- “This sounds boring, you might conclude. It sounds like work, and it sounds like life. Perhaps we should get used to it again, and use it to our benefit. Perhaps in an incessant, up-the-ante world, we could do with a little less excitement.”
And also…
“In a much-read story in The Times, “The Relentlessness of Modern Parenting,” Claire Cain Miller cited a recent study that found that regardless of class, income or race, parents believed that “children who were bored after school should be enrolled in extracurricular activities, and that parents who were busy should stop their task and draw with their children if asked.”
An article written in praise of boredom, and I couldn’t agree more. Every now and then, it makes sense to get a little (or plenty) bored. - “Back in November, Instacart changed how it paid its delivery workers, saying that it would provide them with an “earnings estimate, and a minimum $10 payment for their work. The controversy arose when it became clear that part of that $10 minimum payment was coming from tips that customers left for their Shoppers, allowing the company to pay less towards that minimum payment. Faced with lower weekly earnings, Shoppers complained, and the company said that it would keep tips separate from that minimum payment.Amazon and DoorDash have similar policies, and despite that outcry at Instacart, they have indicated that they’re sticking with them.”
Not only a PR disaster, which it is. But also a great way to work through your understanding of elasticities of supply and demand. - “More to the point, having big aircraft puts downward pressure on ticket prices. Carriers typically like to fill up at least four-fifths of their seats to maximize the revenue on each flight. The bigger the aircraft, the more discounting and promotions sales teams need to do to hit this target — one reason that the trend elsewhere in the industry has been away from the A380 and Boeing 747.”
And if the second link above whetted your appetite about using concepts of elasticity in the world outside – then this article about large airplanes, availability of alternatives and changing partnerships will be quite useful. - “The economy of favours that he describes in long, carefully researched chapters on the genesis of the Genco Pura Olive Oil company was familiar, too, because that was how much of New Delhi and north India’s business clans worked and still work, stepping in to dispense justice, protection, retribution where the government either failed or was absent.”
There is always a rule of law in society – that may well be a definition of society. That law need not always come from government – where governments are weak, other institutions will step in to form, change and enforce the law. That’s the Godfather, and that’s why it is such a great read. - “A welfare state makes sense if it means the state providing education and health care for all. Alternatively, handouts are affordable in a lower-middle income economy if you divert money from the less deserving, or if the promised benefits are not open-ended so that you don’t get a runaway bill. Without any of these, the old question begs an answer: Should you give a man fish, or teach him how to fish? Lurking hidden in the new bout of welfarism seems to be an admission that the state can’t deliver for the poor anything other than cash.”
The earlier part of the article points out statistics that show how much India has grown over the past decade and a half. But competitive politics and botched policies mean that we’re once again in dole-out season. The more things change…