For years, I’ve referenced the book The Privatization of Everything as a seminal work in my understanding of the relationship between government and the private sector. I was so blown away after reading it in 2022 that I posted an embarrassing revelation I want to reshare here: “[This book] made me realize I've been parroting a really, really backward sentiment for years: ‘Well, that was working fine, uNtIL tHe GoVeRnMeNt GoT iNvOlvEd!’”

But given the recent DOGE of it all, it seemed like a great time to revisit this book vis-à-vis a conversation with one of its authors, Donald Cohen, about the role privatization plays in government waste. Because who stands to gain from the transformation of public funds into private wealth? Hint: not the public.

It’s a conversation that feels viscerally relevant as I gear up to pay my tax bill as a high-income business owner—something like $200,000 in federal income taxes!—and it hits me that the payment is currently more likely to end up lining the pockets of men like Elon Musk via things like electric vehicle tax credits than funding jobs for FAA staff, park rangers, or USAID workers.

🎙 Listen to this thought-provoking conversation with Donald Cohen on The Money with Katie Show.

New stressor unlocked: practicing my signature for signed copies of Rich Girl Nation. Do I go full-on legal signature? Just initials? My wrist is already cramping, but I’m excited Barnes & Noble decided to offer signed books. Thomas started reading one of the advance reader copies the other night and I felt so exposed. Such a weird experience.

One of my all-time favorite experiences as President of Money with Katie Land is receiving email follow-ups from people I met years ago when I first began writing about personal finance online. The other day, I got one with the subject line, “I did it! I’m a millionaire!” and damn, whether it’s a few years of bull market price gains, financial literacy, or some combination of the two, it never gets old. This piece from Nick Maggiulli about whether a million dollars is “a lot of money” engages with an age-old FI/RE debate: When the obsession with millionaires became an American cultural touchpoint in the late 1990s, a million dollars was worth more than it is today. But Nick took his conclusion somewhere uncharacteristically optimistic for this topic, pointing out that technological progress means the things a million dollars can buy today are exponentially better than what it could have purchased 30 years ago.

Holy sh*t. If you filter the unemployment data to include people who make poverty wages (roughly $25,000 or less), the American unemployment rate isn’t ~4%—it’s actually closer to 24%. In other words, nearly one in four workers is functionally unemployed in America today. This is also crazy: “Our alternative indicator reveals that, since 2001, the cost of living for Americans with modest incomes has risen 35 percent faster than the CPI. Put another way: The resources required simply to maintain the same working-class lifestyle over the last two decades have risen much more dramatically than we’ve been led to believe.” In short: It’s important to represent people’s economic realities realistically—not so we can have red vs. blue fights, but so policymakers understand what people are actually up against.

Kyla Scanlon really put the team on her back with this essay about Gen Z’s economic prospects. Her thesis is that widespread distrust in our crumbling institutions, combined with the technological shakeup introduced by artificial intelligence, is creating a swamp of nihilism and uncertainty about the future. This morass affects how young people think about risk, reward, and work. “When a main path to financial security comes through the algorithmic gods rather than institutional advancement (like when a single viral TikTok can generate more income than a year of professional work), it fundamentally changes how people view everything from education to social structures to political systems that they’re part of.” It reminded me of a conversation I had with my mom over the weekend: All of my millennial and/or Gen Z friends who are truly thriving financially have “digital creator” careers and incomes, not traditional ones. That’s a little scary, no?

‍ Speaking of traditional career instability, I don’t think it’s normal to care so much about a former employer, but the recent news about layoffs at Southwest Airlines—a 15% reduction in the corporate workforce—felt like a personal loss. Until now, Southwest had never furloughed an employee in its 53-year history (unheard of in the airline industry). The company culture reflected the good-faith loyalty of its “employees first, customers second, shareholders third” ethos. It was a big corporation, sure, but it genuinely felt like one of the good ones. Last year, “activist investors” at Elliott Investment Management (calling hedge fund raiders “activists” is a euphemism akin to calling terrorists “freedom fighters”) conducted something of a hostile takeover by buying up enough shares in the company that they could eventually force changes that put profitability and shareholder value first. You know how this story ends.

If you know of a job opening that was made for #RichGirlNation, submit it for consideration here.

• 🪒 Program Manager, Retail & Packaging — MANSCAPED®: Up to $110k, remote (4+ years’ experience). Email us to be connected with Rich Girl Kathryn for a referral!
• Marketing Manager — Mithun: Up to $110k plus bonus, based in Seattle, WA (5+ years’ experience). Email us to connect with Rich Girl Annie for a referral!
• Senior Director, Creative Campaigns — AG1: Up to $210k plus bonus, potential stock options, and unlimited PTO, remote (10+ years’ experience)
• Data Fulfillment Analyst — NBA: Up to $115k, hybrid in NYC (2+ years’ experience)
• Finance and Operations Coordinator — Hello Sunshine: Up to $75k, hybrid in LA (3+ years’ experience)