Netflix’s middle finger — Side-hustle scams — Warehouse Nation

Hi, I'm Matt Turner, the editor in chief of business at Insider. Welcome back to Insider Weekly, a roundup of some of our top stories. 

On the agenda today:

• After smashing earnings expectations, Netflix is giving critics the middle finger. 
• TikTok influencers are luring followers with deceptive promises of side-hustle riches.
• The US economy is running on a post-COVID sugar high — and it's about to run out.
• Meet the winners and losers of Goldman Sachs' latest restructuring. 

But first: This week, Insider launched an ambitious new package, Warehouse Nation, which investigates how the warehousing boom has shaped the US. Deputy editor Jake Swearingen is here to take us inside the project.

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How the warehousing boom shaped America as we know it

As the US emerged from the Great Recession, cheap real estate and the rise of e-commerce collided to create a warehousing boom, deputy editor Jake Swearingen writes.

Since 2011, over 2.3 billion square feet of new warehouse space have come to market — that's 82.5 square miles, enough room to comfortably fit nearly four Manhattans.

That brings us to Warehouse Nation, a feature project that takes a deep dive into how the rise of warehouses and warehouse work has changed the US and its citizens.

Here's what the project includes:

• A look at how warehouses and employers like Amazon bring new jobs and higher wages for some blue-collar workers, but they can be hard on cities — and on the human body.
• Three features about the opportunities and hidden costs of the rise of warehouse work.  
• Seven stories about how the warehouse boom has reshaped America.

We spent the past seven months quizzing analysts and industry experts, scraping data, poring over maps, and talking to dozens of people on the ground to learn how the warehouse industry is reshaping American life in ways invisible to many online shoppers.

Take a look at the full project here. 

Netflix takes a victory lap

As the company reported strong third-quarter earnings, a new, more emboldened Netflix emerged — and the streamer is now taking a victory lap.

The company took jabs at competitors' spending and content in its letter to investors, and threw shade at "House of the Dragon" and "The Rings of Power," pointing out that "Dahmer" surpassed both on Google Trends and using the show's success to defend its binge-watch model.

Read the full analysis here.

'Making $10K a month is not that hard'

Across TikTok and YouTube, financial influencers are telling followers they can make hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars in passive income each week from side hustles like property rentals, day-trading, or dropshipping.

But as they flaunt their own glamorous, passive-income-funded lifestyles, they fail to give viewers a full picture of the risks involved in the business, spreading dubious financial advice to millions of people. 

Inside the rise of side-hustle hucksters.

2023 is going to feel miserable

The US economy's post-pandemic party is over, so get ready to endure the mother of all hangovers. The economy rocketed back thanks to COVID-19 stimulus and a slew of emergency lending programs — but all that has come to an end. 

American households are now feeling the pressure of high inflation, slowing wage growth, and dwindling savings — and they aren't likely to get any more aid in a 2023 downturn.

Here's why the pain will only worsen. 

The winners and losers of Goldman's reorg

Goldman Sachs is going through at least the third restructuring during David Solomon's four years as CEO — and critics within the firm believe the restructuring may be his attempt to quell an uprising from within.

We outlined the winners and losers in Solomon's latest reorg, and what that might mean for the bank's future performance. 

See who's up and who's down in the reshuffling. 

This week's quote:

"People thought I was crazy. They told me I would be scrambling to go back."
— Cody Berman, a 26-year-old who quit his corporate job and turned his side hustle into a seven-figure venture.

More of this week's top reads:

• How many more warning signs does Mark Zuckerberg need to see before he pulls the plug on his metaverse?
• Elon Musk has a new archenemy: the Federal Reserve.
• The stock market crash is exposing Wall Street's biggest charlatans.
• Amazon, Meta, and other big tech firms have entered the "Great Hesitation."
• He went from writing on "The Office" to selling shirts at Macy's — and said his race made finding another TV job shockingly hard.
• We listed 16 biotech VCs who are reshaping the industry's future. Meet them here. 
• Putin called an additional 300,000 men into the military. It's taking a toll on the Russian economy.
• Baristas in San Francisco went on strike. Their robot coworkers went right on serving.

Plus: Keep updated with the latest business news throughout your weekdays by checking out The Refresh from Insider, a dynamic audio news brief from the Insider newsroom. Listen here tomorrow.

Curated by Matt Turner. Edited by Jordan Parker Erb, Hallam Bullock, and Lisa Ryan. Sign up for more Insider newsletters here.