No doubt many of you have heard of "quiet quitting," an expression making the rounds of social media these days. Regardless of whether you have or have not, read carefully the related recently published Planet Money article accessible by clicking on the following link. You'll be surprised, perhaps, to find mention of an economics concept we discussed at the end our Week 5 class: In competitive labor markets, workers are paid (the value of ) their marginal products.

https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2022/09/13/1122059402/the-economics-behind-quiet-quitting-and-what-we-should-call-it-instead

In your first paragraph, of the reasons the author suggests to explain "quiet quitting," which do you find most convincing and why? If you have another explanation you think is a better fit, you're welcome to replace one of the three with your own. Whichever you choose, you'll want to include an example or two from your own experiences.

In your second paragraph, explain why you think "quiet quitting" appears to be more noticeable among younger workers. Might this idea apply to choices students make as well? Or is this totally unrelated?

Finally, in your third paragraph, the article refers to the traditional economic theory of wages we reviewed in class that workers in competitive labor markets are paid (the value of) their marginal products. Which means that firms hire workers up to the point where the market-determined wage equals the marginal product of labor times the price of the good sold, i.e., workers are paid for the value they contribute to the firm on the margin. Might the principal-agent problem, mentioned in the article as well, muddy the neat and tidy theoretical waters somewhat? (As we mentioned in class, this would effectively shift the marginal product * price of output curve down so that the value of the marginal product for any given amount of labor hours decreases.) Take a look at a dated, but prescient, review of this problem, found in the short "Jargon Alert" reading below, published by the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond.

https://www.richmondfed.org/-/media/richmondfedorg/publications/research/econ_focus/2008/fall/pdf/jargon_alert.pdf

Explain why "quiet quitting" is essentially a "principal-agent" problem. What solutions have you encountered in your professional lives that address this issue? Which, if any, have you found to be most effective?