Economist on the era of the bossy state: “A new and turbulent phase is under way, as citizens demand action on problems, from social justice to the climate. In response, governments are directing firms to make society safer and fairer, but without controlling their shares or their boards. Instead of being the owner or umpire, the state has become the backseat driver. This bossy business interventionism is well-intentioned. But, ultimately, it is a mistake…Few politicians fancy fighting an election on a platform of open borders and free markets…This newspaper believes that the state should intervene to make markets work better, through, for example, carbon taxes to shift capital towards climate-friendly technologies; R&D to fund science that firms will not; and a benefits system that protects workers and the poor. But the new style of bossy government goes far beyond this. Its adherents hope for prosperity, fairness and security. They are more likely to end up with inefficiency, vested interests and insularity.”
Nandan Nilekani speaking about his new book on Bitfulness: “The key discovery we made was that we have three modes of operation in our digital lives: the create mode, the curate mode and the communicate mode. And those require three different mindsets. Mine has been a hardware approach. All my “create mode” work is done on my laptop, so that I know that when I am at my laptop, it’s when I am doing deep thinking work. The only communication I do is through calls and SMS messages—I don’t use any other products—which is on my phone. And for curate mode, I have my iPad, where I read and save things to read. So I have done it by physically having separate devices, and my mind automatically switches modes when I am on a particular device.”
Tyler Cowen on good long-term investments in our health. “Don’t drink, exercise every day, get good sleep, don’t eat junk food, be happy, take a minimum of medications.”
