Economist on how to run better meetings: “There is a form of meeting that reliably results in good decisions and that commands general respect, even reverence. That meeting is the jury. Any system in which people still believe after more than 800 years is worth a closer look. In its broad principles, if not in its details, it has five lessons for meeting-throwers and meeting-goers.”
NYTimes on Markus Brunnermeier: ““His message: Like the reed, we must bend, not break. I argue that resilience can serve as the guiding North Star for designing a post-Covid-19 society,” he asserts. Risk is not to be avoided, Brunnermeier argues. It’s only by taking risks that society achieves breakthroughs. And a society that doesn’t take risks becomes fragile. “Perhaps paradoxically,” he writes, “enduring a small crisis from time to time can be preferable to avoiding them at any cost. A crisis is an opportunity to make needed adjustments.””
Atanu Dey: “The wealth gap between the masters and the slaves is one way of estimating the degree of slavery. The greater the wealth and income disparity between masters and slaves, the greater is the degree of slavery. Indian masters (politicians and bureaucrats) have roughly 1000 times the income of the Indian slaves. The top politicians count their wealth in billions of dollars; the average politician is worth perhaps a few million dollars; the average Indian’s wealth is a few hundred dollars. In the Western European countries, the wealth and income disparity is significantly lower than in the Third World countries — most of which are socialist. Socialism is a good proxy for slavery. Let’s not forget that The Great Leader Mrs Indira Gandhi, Bharat Ratna, declared India to be a socialist country.”
