The Ensh*ttification of Everything

The gist

1. Manson describes Doctorow's three-stage lock-in playbook: platforms dazzle users, then squeeze them for advertisers, then squeeze everyone once switching costs trap them.
2. Manson says private equity rolls up vets, nursing homes and funeral homes where people can't shop around, citing research that nursing home deaths rose roughly 10%.
3. Using economist William Baumol's string quartet example, Manson says machine-made goods keep getting cheaper while anything needing human attention keeps getting more expensive.
4. Drawing on writer Johan Kurtz, Manson argues lost social capital like neighbors and good schools must now be bought back, which counts as economic growth.
5. Manson concludes both views are true: the macro picture improved enormously, but people feel the micro, so daily life can feel like drowning.