Economist: “Indonesia is poised for a boom—politics permitting…[It] has much to recommend it to foreign investors. It is young: 26% of the population is under 15, in stark contrast to ageing East Asia. It has also maintained a careful diplomatic neutrality for decades, making it a plausible destination for both Chinese and Western investment—one area in which its otherwise frustrating international anonymity provides an advantage. It is the world’s fourth-largest country by population, with 276m people, and so a gigantic market. And although it is only the world’s seventh-largest economy after accounting for the cost of living, and 16th at market exchange rates, it is steadily climbing up the rankings.”
Simone Stolzoff: “A map might give you directions from A to B, but a compass will help you find true north wherever you are. Often when we seek out career advice, we look for maps: follow the morning routine of this highly successful person. Reverse-engineer your way to the C-Suite, one LinkedIn cyberstalk at a time. Even the metaphors we use with regard to careers—ladders, stepping stones, paths—assume a linearity that is rarely consistent with lived experience. Our career maps may be distorted by other people’s preferences and our own outdated ideas of what we thought we wanted…Instead of planning a route from the get-go, we benefit from first taking a step back to determine what matters, irrespective of any particular job or direction.”
Michael Munger: “The price mechanism, if it is allowed to operate in situations of scarcity, allows other consumers to “bid” against the person who is thinking of hoarding. If prices are allowed to rise and carry out their proper function, then the current purchaser is really buying from potential future purchasers…[We need to] recognize that other consumers, not the seller, are responsible for the prices charged. Attempts to “manage” or “plan” prices do nothing to address the real problem of scarcity, and often make scarcity worse. Price controls are a restriction on the ability of other consumers to have their needs met, and that’s just wrong.”
Marian Tipy: “Every new human being comes to the world not only with an empty stomach, but also a pair of hands, and, more importantly, a brain capable of intelligent thought and new knowledge creation. In the process of economic development, human beings cause environmental damage, but the new wealth and knowledge that we create also allow us to become better stewards of the planet. That is why all environmental ranking tables are dominated by developed nations. Doomsayers concerned about population growth are right to note that the world is constituted of a finite number of atoms – be they of copper or of zinc. But the finitude of atoms (i.e., resources) is largely irrelevant to human well‐being. What matters is our ability to create new knowledge that combines and recombines those atoms in ever more valuable ways.”
McKinsey speaks to the authors of “Deliberate Calm”: “Jacqui Brassey: Deliberate calm is a set of skills that helps leaders make the best decisions in the moment, even when it’s tough. Aaron De Smet: We’re constantly faced with new levels of uncertainty, volatility. Change is now the norm. I grew up in a world where the way we think about how to handle a crisis is outdated. This book helps leaders understand how to change their relationship with change, how to change their relationship with uncertainty, and not to shy away from it. But it also provides a better tool kit for dealing with uncertainty on an ongoing basis.”
