Ruchir Sharma’s 10 Big Trends For 2022 Economy. Among them: “Decline in birth rates accelerates. In India, even before the pandemic hit, the birth rate had fallen below the global average for the first time. Though national birth rate data is not yet available for India during the pandemic, early numbers from Mumbai indicate a fall on the order of China’s, with births per 1,000 residents dropping to 101 in 2021, down from 120 in 2020. Once seen as the epicenter of the global population explosion, India too is now seeing a baby bust. The critical point for India’s economy: countries with weak population growth cannot sustain GDP growth in the super-fast range of 8 to 9 percent. Historically, that simply hasn’t happened.”
Dan Gelernter: “Bureaucracy is a permanent decoupling of activity from morality. A bureaucrat isn’t paid to understand the rules he enforces or the forms he is required to have you fill out. There is no “why” involved in his life, and so he allows no common sense or flexibility to inform his actions. Bureaucracy is there for its own sake; it is its own justification. Bureaucrats are often called civil servants, but in reality they provide no service at all: It is you, the individual citizen, who must come to serve them, to follow their instructions, to bend the knee and do exactly what they say, as a token of submission to the powers that be. Otherwise no license, no permit, no job.’ [via CafeHayek]
WSJ: “To improve your ability to stick to a resolution, it’s important to understand the sequence of events that led to your misstep. One technique I use with clients in my therapy practice is called behavioral analysis or chain analysis. It is often used in Dialectical Behavior Therapy, an evidence-based treatment that helps people to manage emotions and reduce impulsivity. “The vast majority of people think willpower is the way to solve all their problems. That’s simply not true,” explains clinical psychologist Dr. Shireen Rizvi of Rutgers University, author of “Chain Analysis in Dialectical Behavior Therapy. “Instead, you need to assess what is getting in the way so you can address it.” To do your own analysis, begin with the slip and move backward in time, tracing the chain of events that led to it. Think of it as rewinding and replaying the tape, and be sure to watch with kindness, rather than cringing.”
