Joel Kotkin is always............

 

............worth the time investment it takes to read his stuff.  For instance, this substack on the Rise of the Artisan Economy:

Yet viewed in a wider lens, this artisanal economy fits well with a rebellion directed against capitalism that produces the machine-driven sameness that could be amplified by the rise of Artificial Intelligence. Even as the current economy creates unprecedented wealth, it has not created an economy which retains a more human character. The urban historian Lewis Mumford noted that our present order combines “paleotechnic purposes with neotechnic means,” an economy that produces wealth, but not much in the way of artistry or human satisfaction.