Edward Conard

Top Ten New York Times Bestselling Author

  • “…a very valuable contribution.” - Larry Summers, former Secretary of the Treasury and director of the National Economic Council, president emeritus, Harvard University
  • “…a very valuable contribution.” - Larry Summers, former Secretary of the Treasury and director of the National Economic Council, president emeritus, Harvard University
  • “Unintended Consequences is far smarter and more thought-provoking than most economics written for the general public” - Greg Mankiw, Harvard University, Former Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisors
  • “…a fresh argument for the productive value of inequality.” - David Autor, Professor of Economics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  • “…a comprehensive explanation of the modern economy.” - Julian Robertson, Founder, Tiger Management
  • “…serious thinking for serious thinkers. …a thought-provoking blueprint for growing middle- and working-class incomes.” - Mitt Romney, former Governor of Massachusetts
  • “…a comprehensive explanation of the modern economy.” - Julian Robertson, Founder, Tiger Management
  • “…a fresh argument for the productive value of inequality.” - David Autor, Professor of Economics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  • “…challenges misconceptions that distort our economic debates.” - Arthur Brooks, President of the American Enterprise Institute
  • “A full-throated defense of economic dynamism.” - The Wall Street Journal
  • “…reminds us that inequality sends a signal of what society lacks most, in America’s case, entrepreneurship and risk taking.” - Lawrence Lindsey, CEO, The Lindsey Group, former Director of the National Economic Council
  • “…serious thinking for serious thinkers. …a thought-provoking blueprint for growing middle- and working-class incomes.” - Mitt Romney, former Governor of Massachusetts
Upside of Inequality Oxford Unintended Consequences

AI Summary. Survey data show adults in their twenties and thirties increasingly report being easily distracted, careless, less tenacious, and less likely to make and keep commitments, a decline in conscientiousness. The same data show rising neuroticism and lower sociability, with young adults — long the most extroverted group — now reporting the most introversion.

John Burn-Murdoch Financial Times
Date Posted:
Is Database:
Database

Btw 2014 and 2024, there was a “sustained erosion of conscientiousness” in young Americans (ages 16–39); they report “feeling increasingly easily distracted and careless, less tenacious and less likely to make and deliver on commitments.”

Are young adults becoming less conscientious, more anxious, and more introverted?

Core argument: People in their twenties and thirties report being increasingly easily distracted and careless, less tenacious, and less likely to make and deliver on commitments, according to the Understanding America Survey.

Digging deeper into the data, which comes from the Understanding America Survey, we can see that people in their twenties and thirties in particular report feeling increasingly easily distracted and careless, less tenacious and less likely to make and deliver on commitments. Collapsing conscientiousness is not the only personality shift visible in the data. Neuroticism — a function of the much-discussed increase in anxiety — has risen almost as much. Young adults also report feeling less amiable and outgoing. There’s a particularly steep drop shown in the latter during the pandemic, when young people bore the brunt of restrictions on contact in order to protect others from harm. In fact, long the most extroverted group in society, young adults are now the most introverted.

Takeaways by Macro Roundup® AI

  1. People in their twenties and thirties report being increasingly easily distracted and careless, less tenacious, and less likely to make and deliver on commitments, according to the Understanding America Survey.
  2. Neuroticism, a function of the increase in anxiety, has risen almost as much as conscientiousness has fallen in the Understanding America Survey data.
  3. Young adults, long the most extroverted group in society, now report being the most introverted, with a particularly steep drop during the pandemic, when they bore the brunt of restrictions on contact.

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