Rational Irrationality

Great article in the New Yorker about the phenomenon of financial bubbles:

Rational Irrationality

Is Happiness Catching?

A fascinating article about the impact that our real life social networks (not our online ones, although their impact would be interesting to understand as well!) have on our health, happiness, habits, and life in general.

"The subconscious nature of emotional mirroring might explain one of the more curious findings in their research: If you want to be happy, what’s most important is to have lots of friends. Historically, we have often thought that having a small cluster of tight, long-term friends is crucial to being happy. But Christakis and Fowler found that the happiest people in Framingham were those who had the most connections, even if the relationships weren’t necessarily deep ones."

Very cool stuff. Enjoy! Beckmania

Is Happiness Catching?

Capitalism After The Crisis

An excerpt:

"We thus stand at a crossroads for American capitalism. One path would channel popular rage into political support for some genuinely pro-market reforms, even if they do not serve the interests of large financial firms. By appealing to the best of the populist tradition, we can introduce limits to the power of the financial industry — or any business, for that matter — and restore those fundamental principles that give an ethical dimension to capitalism: freedom, meritocracy, a direct link between reward and effort, and a sense of responsibility that ensures that those who reap the gains also bear the losses."

A nice historical look at the history of capitalism in America.

Capitalism After The Crisis

How Did Economists Get It So Wrong?

A long and interesting piece by Paul Krugman about the oscillations between classicism and neoclassicism on the one hand, and Keynsianism on the other. Interesting stuff as we try to figure out the best way to handle fluctuations in a capitalist economy.....Enjoy!

How Did Economists Get It So Wrong?

GDP: RIP

A great article in the NYT about why GDP is terrible as a measure of the well being of a society. Perhaps we should look to Bhutan -they adopted Gross National Happiness a while ago! Enjoy, Beckmania.

GDP: RIP

The Jalopy Economy

An interesting investor letter from Jeffrey Gundlach at TCW Group that discusses the steady rise in credit in the US economy, starting in the Reagan era. It's more data that fortifies the theme that many troubles, both at micro and micro levels, result from the desire to 'have it all without paying for it'. The reality check is painful, isn't it? Enjoy! Beckmania:

Letter From Jeffrey Gundlach

The Capitalist Manifesto: Greed is Good

Another great article from Fareed Zakaria (I feel like I post all of his articles).....a big picture look at the world today......Enjoy! Beckmania

The Capitalist Manifesto: Greed is Good

Wall Street's Toxic Message

Awesome big picture article by Joseph Stiglitz about the impact that the current economic crisis is having on the reputation of American style capitalism, and the subsequent impact THAT is having throughout the world on the types of governing systems that are seen as preferable. Enjoy! Beckmania.

Wall Street's Toxic Message

The Cost Conundrum

Amazing article on the issue of health care costs in the US (thanks Misha Palecek for sending it to me). Two things jump out at me - one is that you simply cannot have health care decision makers associate revenue and profit with the choices they make. We all know what road human nature will take us down. Generally speaking, rules are created and needed precisely to prevent what would be the human nature path in individual choices. The second thing is what irks me the MOST about government policy making - we absolutely KNOW what the answer is in some cases, or what BETTER ideas are, and yet we can't get them implemented. Health care screams of this. The Mayo clinic works fabulously, yet it's losing the fight. There needs to be an overall owner of this mess, who isn't thinking from the perspective of insurers or doctors.....Really interesting. Enjoy! Beckmania

The Cost Conundrum

Argentina: The Superpower That Never Was

Great article comparing the US and Argentina over the last 150 years, and how important decisions and cultural features made a monumental difference in the success of each. Essentially Argentina and the US were 'tied' at the beginning of the 20th century, but the rest is history...Enjoy! Zigmania

Argentina: The Superpower That Never Was

The Diamond Invention

A fascinating article about the history of the diamond industry, and how its current role in society was the result of careful manipulation by DeBeers. Scary. All because they were able to push the right emotional buttons....Enjoy! Beckmania.

Have You Ever Tried To Sell a Diamond?

Message In What We Buy, But Nobody's Listening

The more I read about shopping and consumer habits, the more I find it intriguing. The difference between what we think is going on, and what really is going on, is fascinating. Even worse, behavior doesn't seem to change even when we DO know what is going on.....Enjoy! Beckmania

Message In What We Buy, But Nobody's Listening

How David Beats Goliath

A fun article by the always entertaining Malcolm Gladwell about how insurgents can beat incumbents if they implement novel strategies - a lesson that is relevant in sports, wars, and business. The article is mostly centered around a girls basketball team from Redwood City and Lawrence of Arabia. Enjoy! Beckmania

How David Beats Goliath

Mega Regions and High Speed Rail

The always interesting Richard Florida wrote an article for the Atlantic Monthly that discusses the benefits of high speed rail, and how it could unleash tremendous economic activity, not to mention reduce commute times, which is good bc: "Research by behavioral economists like Nobel prize-winner Daniel Kahneman finds that long car commutes are among the things that most adversely affect our happiness." Enjoy! Beckmania

Mega Regions and High Speed Rail

The Dark Side Of Dubai

Well this is simply depressing - the article outlines the dark underbelly of the oasis in the desert - Dubai. I guess it shouldn't be a surprise that a monument to excess has its issues....slavery, environmental disasters, corruption. Sigh. If something seems too good to be true.....

The Dark Side of Dubai

Top 100 Bay Area Restaurants

This is mostly relevant for the Bay Area folks: A great list of Bay Area restaurants:

Top 100 Bay Area Restaurants

Learning How To Think

This article provides a ton of things to think about: the emperor has no clothes; ignore tv pundits and most news; trust your instincts.....I was always skeptical when experts were trotted out on tv bc you never know who is paying them to say what they are saying - you can confure up an expert on any topic - or whether or not they were actually experts (often not). Now I can add to my skepticism bc even if they really are experts, it doesn't matter, because they are dreadful prognosticators anyways! Sigh. Enjoy. Beckmania.


Learning How To Think

The Civil Heretic

This article reviews the life of Freeman Dyson, one of the great thinkers and scientists of his generation. The article discusses his intellectual philosophy, as well as his recent high profile views on climate change, and how it's not clear that it's a bad thing. I love the paragraph that talks about Dyson and Richard Feynman (another luminary), taking a roadtrip in a beat up old car picking up hitch hikers. I'd LOVE to get picked up by that pair! Enjoy. Beckmania....

The Civil Heretic

The Daily Me

Humans have a confirmation bias - we like to hear things that confirm our opinions and beliefs. With the decline of newspapers and TV news, we turn to the web where we can configure our own consumption sources easily. Beware of the vacuum you can get sucked in to. I am always trying to keep a diversified list of news sources, but it's harder than you think. I felt guilty reading the article because I know that I am definitely susceptible to this effect, as is everyone. This is a great article by Nikolas Kristof of the NYT on this very topic. Enjoy! Beckmania.

The Daily Me

Pearls Before Breakfast

I read this a while ago and just came across it again - awesome article in the Washington Post about one of the world's greatest musicians setting up shop in a subway as part of an experiment regarding how context affects people's consumption of art. Very very interesting. Enjoy! Beckmania.....

Pearls Before Breakfast

Rethinking The American Dream

An interesting piece that questions how the 'American Dream' became synonymous with extreme wealth or success....a poignant observation about how the changeover to digital TV assumes everyone will have one, despite them being available for only 5 years and still being very expensive. Also discusses our improved material wealth being unrelated to our level of happiness - seen that theme before! Enjoy. Beckmania.

Rethinking The American Dream

Barry Schwartz: The real crisis? We stopped being wise

A very interesting talk from Barry Shwartz on the loss of wisdom and how rules and incentives are not the cure all for fixing our problems. Enjoy! Beckmania

The Real Crisis? We Stopped Being Wise

Biomimicry

A very cool article about biomimicry - the use of natural processes and phenomena to solve human design problems.

Quote:

"As a biologist, I see us as a species among species, and that means everything we make and do is natural. When we make a product or build a building, it's akin to a robin making a nest---it's an extension of our bodies, and just as subject to natural selection. The real question is not "Is this product or behavior natural?" but rather, "Is it well-adapted to life on earth over the long haul?"

Anything that we design-a product, a process, or a policy--has to ultimately pass muster in the biological realm. It has to help us thrive, but it also has to keep the habitat in tact for our successors. A robin building a nest and an architect building a building should have the same concern: "How will the chicks fare here?"

Another quote:

"We humans are at a turning point in our evolution. Though we began as a small population in a very large world, we have expanded in number and territory until we are now bursting the seams of that world. There are too many of us, and our habits are unsustainable."

Fascinating stuff. Enjoy! Beckmania.

Biomimicry: An Interview With Janine Benyus

The Shopper Of Tomorrow: Trading Down

An interesting article on how the downturn will impact shopping habits. Some choice quotes:

"It's important that people know there is no acquisition in life that is transformative -- not a lipstick, not an iPhone, not a new Chevy. Nothing changes you into somebody you weren't before that purchase happened."

"Wharton marketing professor Leonard Lodish says Americans may have a reputation for materialistic values, but are probably not any more inherently consumer-driven than human beings around the world"

"Marketers, he says, do not ignite consumerism, but respond to the urge which comes from within. "It's very hard to create an innate need. That comes from the interplay of society and the values and norms of the culture."

Enjoy! - Beckmania.

The Shopper Of Tomorrow: Trading Down

How The Crash Will Reshape America

Here is a very interesting (but on the long-ish side) article by Richard Florida that discusses how the current economic crash will affect different parts of the US in different ways - areas that are more dependent on manufacturing will be hit harder and are less resilient than more service based cities. I have read a couple of his books and he is always very interesting to read. Enjoy! Beckmania.....

How The Crash Will Reshape America

The No-Stats All Star

Michale Lewis does it again, this time with an article about the use of statistics in NBA basketball. It discusses Shane Battier and how despite measuring poorly on standard player statistics, his team has much better results with him in the game, mostly bc of the subtle things he does that don't get recorded. At least they didn't used to......Enjoy, Beckmania...

The No-Stats All Star

Economics In A Full World

A very interesting article about the sustainability of the current global economy. It makes intuitive sense that if the ecosystem is limited, and the global economy keeps growing, that something has to give. "Economic theory has traditionally dealt mainly with allocation. It has not dealt with the issue of scale (the physical size of the economy relative to the ecosystem)". There is also a nice schematic on 'utility vs disutility' that tries to explain 'bad growth'....fascinating stuff. Enjoy! Beckmania....

Economics In A Full World

Can Google Fix Detroit?

Jeff Jarvis wrote a book called What Would Google Do that basically examines a number of struggling industries to see if they could be saved or improved by dragging themselves out of the old way of doing things.....notoriously hard for large organizations, but as the economic crisis is showing, perhaps no longer an option. Enjoy! Beckmania.....

Detroit Should Get Cracking On Its Googlemobile

How Tweet It Is

An interesting article on Twitter, my neighbor here at work in SF, and their current outlook and thoughts on the success they are experiencing.....

How Tweet It Is

The End Of Solitude

A former Yale professor discusses our decrease in solitude and ability to enjoy it.....another interesting impact of the always on ever more connected existence brought on by cell phones and the Internet...Thanks to John Paluska for the forward. Enjoy! Beckmania.....

The End Of Solitude

Happiness and Our Day To Day Decision Making

Ayn Rand Mike Wallace Interview 1959 part 1

This is a fascinating interview of Ayn Rand by Mike Wallace. I think there is both tons to admire and tons to disagree with in Objectivism (Rand's philosophy - too much to go into here), but it certainly gets the brain cells churning and is relevant to our present situation, especially given how many Rand fans have influenced the US over the past few decades....Enjoy! Beckmania

PS: Note that Wallace is actually SMOKING during the interview - my how times have changed.

PPS: Note also that there are many other videos on YouTube (like parts 2 and 3 of the interview) that are worth watching if you are interested....

The Cuban Revolution At 50

An interesting article in the Economist that provides a brief summary of Cuba's history from the overthrow of Batista's government to the present day state of affairs. It will be interesting to see where Cuba ends up in the next 5-10 years, especially if Venezuela's financial assistance diminishes along with the lower price of oil....Enjoy - Zigmania.

The Cuban Revolution at 50