Tyler Cowen on “Best Things First”: “The author is Bjorn Lomborg, and the subtitle is “The 12 most efficient solutions for the world’s poorest and our global SDG promises”. Here is what Lomborg presents as the twelve best global investments, in no particular order: Tuberculosis, Maternal and newborn health, Malaria, Nutrition, Chronic diseases, Childhood immunization, Education, Agricultural R&D, e-procurement, Land tenure security, Trade, Skilled migration.”
David Friedman: “One of the things you learn in economics, and life, is the principle of revealed preference: Believe what people do, not what they say.” More: “One effect of being brought up as I have described is to make you less willing to be persuaded by bad arguments, even when offered by high status people. Another is to make you more willing to be persuaded by good arguments, even ones nobody else is making.”
Indrajit Gupta: “The physical store has a new role: Not just showcase what is available, perhaps help the customer to try it out — but also offer the added benefit of closing the sale, in case the customer is open to having it delivered from their nearest store or warehouse. It isn’t without reason that blended commerce is emerging as the holy grail of retail. Especially since covering a country as large and diverse as India has its challenges. The opportunity in Tier-II towns and beyond is starting to open up. Major retailers are scrambling to open physical stores, but that invariably takes time. Instead, a thoughtfully crafted combination of e-commerce and physical stores could help bridge the gap.”
Mint: “One of the most critical yet often overlooked parts of the reform process is determining what should be the ideal ‘unit of change’ of the proposed transformation. What do we mean by this? A ‘unit of change’ is a component of a system that’s the focal point for transformation efforts. It could be a geography, a function, a process, an institution, a policy or any other distinctly identifiable element that, when modified, is capable of catalysing broad systemic improvements. By way of example, consider reform efforts in education. One approach could be to target the ‘school’ as the ‘unit of change.’ When this is the case, the reform agenda could include developing new curricula, different pedagogy or making changes in the administrative processes of the school. On the other hand, if the ‘unit of change’ is the child, reform efforts would focus on improving learning and development outcomes. Identifying the correct unit of change is crucial for the success of a given reform, as it sets the stage for the depth, scale and scope of transformation.”
Economist: “Might it be better to design specialist AI chips from scratch? That is what many companies, small and large, are now doing in a bid to topple Nvidia. Dedicated AI chips promise to make building and running AI models faster, cheaper or both. Any firm that can mount a credible threat to the reigning champion will have no shortage of customers, who dislike its lofty prices and limited supplies.”
