It’s deeply odd to me that America is a far less 24/7 hour society today than it was 10, 20, or even 30 years ago. I vividly remember friends from the UK back in 1996 marveling at the fact that in the mid-sized Indiana town where I went college it was possible to buy groceries, clothing, a lawn mower, a snow blower, Lego sets, and bow hunting gear at 3 AM on any given Tuesday of the year. That was peak American Empire, and it’s long gone.
That is from Christopher Kratovil. What are some hypotheses here? I see a few:
1. America is older. True, but this is hardly the main explanation for anything.
2. Due to increasing leisure time, fewer people want to work weird and long hours? Tighter labor markets and the Great Moderation contributed to this.
3. It is stores that are in decline. 24/7 activity has moved into the warehouse, the fulfillment center, the server farm, the delivery network, and the home.
3b. When you can do Doordash at 10:30 p.m., you do not need to go out for snacks at 3 a.m.
4. Shoplifting has become more common? If the drug stores have to lock up their wares in NYC, why should stores try to be open at 3 a.m., when presumably shoplifting risk is higher and the quantity of monitoring labor is lower?
5. Online entertainment is much better, so why go out late at night?
6. More work from home means people are not returning from their jobs at late hours and then wanting to buy things.
I would put most of my money on #3 and #5 — what do you think?
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