Frank Knight: “I mistrust reformers. When a man or group asks for “power to do good,” my impulse is to say, “Oh, yeah, who ever wanted power for any other reason, and what have they done when they got it?” So, I instinctively want to cancel the last three words, leaving simply, “I want power”; that is easy to believe. And a further confession: I am reluctant to believe in doing good with power anyhow.” [via CafeHayek]
Jared Rubin explains how the world became rich (starting two centuries ago): “The simplest answer is that economic growth occurred only after the rate of technological innovation became highly sustained. Without sustained technological innovation, any one-off economic improvement will not lead to sustained growth. Incomes will rise in the short run, but over time people will have more babies and those babies will eat up all the economic surplus…Sustained innovation also requires cultural values that support innovation and encourage understanding of how the world works. Societies in which work is looked down upon are unlikely to experience sustained innovation.”
Nathan Goodman: “20 Books to Read in Your 20s“. Atanu Dey offers his list.
