i), (ii); platform temporality and, (i); smart technologies and, (i) Prabhakar, Arati, (i) privacy rights, (i) Probate and Property Magazine (ABA), (i) probate system, (i), (ii) Prudential Insurance Company of America, (i), (ii) Qadri, Rida, (i)n35 RAND Corporation, (i) Rash, Randy, (i) religious cosmology, (i) “Remembering Tamara Kneese,” (i) Replika, (i) Requiem Digitatem (Lipner), (i) research methods, (i), (ii) responsible death practices, (i), (ii), (iii), (iv) Reynold, Chanel, (i) Rheingold, Howard, (i), (ii), (iii) RIP trolling, (i) Romano, John, (i), (ii) Rose, Alexander, (i) Ross, Ivy, (i), (ii), (iii) Rothblatt, Martine, (i) Russell, Legacy, (i) safety-check features, (i) Saffo, Paul, (i) Salon (magazine), (i) Sandberg, Sheryl, (i) #SayHerName, (i) science fiction, (i), (ii) scientific management (Taylorism), (i) self-care, (i), (ii) Serlin, David, (i) Shakur, Tupac, (i) Sharpe, Christina, (i)n21 Silicon Valley culture: platform temporality and, (i); smart technologies and, (i); startup models and, (i), (ii); transhumanism and, (i), (ii); WELL (electronic community) and, (i) Simon, Herbert, (i)n3 Singularity, (i), (ii), (iii), (iv).

Stake Hodler Capitalism: Blockchain and DeFi
by Amr Hazem Wahba Metwaly
Published 21 Mar 2021

For instance, MetaMask classifies your seed phrase, passwords, and personal keys in an encrypted layout locally on your device so that only you can have entry to your accounts and data. Market places DeFi policies have seen a significant increase in online marketplaces' collection, allowing users to exchange products and services internationally from user-to-user. These include everything from freelance coding gigs, digital collectibles, or Non-fungible tokens to actual jewelry and apparel. Payments User-to-user payment is arguably the foundational use case of the DeFi domain and the blockchain ecosystem at large. Blockchain technology is wired so that users can safely and directly trade cryptocurrency without the presence of intermediaries. DeFi payment solutions build a more free economic system for the underbanked and unbanked populace and help big financial institutions streamlining market infrastructure and serve better wholesale and retail customers.

Practical Doomsday: A User's Guide to the End of the World
by Michal Zalewski
Published 11 Jan 2022

than daydreaming about the glorious future that awaits if your investments pan out well. From that perspective, the cost of passing on Bitcoin is modest, while the cost of taking a substantial stake can be unacceptably high. The other very recent financial innovation that captured the attention of the media are non-fungible tokens (NFTs): short blockchain-recorded entities with cryptographically established chains of ownership. In most ways, their inner workings resemble cryptocurrencies, but they’re specifically designed not to serve that role. Instead, every token is meant to be distinguishable from others by virtue of possessing a unique ID.

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Heater, 157 MREs (meals ready to eat), 144 muggings, 112–113 Multi-Use Radio Service (MURS), 188 municipal sewers, 145–147 Mylar, 149 MyLife.com, 110 N N95 respirators, 174 N-acetylcysteine (NAC), 179 Nagasaki, 31 Nakamoto, Satoshi (pseudonym), 66–67 nasal glucocorticoids, 150 National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, 14 National Security Agency (NSA), 109 natural disasters, 18–19, 34–35 neonicotinoids, 176 neurotoxins, 176 New Deal, 22 New York Times, 37 Niebuhr, Reinhold, 43 9-11 attacks, 26–27 9mm Luger, 214 nitrates storage accidents, 20 non-fungible tokens (NFTs), 87 NRC ADM-300, 179 NSA (National Security Agency), 109 nuclear disasters and nuclear fallout, 20, 31, 39–40, 178–180 nuclear electromagnetic pulse, 40–41 Nuclear War Survival Skills (Kearny), 39 nuclear winter, 30 nutrition, 139–140 O obesity, 115–118 OFD Foods, 141 Oklahoma City bombing, 26–27 Olympic Park bombing, 26 One Child Nation, 8 OneRep, 110 online fraud, 106–108 online privacy, 109–111 optimism, 44 opting out, 110 oral antibiotics, 151 outages, 12 oximeters, pulse, 150 P pain medications, 99–100 pandemics, 25–26, 32, 174–177 pantries, 140–144 paperclip maximizer parable, 42 paperwork, 166–167 passive infrared (PIR) motion sensors, 201 passwords, 108 pathogens, 32–33 “peak oil” hypothesis, 35 pepper spray, 205, 207 Perhach, Paulette, 49–50 perimeter security devices, 201 Permian extinction, 34 personal hygiene, 149 pessimism, 44 pests, 177 phishing, 107 phones, 155–156, 181 physical cash, 75–76 physical fitness, 115–118 physical violence, 13 pickpocketing, 113–114 PIG Sock, 147 Piketty, Thomas, 72 PIR (passive infrared) motion sensors, 201 pistols, 212–213 pit latrines, 147 planetary catastrophe, 34 planning documents, 121–125 plumbing, 145–148 poisons, 177 pollinating insects, declines of, 35 poor countries, 33–34 Population Bomb, 7–8, 30 porch piracy, 111 portable generators, 155–156 portfolio design strategies, 88–90 power outages, 152–159 power puller, 162–163 power tools, 101–103 precious metals, 83–85 predictions of apocalypse, 30–31 prepping community, 119–120 prescription drugs, 99–100, 150 PRI-G, 156 Primatene, 150 prion diseases, 32 privacy online, 109–111 propane, 157–158 property crime, 13–14, 199–202 prophecies, 30–31 proportionality of self-defense, 204–205 pry bars, 112, 163 pulse oximeters, 150 pyrethrin, 176 pyriproxyfen, 176 pyrroloquinoline quinone (PQQ), 179 Q Quick Dam, 147 R Radaris, 110 radiation, 30, 39–40, 178–180 radios, 182–190 rainy-day savings, 49–55 rats on Christmas Island, 33 Raven Rock (Graff), 40 Reagan, Ronald, shooting of, 26 real estate, 85–86 recessions, 22 recreational drugs, 100–101 recreational shooting, 219 Reddit, 52, 109 refrigerators, 152–153 regimes, totalitarian, 36–39 rehydration salts, 150 REITs (real estate investment trusts), 86 renter insurance, 11, 201 repairs, 162–163 repeaters, 185 representative currency, 63 respiratory diseases, 150 revolvers, 213–214 revolving loans, 53–54 rifles, 215–216 riots, 21 risk mitigating, 74–88 mitigation costs, 5–6 quantifying, 5–6 risk-rank formula, 6 risk-taking, 95–96 statistics on, 3 robberies, 112–113 rodents, 176–177 Romero, George A., 30 Rothbard, Murray, 61–62 Ruby Ridge siege, 26 Ruger LCP, 214 S Sabin, Paul, 8 sanitization, 175–176 SARS, 26 satellite communications, 182–183 savings, 10, 49–55 Savings and Loan Crisis, 22 saws, 162 scams, 106–108 Scepter brand cans, 133 Schneier, Bruce, 3 science, 30 science fiction, 29–30 security devices, 201 self-defense firearms, 211–219 legalities of, 204–206 property crime, 199–202 robberies, 113 semiautomatic pistols, 212–213 September 11 attacks, 26–27 Serenity Prayer, 43 sewers, 145–147 shelter, loss of, 11–12 shotguns, 216–217 (S)-hydroprene, 176 sieverts (Sv), 178 Sig Sauer P229, 214 Simler, Kevin, 7 situational awareness, 13, 112 skin conditions, 150 skin staplers, 150 sleeping bags and pads, 167–168 sleeping sickness, 25 slugs, 217 smallpox, 32 smoke, 177 snow chains, 163 social media, 109, 110 social unrest, 20–21 sodium dichloroisocyanurate (NaDCC) tablets, 134 soft-point ammunition, 217 SOG Seal Pup Elite, 170 solar storms, 36 SOS, 143 space weather events, 35–36 speeding, 96–97 spinosad, 176 Spokeo, 110 Springfield EMP, 214 STA-BIL, 156 stalking, 14 The Stand (King), 32 stock market, 79–81 stock options, 81–83 stockpiled foods, 140–144 stockpiling, 73–74 Stop the Bleed program, 151 storm cleanup equipment, 162–163 “A Story of a Fuck Off Fund” (Perhach), 49–50 street violence, 112–113 student loans, 50 stun guns, 205, 207 submersible pumps, 148 subscription services, 51 suffocation, 104 suicides, 196–197 supervolcanoes, 34 supply issues, 137 Svenson, Ola, 96 swine flu, 26 System Fusion, 188 system of prices, 59 T Taser pistols, 207 tech upgrades, 52 technician class license, 189 tents, 167 terrorism domestic, 26–27 fear of, 26–27 industrial accidents and, 20 statistics on, 3 Texas City Disaster, 20 thermal underwear, 156 thermonuclear war, 39–40 .38 Special, 214 3M gasmaks, 177 3M respirators, 175 3M Vetrap, 150 TIPS (Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities), 77 tires, 163 toilets, 145–147 Tomcat, 177 tools, 161–164 topical lidocaine cream, 150 totalitarian regimes, 36–39 transfer-on-death directives, 125 transportation disruptions, 12, 158–159 TransUnion, 110 travel expenses, 76 Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities (TIPS), 77 triamcinolone acetonide, 150 A True Story (Lucian of Samosata), 29 TruePeopleSearch.com, 110 28 Days Later, 32 Twitter, 109, 155 two-factor authentication (2FA), 108 two-way radios, 183–190 U umbrella policies, 88 unemployment, 10–11 unintentional injury, 12–13 unrest, 20–21 US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 13 US Geological Survey (USGS), 19 usury, 63 utility outages, 12 V valuables, 201 vandalism, 111 Vanguard Group, 80–81 vehicle accidents, 96–98 vehicle repairs, 163–164 vertigo, 150 vinegar, 148 violence, 13 Virex II 256, 176 virtual private network (VPN) software, 106 visa requirements, 11 vitamin C, 179 volcanoes, 34–35 vomiting, 150 Vox Magazine, 25 W Waco siege, 26 wages, 50 war, 20–21, 39–40 waste disposal, 145–147 water and water outages, 12, 131–135, 145–148, 169 WaterBrick, 133 wealth taxes, 73 weather, 18, 156–158, 168 Weathermen, 27 weight loss, 115–118 West Nile, 26 Westinghouse generators, 156 wet wipes, 149 “What Has Government Done to Our Money?”

Walled Culture: How Big Content Uses Technology and the Law to Lock Down Culture and Keep Creators Poor
by Glyn Moody
Published 26 Sep 2022

The money they earn from those books and papers is often too little to live on, but is in this case ancillary to the institutional funding. The difference in the 21st century is that the Internet has democratised patronage: anyone who is online can make a donation, whether small or big. Contributors receive the benefit of the completed project, together with an acknowledgement for backing the idea. Minting a non-fungible token (NFT)751—a kind of unique digital barcode associated with other digital material, for example an image—as public recognition of support is one of the few situations where doing so makes sense. Techdirt’s Mike Masnick calls this ‘digital hipsterism’: owning one of these NFTs is ‘effectively saying “I was here first, I supported this first and I have a way to display that”.’752 That’s in contrast with most uses of NFTs, which are usually based on the fallacious idea that they confer ownership of the underlying copyright of the associated material.

Cashing Out: Win the Wealth Game by Walking Away
by Julien Saunders and Kiersten Saunders
Published 13 Jun 2022

See also expenses loneliness, overcoming, 18 low-wage workers, 76 Lyft, 131 M m1finance.com, 131 market downturns, 98–99, 173–74 marriage average length of, 75 challenges faced in, 201 and divorces, 75, 199, 201, 234 time to devote to, 35 See also couples matching by employers, 156, 176 McKinsey study on automation threat, 126 median wealth prediction for Black individuals, 3, 53–54 media portrayals of wealth, 33–34, 221 meetups, 218–19 mercari.com, 135 meritocracy, myth of, 28 middle class, 50 Middle personality type Big 3 downplayed by, 57, 59–60 blind optimism practiced by, 62–63 characteristics of, 50–52 and compound interest, 68 and Fast Spenders personality type, 50, 51, 61 and Financially Insecure personality type, 50, 51 and lifestyle inflation, 61 meaning of “freedom” for, 69 memories of financial insecurity, 51, 60–61 possessions of, 59 and struggles with retirement savings, 51, 63 taste preferences of, 61 millennials, 76, 144 millionaires FIRE movement and Black, 29 and market boom of 2020, 232 meetups of, 219–20 status as milestone, 233 mindset, 103–20 and absence of certainty, 111, 114–16 and confidence, 112–13 and courage, 108, 111, 112–14, 117–18 and financial literacy, 108–11 rules and richuals for, 118–20 and true income potential, 107 Money on the Table (video series), 12 money’s ability to work harder than you can belief in, 65 and purchasing power of wages, 172–73 and stealth wealth, 38 transitioning to, 62 value of acknowledging, 228 moral code, following, 172 mortgage and debt reduction methods, 82 paying off, 6 refinancing, 57 multilevel-marketing businesses, 170 mutual funds about, 159–60 active management of, 160, 166 educated guesses at heart of, 160 fees associated with, 163–64, 165–66 index funds compared to, 162 underperformance of, 166 See also 401(k)s; index funds N Nasdaq index, 161 National Basketball Association, 162 National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty, 77 needs, basic, 56–60 negativity, 48 nerdwallet.com, 131 net worth declining, 54 and income, 54–55 stating publicly, 220 NFTs (non-fungible tokens), 129 Notorious B.I.G., 198 O opportunities, evaluating, 129–30, 129 oppression, exposure to, 210 optimism blind, 62–63, 158 as motivator for difficult tasks, 194 options trading, 114 Orman, Suze, 155 ourrichjourney.com, 215 P parenthood and childcare costs, 30 uncertainty experienced in, 115 and work-life balance, 30 parents, supporting aging, 10, 70 passive income, 22, 65 paycheck to paycheck, living, 47, 77–78 paying yourself first, 118 PDFs, selling, 136 personality types, financial, 46–52 Fast Spenders type, 48–50, 51, 52, 61, 69 Financially Insecure type, 46–48, 50, 51, 52, 69, 233 the Middle type, 50–52 Pew Research Center, 36, 172–73 phones, faux connectedness from, 25 Playing with FIRE (documentary), 47 The Plug (Dorsey), 133 podcasts and Jannese’s success story, 124 learning about FI through, 217–18 and preferences of audiences, 145 thepointsguy.com, 131 Popcorn Finance (Browning), 218 poshmark.com, 135 positivity, pressure to sustain, 43 poverty and automation threat to employment, 126 cycle of, 47, 234 principles of cashing out, 36–41 embracing stealth wealth, 37–39 prioritizing purpose and community, 40–41 recognizing the Black tax, 39–40 “progress trap,” 64 public.com, 131 public health, negative impacts of work on, 31–32 purchasing power, impact of inflation on, 173 Purple, 91–94, 95 purpose(s) of income, 44–73 asking better questions about, 120 and Black buying power, 52–55 and breaking the consumerism cycle, 45 and financial personality types, 46–52 flexibility, 56, 60–65 freedom, 56, 56, 68–71 independence, 56, 65–68 lack of, 51–52 and retirement, 54–55 rules and richuals for, 72–73 security, 56–60, 56 and sinking funds, 119 Q quality of life, financial components of, 9 questions, asking better, 119–20 R racism, 39–40 “Raising a Family Index” (RAFI), 30 Ramsey, Dave, 155 Ray, Ola, 101–2 real estate agents, 61 real estate investing of authors, 6, 11, 87–88, 142, 143 income from, 22, 86 Kendra’s success story, 85, 86–87 1 percent rule in, 87 “Reality Check: Paycheck-to-Paycheck,” 77 reasons for cashing out freedom from burnout, 31–33 prioritizing family life, 29–30 safety from corporate change, 27–28 success on your terms, 28–29 time to do what you love, 25–26 regret/sacrifice, moments of, 100, 200–201 religious faith, 36–37 restaurants, dining in, 57 retirement difficulty saving for, 59 income’s role in preparing for, 55 lack of successful examples of, 22 and Middle personality type, 51 and pending crisis, 210 See also retirement accounts retirement accounts IRAs (individual retirement accounts), 94, 114 and matching by employers, 156, 176 maxing out, 94, 168 procrastinating on, 154–55 of self-employed, 176 See also 401(k)s; index funds rewarding yourself, 81–82 Rice, Bradley, 212 “richuals” (term), 17 ride-sharing companies, 131 risk managing feelings of, 116 and the myth of full confidence, 113–14 and uncertainty, 116 Rock, Chris, 33 role models, lack of relatable, 68 rounding-up programs at banks, 118–19 S S&P 500 index fund, 161, 163, 173, 230 sacrifice/regret, moments of, 100, 200–201 saving money/savings authors’ rate of, 11 conventional approach to, 226–27 conversations about, 193–94 and labeling people as “savers,” 191 lessons passed to children on, 226–27 low levels of, 4, 45 and Middle personality type, 50 reframing practice of, 193–94 sacrifices made for, 200–201 security as first purpose of income, 56–60, 56 self-care, 32 self-defeatist language, 15 self-doubt, overcoming, 18, 111 self-employment and retirement accounts, 176 self-reliance, 64–65 selling, 137–40 shame/shaming for buying preferences, 61 and defensiveness, 195 overcoming, 18 sharing, 213–14 Shopify, 137 short-term wants/needs, 63 sinking funds, 119 skills, cultivating marketable, 83, 87, 94, 99, 147 Skillshare, 137 slavery, legacy of, 3 snowball method to paying off debt, 80–81, 81 social issues, ability to engage with, 35 social media platforms and content creators, 141–45 FI community on, 216–17, 220–21 gurus/celebrity advisers on, 223 sharing strengths/wins on, 90 Souffrant, Jamila, 217 spending.

The Loop: How Technology Is Creating a World Without Choices and How to Fight Back
by Jacob Ward
Published 25 Jan 2022

It might be that the appetite for these AI-derived pieces of art is simply an appetite for novelty. Maybe that’s the ingredient that has made them a valuable commodity. I struggled with that notion for a while, feeling tempted to dismiss the whole thing. But then along came NFTs. NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, are pieces of code slipped inside any digital file that identify it as “unique” in the open-receipt system known as blockchain. Once an NFT has been placed inside something like a movie or audio file, that particular file—just the one—is, in theory, the only one of its kind, and in the public ledger of the blockchain, anyone can look up that particular NFT to see whether it’s registered to a particular person.

Going Infinite: The Rise and Fall of a New Tycoon
by Michael Lewis
Published 2 Oct 2023

Sam’s World controlled a great many virtual wallets, and you sort of had to know what you were looking for to find them. “They have no idea what are in these wallets,” said one former employee. “Even after five years, they will not know.” As an example, he mentioned a collection of 101 Bored Ape Yacht Club non-­fungible tokens, or NFTs, that Sam had bought at auction for $24.4 million back in September 2021. They had not been on Ray’s list of recovered assets. The former Hong Kong staff thought there was a lot like that. † One of the lawyers responsible for at least one of the resulting raids on FTX, Kyle Roche, would be fired by his firm after making a video explaining how he shook down crypto companies that had actually done nothing wrong.

On the Edge: The Art of Risking Everything
by Nate Silver
Published 12 Aug 2024

Smart contracts are the basis of DeFi, or decentralized finance—although some DeFi projects so far have turned out to be scams. They are also the basis of DAOs, or decentralized autonomous organizations—self-governing structures that are sometimes used by teams of investors to buy crypto assets together. And then there’s the most famous use case for smart contracts: the non-fungible token, or NFT. In casual language, “NFT” is often used to refer to a piece of digital art such as a CryptoPunk. (In some cases in this chapter, I’ve adopted the colloquial usage.) But it’s more precise to say that an NFT is a certificate of ownership that everyone can see on the blockchain. (The artwork itself usually isn’t stored on the blockchain, which often just contains a link to a web address containing the file, although there are some exceptions among high-end projects.)

…

Neural net: A machine learning framework consisting of interconnected nodes that mimic the structure of the human brain. These nodes or neurons process and transmit information, contributing to the network’s ability to make decisions. The accuracy of this metaphor to describe human cognition is disrupted, however. NFT: Formally, a non-fungible token, a certificate of ownership on the blockchain. Colloquially, it more often refers to a collection of digital art whose ownership is verified through NFTs. Nit: A poker player who is conspicuously risk-averse. It can also convey cheapness or neuroticism, being a stickler for the rules. The term is sometimes extended to other situations; e.g., you’re a nit if you go to bed at 9:00 p.m. instead of joining your friends at the club, or nitty if you demand an itemized accounting rather than just split the bill.

The Infinite Machine: How an Army of Crypto-Hackers Is Building the Next Internet With Ethereum
by Camila Russo
Published 13 Jul 2020

Rather than just link an image to a regular ERC20 token, the same standard that was used for ICOs, Roham and his team decided to create an entirely new Ethereum token standard, made specifically to represent individual “things,” not currencies. They would be a whole new category of coins. Roham and his team discussed what the right word for them would be and settled on “non-fungible tokens,” meaning each was unique, not interchangeable like ether, bitcoin, or ERC20 tokens sold in ICOs. Beyond collectible digital cats, the broader vision was that tokens under this new standard, called ERC721, could be linked to scarce, high-value items like artwork and luxury goods; other collectibles, like baseball cards; and items used and traded inside video games, like virtual weapons.

Trillion Dollar Triage: How Jay Powell and the Fed Battled a President and a Pandemic---And Prevented Economic Disaster
by Nick Timiraos
Published 1 Mar 2022

The price of Bitcoin, the speculative cryptocurrency, was a staggering ten times higher than just a year earlier. Home prices were booming. Investors were pouring cash into newfangled investments, including something called special-purpose acquisition companies—essentially big pools of cash listed on an exchange, prowling for private companies to buy and take public. In March 2021, an artist sold a “non-fungible token”—a unique electronic file of digital art—for $69 million at Christie’s. That same month, hedge fund Archegos Capital Management ran into trouble. Archegos had made huge, concentrated bets in the stocks of individual companies, including media properties ViacomCBS Inc. and Discovery, using lots of money borrowed from Wall Street’s biggest banks.

The Fund: Ray Dalio, Bridgewater Associates, and the Unraveling of a Wall Street Legend
by Rob Copeland
Published 7 Nov 2023

In the end, the investment never came through, and neither did a full explanation of the mysterious $1 billion. Stefanova claimed that attention from the article spooked away the investor. Apparently undeterred, she told friends she still planned to become a billionaire, apparently through cryptocurrency, per a press release she put out announcing her own line of non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, which she compared to a “virtual reality gold mine.” The announcement recast Stefanova as a longtime crypto aficionado who also happened to be CEO of Marto Capital. It quoted her saying, “Marto serves family offices and institutional investors with substantial assets.” The announcement made no mention of prior employment at Bridgewater

Like, Comment, Subscribe: Inside YouTube's Chaotic Rise to World Domination
by Mark Bergen
Published 5 Sep 2022

Venture capitalists went wild for “web3,” an internet model based on cryptocurrencies that imagined regular people owning and profiting from their online activity; this was YouTube’s creator economy taken to its next extreme. Sequoia, YouTube’s first investor, minted its 2005 YouTube investment memo as a “non-fungible token,” which a crypto enthusiast purchased for $863,000 in digital coin. There was business logic behind this rush to embrace creators. The pandemic turbocharged online entertainment and commerce. At the same time, the Web 2.0 model of targeted advertising was being dismantled by regulators; companies had a harder time marketing things online.