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Quiet Quit Quit is a dip in the economic ocean compared to rising interest rates and rising inflation.

Key Point

• Former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers says quiet smokers are the cause of declining productivity in the United States.
• Quiet smoking cessation may be trending on social media, but it’s not as important a move as it seems.
• The popularity of quiet smoking cessation is more likely the result of economic problems than the cause.

The concept of “Quiet Quit” has been trending on social media this year. The idea is to act your wages and work only the hours you are paid. It challenges expectations that workers should or should always go above and beyond, and has garnered its fair share of praise and criticism.

One critic is economist and former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers. cause? Summers believes that quiet quitters caused the decline in productivity. Nonfarm productivity fell 4.1% in the second quarter of 2022, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

In response to a New York Times article on inflation, Summers said, “Given the disastrous productivity gains that are probably due to quiet smoking cessation, we’re going to keep inflation at nearly 2% for months.” will require a significant reduction in wage inflation,” he tweeted.

Here are three reasons why Larry Summers is wrong.

1. It’s not about quitting quietly that big move

Quiet smoking cessation has received considerable attention in both mainstream and social media. It was a catchy term and tapped into some very real feelings of withdrawal and post-pandemic burnout.

According to a recent Gallup poll on employee engagement, the number of actively engaged employees has been declining since peaking in 2020. Similarly, the engagement decline he bottomed out in 2019 and is now on the rise. But that doesn’t necessarily reflect a big move towards shorter working hours. During the pandemic, many people threw themselves into their jobs. So it’s more realistic to see this as a return to pre-pandemic levels.

Plus, as economists told Fortune, productivity is a jargon and doesn’t necessarily mean how hard people work. Productivity may be down as the restaurant industry recovers and starts hiring again. Economists classify restaurant jobs as less productive jobs, and this will affect the numbers.

2. Quitting quietly isn’t as easy as it sounds

Honestly, part of the anger at the idea of ​​quietly quitting is due to generational bias: Gen Z and millennials, for some reason, don’t want to take the time. it’s just not fair. First of all, quitting quietly is nothing new. Now it just has a different name. Nor is it unreasonable or lazy for workers to want to be paid for the hours they work.

More importantly, the tendency to quit quietly reflects some serious problems in the workplace, especially for younger generations. I found out that More than 1 out of 4 she says the salary does not give a good quality of life. Workers are burning out, and rising costs and another potential recessionary pressure are weighing on savings accounts.

3. There are bigger factors involved

Many top economists now warn that a recession in 2023 is very likely. It’s not certain, but many indicators point in that direction. Inflation and the Federal Reserve’s move to fight it both play a big role. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has had a major impact on the world economy as well.

Prices are rising faster than people’s wages. The job market remains relatively strong, but the rising cost of living is beginning to affect the economy. Additionally, the Federal Reserve continues to aggressively raise interest rates to keep inflation in check.This could make borrowing more expensive and trigger a US recession

Finally, we are coming out of a global pandemic. This unprecedented situation is one reason economists disagree about what happens next and how best to deal with it. One thing is certain. The few people who choose to work only the hours they are paid are unlikely to make much of a difference in the way the wheels of these major economies spin.

Conclusion

With so much stress and anxiety about the future, many Americans simply don’t have enough money in their bank accounts to deal with more problems. It reflects the height of pleasure. But those individuals are not responsible for the recession. Quite the opposite. In fact, it’s more accurate to say that quiet smoking cessation is the result of the recession, not the cause.