FT: “Zero-sum beliefs on the left (eg people only get rich by making others poor) and the right (eg immigrants succeed at the expense of the native-born) are related expressions of the same underlying worldview. Namely that there is only so much to go around and we must therefore use restrictions, exactions and preferential treatment to redress the balance between winners and losers.”
Rob Henderson: “The truth is that as a full time writer in the current media environment, the only reliable way to make a living is to become a kind of mini-celebrity. …If they do not do it, they will be overtaken by bots…When content is infinite, only a human personality can cut through all this noise. A writer today needs a constantly updated stream of content that keeps readers aware of who he is. But that stream can’t be a long list of ads for whatever you’re working on. The only way forward is to make things that are interesting for reasons that have nothing to do with making money. You earn attention by being useful or entertaining. Only then can you mention your work.” [via Arnold Kling]
Immad Akhund: “One of the most important things in life, and entrepreneurship especially, is not to try to copy someone else. I think you should try to immerse yourself in a river of ideas. Your ideas will be shaped by other people’s ideas, but it’s not about copying them.”
Andy Mukherjee: “An unambitious elite spoiled by finance — plus a working class held back by inadequate education and inequities of caste and gender — are stymying the emergence of a global middle class in India. The social change that can fill the gap is nowhere on the horizon.”
FT: “Our modern age is no longer just being shaped by the three P’s of populism, protectionism and extreme patriotism (aka nationalism) — there’s another P, namely prediction mania, as well…Financial gamification has upended traditional patterns of trust and oversight.”
