No one notices the creaky software systems that run the world—until they fail

FIX THE DAMN UNEMPLOYMENT SYSTEM!” • This past spring, tens of millions of Americans lost their jobs due to lockdowns aimed at slowing the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. And untold numbers of the newly jobless waited weeks for their unemployment benefit claims to be processed, while others anxiously watched their bank accounts for an extra US $600 weekly payment from the federal government.