This yr, the world realized that some males simply can’t cease fascinated about the Roman Empire. Over right here at The New York Instances, we are able to’t cease fascinated about what social traits like that one inform us concerning the American economic system.

We had no scarcity of viral memes and moments to debate in 2023. Individuals flocked to Paris (and abroad normally). Millennial girls stocked up on the Stanley thermoses their dads used to make use of, one among a variety of female-powered shopper fads. Thanks partly to Barbie, Birkenstocks additionally got here again harder than a ’90s trend. Folks spoke in Taylor Swift lyrics.

Social developments like these can inform us so much concerning the economic system we’re residing in. To wrap up 2023, we ran by means of a few of the large cultural occasions and what they taught us concerning the labor market, financial progress and the outlook for 2024.

‘He’s Simply Ken’ Had Labor Market Tiebacks

“Barbie,” the film that launched a thousand suppose items, hit theaters this summer time with a telling promotional catchphrase: “She’s every little thing. He’s simply Ken.”

This, clearly, was a film concerning the labor market.

The movie pictured Barbie making an attempt to grapple with the harshness of an actual world that was not dominated by girls, and Ken looking for his footing after realizing that he lacked a transparent place in Barbie’s fictional world.

That was extra than simply social commentary. As in Barbieland, America has seen an actual divergence in outcomes for younger and middle-aged women and men lately — particularly within the labor market. Youthful girls had been working at traditionally excessive charges earlier than the pandemic, they usually bounced proper again after the 2020 downturn.

Males had been a special story. Youthful males’s employment bounced again, however they’re nonetheless working at a lot decrease charges than just a few many years in the past. Males within the 35- to 44-year-old group specifically have been working much less and fewer through the years, and have not too long ago didn’t recapture their 2019 employment peak.

In 2023 particularly, women gained 1.4 jobs for each one which men did (by means of November).

What’s behind the long-run decline in male work? Economists and sociologists level to quite a few causes: A shift away from marriage and the decline in childbearing have eroded one conventional social rationale for work. Males could also be having one thing of an on-the-job identification disaster in a contemporary economic system the place many new jobs tilt towards “pink collar” service industries like little one care and nursing.

“Ken is looking for his place on this planet,” stated Betsey Stevenson, an economist on the College of Michigan, explaining that it ties again to a world of various alternatives which have left some males trying to find a brand new footing. “We moved from an financial mannequin the place the median job is making stuff to an economic system the place the median job is taking good care of any person.”

Males are additionally less educated than immediately’s younger girls, which can go away some with much less marketable résumés. (Within the film, Ken tries to get a job on the shoreline however is advised he lacks the skills. He laments: “I can’t even seashore right here!”)

Taylor Swift and Beyoncé Confirmed America’s Willingness to Spend

It wasn’t simply the labor market that girls dominated this yr: It was a yr of female-centric consumerism. Take, as an illustration, the 2 musical occasions of the summer time. Each Beyoncé and Taylor Swift had enormous live performance excursions that spurred numerous financial exercise. Additionally they launched movies of their reveals, bringing the enjoyable (and the cash) to the field workplace.

The live performance spree itself was an instance of a broader financial development. Shoppers continued to spend strongly in 2023, particularly on services like stay music and worldwide journey. That was one thing of a shock as a result of forecasters had thought that much-higher rates of interest from the Federal Reserve had been prone to tip the economic system into recession this yr.

‘Lady Dinners’ Ranked Amongst Cheapish Meals Tendencies

One other place the place women led the best way in 2023? Culinary innovation. Younger girls posted viral TikToks about what might need, relying on one’s demographic patois, been termed a charcuterie board (millennial), a Ploughman’s (Brit) or a lunchable (Oscar Mayer). However to Technology Z, it was Lady Dinner.

This, very like the Roman Empire and males meme, was an occasion of a gender’s being utilized to a fairly broad and primary idea. Lady dinners got here in lots of sizes and styles, however they had been basically simply meals constructed from comparatively reasonably priced substances: Suppose leftover cheese chunks, boxed macaroni or rooster nuggets.

What they did clearly echo was a broader economywide development towards larger meals thriftiness. Large retailers together with Walmart and McDonald’s reported seeing a brand new group of buyers as even comfortably middle-class customers tried to save cash on groceries after years of speedy meals inflation. General worth will increase slowed markedly in 2023, however a number of years of speedy inflation have added up, leaving many costs notably greater for a lot of primary requirements.

Ozempic Apprehensive Large Meals

Client grocery traits noticed one other large and sudden change this yr. Some large meals corporations are nervous that individuals are on the cusp of shopping for much less meals due to merchandise like Ozempic and Wegovy, which rose to prominence this yr as a part of a brand new and efficient set of weight-loss medication. Whereas that was a hopeful second for a lot of who’ve struggled with weight problems and its well being results, it was one which brought about consternation and adaptation at some retailers and fast-food chains. Walmart has stated it already sees an impact on demand.

ChatGPT Raised Eyebrows in Economics

Well being care wasn’t the one sphere to see an enormous breakthrough in 2023. OpenAI’s ChatGPT chatbot rocketed to prominence this yr for producing humanlike writing, and its opponents put up their very own choices (together with one which fell in love with a Instances columnist).

Such applied sciences might have main financial implications, reshaping how we work, changing some jobs and doubtlessly boosting productivity. For now, workplace employees have used it to write down emails. College students have used it to write down papers. Your pleasant economics correspondent tried to make use of it to write down this story part, however synthetic intelligence and Instances editors have a special understanding of the time period “temporary.”

The freely accessible model of ChatGPT is working from 2022 knowledge, so it additionally declined to touch upon one other key growth from this yr.

“If ‘rizz’ refers to one thing particular, please present extra context or make clear,” the chatbot responded when requested if it possessed Oxford’s phrase of the yr, a Gen Z shorthand for “charisma.”

With slightly extra prodding, it admitted, “I don’t have private qualities.”