What Working-Class Men Can Learn From ‘Barbie': Betsey Stevenson

Economists spend a lot of time talking about jobs. Work is not only how people support themselves financially, it can also be the way in which they contribute to society, create unique identities and find meaning in the world. When work disappears or shifts, people can feel as unmoored and confused as Ken in Greta Gerwig’s Barbie, who had one last moment in the spotlight at last night’s Academy Awards, when Ryan Gosling performed the Oscar-nominated song “I’m Just Ken.”

Gosling lost — to his fellow Barbie nominee Billie Eilish — just as Ken is emotionally lost in Barbieland. ...