③ Bullets
one chart📊 + one podcast 🎧 + one song 🎵
🎧 Podcast: Scott Kupor's New Plan to Bring Tech Workers Into the Federal Government | Odd Lots | High-skilled tech workers can earn far more in startups or major AI companies than in government. Scott Kupor, director of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, is trying to bring tech-style recruiting into federal hiring. The discussion covers how federal hiring works, his new US Tech Force program offering two-year problem-solving stints, and recruiting talent while the administration is reducing the overall federal workforce.
🎵 Music: “Heroes” | David Bowie | “Heroes” by David Bowie, released in 1977, was written about his experience in Berlin during the Cold War. It reflects the feeling of living in a divided and tense place and focuses on the idea that even small or short moments of courage matter. Bowie repeats the idea of being heroes “just for one day” to show that lasting victory isn’t required for something to be meaningful. The music slowly grows louder and more intense, which matches the message of pushing forward despite fear.
📰 Article: Sensitivity of the Distribution of Household Income to the Treatment of Health Insurance From 1979 to 2021 | Congressional Budget Office | Don’t let this report’s exciting title fool you — this one is a banger. It details how much health insurance contributions make up income growth for lowest income people in the last 40 years. In other words, while income growth on paper is high since 1979, nearly 40% of that growth simply came from health insurance contributions (which the government counts as income).
