What to read to understand how economists think | The Dalai Lama on Why Leaders Should Be Mindful, Selfless, and Compassionate | Emotionally Intelligent People Use a Brilliant 3-Word Phrase to Stop Overthinking and Move Forward | Remembering Laika, Space Dog and Soviet Hero

View online | Unsubscribe (one-click). For inquiries/unsubscribe issues, Contact Us

� � � � � � What to read to understand how economists think - The Economist    Economics has a reputation as a dry, heartless subject, full of boring equations. The reality is much more interesting. Thinking like an economist, as I see it, comprises two main features. The first is always to think about trade-offs. There is no such thing as a free lunch, as Milton Friedman said. When someone gets something, they almost always give something up in return. If you go out with your friends, you won’t have time to go to the gym. If an economy’s wages go up, dividends might go down, or inflation might go up. And so on. The second is to try, when possible, to put numbers on things. When we say that China’s lockdowns are “strict”, what do we actually mean? If you think “job quality is getting worse every year”, how are you going to measure that? Sometimes it is not easy to quantify ideas, but it’s always good to try. In The Economist’s coverage we always try to remember these two lessons. Here are five books that should help you think in this way. Capitalism and Freedom. By Milton Friedman. University of Chicago Press; 272 pages; $18 and £15 Ignore the fact that Friedman was ultra-libertarian. It does not matter. Very often his arguments were plain wrong. That does not matter either. This book is perhaps the best way to learn to think about trade-offs, because that was how Friedman always thought about the world. For instance, consider minimum wages. Friedman accepts that the people who receive them take home more money. But then the trade-offs come steaming in. What, he asks, about the people who are now priced out of the labour market? Or take regulation of medicines. Unnecessary, he says. Yes, you may save some lives by insisting that pharmaceutical companies jump through hoops before taking a drug to market, as fewer dangerous drugs are sold. But those reviews will also cost lives, he says, by delaying the delivery of safe drugs to patients. (In 2006 we published this article on Friedman and his legacy.) Continued here � � � � � � Don't like ads? Go ad-free with TradeBriefs Premium The Dalai Lama on Why Leaders Should Be Mindful, Selfless, and Compassionate - Harvard Business Review    The Dalai Lama shares his observations on leadership and describes how our “strong focus on material development and accumulating wealth has led us to neglect our basic human need for kindness and care.” He offers leaders three recommendations. First, to be mindful: “When we’re under the sway of anger or attachment, we’re limited in our ability to take a full and realistic view of the situation.” Also, to be selfless: “Once you have a genuine sense of concern for others, there’s no room for cheating, bullying, or exploitation; instead you can be honest, truthful, and transparent in your conduct.” And finally, to be compassionate: “When the mind is compassionate, it is calm and we’re able to use our sense of reason practically, realistically, and with determination.” Over the past nearly 60 years, I have engaged with many leaders of governments, companies, and other organizations, and I have observed how our societies have developed and changed. I am happy to share some of my observations in case others may benefit from what I have learned. Continued here � � � � � � Emotionally Intelligent People Use a Brilliant 3-Word Phrase to Stop Overthinking and Move Forward - Inc.com    How the Founders of Glow Recipe and Graza Use Unorthodox Marketing Tactics to Boost Their Brands How to Fail the Right Way, According to a Psychologist Who Studies the World's Biggest Flops Former SBA Chief Karen Mills Says Technology Is the Key to Unlocking More Small-Business Lending Continued here � � � � � � Remembering Laika, Space Dog and Soviet Hero - The New Yorker    Laika was far from the first dog to ride aboard a Russian rocket. Six years earlier, a pair of dogs named Dezik and Tsygan had reached the cusp of outer space, and since then more than two dozen others had followed. In each case, the Soviets had chosen their test subjects from among Moscow’s strays, on the theory that surviving on the lean streets of the capital was good preparation for the rigors of spaceflight. The dogs had to be small, but not too small, and they had to have brightly colored coats, so that they would show up on film. They also had to be female, to simplify the design of their suits. As Asif Siddiqi recounts in his book “Challenge to Apollo: The Soviet Union and the Space Race, 1945-1974,” the stringency of the requirements prompted a local dog catcher to ask whether the animals needed “to howl in C major,” too. Western audiences simultaneously loved and hated the idea of a dog in space. A reporter for the Times, apparently unable to help himself, trotted out the puns that had been offered up by the wags of the day: Although it was reported that the dog was a husky, it was suggested it might be an airdale [sic]. Continued here

�

�

�

� � �

You are receiving this mailer as a TradeBriefs subscriber. We fight fake/biased news through human curation & independent editorials. Your support of ads like these makes it possible. Alternatively, get TradeBriefs Premium (ad-free) for only $2/month If you still wish to unsubscribe, you can unsubscribe from all our emails here Our address is 309 Town Center 1, Andheri Kurla Road, Andheri East, Mumbai 400059 - 415237602