The Specification Economy: Why AI Is Reshaping Every Knowledge Job

The Specification Economy Is Arriving Now The specification economy is no longer theoretical. It is forming inside every knowledge work function as AI collapses the cost of production. For decades, the equation was simple: the person who could produce the artifact held the leverage. The engineer who wrote the code. The analyst who built the…

ByJason HauerFebruary 16, 20260Comments

Business

The Agency Problem: It’s Yours to Figure Out. Or it Isn’t.

Brian Tracy taught me internal locus of control in my twenties. His frame was simple: draw a circle and put everything in your life either inside it (you control it) or outside it (you don’t). High performers put everything inside. Not because they’re delusional about obstacles, but because they treat every obstacle as a skill…

ByJason HauerFebruary 13, 20260Comments

A quiet city road under a dark bridge illustrating civic drift and institutional stagnation

Community Politics

Cities Don’t Fail Overnight, They Drift

Cities don’t usually fail in a single dramatic moment. They don’t wake up one day broken, unsafe, or unrecognizable. Instead, they drift—slowly, quietly, and often unnoticed by the people who care about them most. This kind of civic drift happens when small compromises go unexamined. Temporary workarounds become permanent habits. Complexity replaces clarity. And no…