Lying Flat, Covid and Bitcoin topped our most-read stories of the year

‘Lie Flat’ If You Want, But Be Ready to Pay the Price — Allison Schrager The “lie flat” social protest movement that started among overworke [Bloomberg]( Follow Us [Get the newsletter]( [‘Lie Flat’ If You Want, But Be Ready to Pay the Price]([Â](bbg://news/stories/R4TW8DT1UM0X)— Allison Schrager The “lie flat” social protest movement that started among overworked [Chinese factory workers]( caught fire across the globe this year.  Never ones to miss a chance to cry “hardship,” upper-middle-class, well-educated young Americans [piled in](, claiming they, too, are burned out and quitting their jobs to do nothing. What this trend will mean for China is unclear, but Americans who chose to lay down in lieu of work may end up worse off than they think. The labor market in 2021 behaved strangely. [Quit rates were at their highest level]( in more than 20 years. Normally that would be welcome news because Americans have been changing jobs less frequently over the years, which was [contributing to wage stagnation](. But the high quit rates could signal a less dynamic economy this time. Unemployment is high and many jobs are unfilled. Not all are lying flat. Some labor [economists speculate]( that many out-of-work Americans are taking the time to learn new skills that will launch a better career with higher pay and upward mobility. There are also many anecdotal stories of [Americans of all income and skill levels]( taking time to rethink their relationship to work. Those people may come out of this labor market in a better place, but the ones who opted out longer term was one of the more worrying trends of 2021. Read the [whole thing](. [When Will Covid End? We Must Start Planning For a Permanent Pandemic](— Andreas Kluth [If Covid Did Escape From a Wuhan Lab, Brace Yourself]( — Stephen L. Carter [Can the 14th Amendment Stop Trump From Running for President Again?](— Noah Feldman [Pfizer, Moderna mRNA Vaccines Could Vanquish Covid Today, Cancer Tomorrow]( — Andreas Kluth [OK, Boomer. Lying Flat Has Been a Long Time Coming for MillennialsÂ](— Erin Lowry [Why the Bitcoin Crash Was a Big Win for Cryptocurrencies]( — Jim Bianco [Warren Buffet and Berkshire Hathaway Call It Right on EV Batteries](— Anjani Trivedi [Elon Musk Controls Bitcoin and Dogecoin Prices With Pure MagicÂ](— Matt Levine [Urban Design: Why Can't We Build Nice Neighborhoods Anymore?](— Tyler Cowen This is the Weekend Edition of Bloomberg Opinion Today, a roundup of the most popular stories Bloomberg Opinion published this year based on web readership. New subscribers to the newsletter can [sign up here](. Like Bloomberg Opinion Today? [Subscribe to Bloomberg All Access and get much, much more](. You’ll receive our unmatched global news coverage and two in-depth daily newsletters, The Bloomberg Open and The Bloomberg Close. Before it’s here, it’s on the Bloomberg Terminal. Find out more about how the Terminal delivers information and analysis that financial professionals can’t find anywhere else. [Learn more](. You received this message because you are subscribed to Bloomberg's Bloomberg Opinion Today newsletter. [Unsubscribe]( | [Bloomberg.com]( | [Contact Us]( [Ads Powered By Liveintent]( | [Ad Choices]( Bloomberg L.P. 731 Lexington, New York, NY, 10022