The Fragilista
They think that the reasons for something are immediately accessible to them, even if they have no clue. No matter how complex or difficult, no problem results in an “I don’t know.” …
Incentives
Opinions and Organizational Theory
When I think about the world in which we live and the organizations in which we work, I can’t help but think that few people have the intellectual honesty, time, and discipline required to hold a …
Five Key Lessons in the Fight Against Poverty
I finally got around to reading Poor Economics: A Radical Rethinking of the Way to Fight Global Poverty. The book brings to light some of the complexities of poor people’s lives by exploring the …
Charlie Munger: How to Teach Business School
Everyone has an opinion on what to teach at business school. Few are as informed or timeless as Charlie Munger, the billionaire business partner of Warren Buffett at Berkshire Hathaway. Here’s …
The Great Ideas of the Social Sciences
What are the most important ideas ever put forward in social science? I’m not asking what are the best ideas, so the truth of them is only obliquely relevant: a very important idea may be largely …
Making Good Citizenship Fun — Richard Thaler
Interesting article by Richard Thaler on encouraging good citizenship by making the desired behavior more fun: Lotteries are just one way to provide positive reinforcement. Their power comes from the …
Owning up to Your Ignorance by Saying “I Don’t Know”
When was the last time you admitted you didn’t know something? Saying ‘I don’t know’ is hard. We can be so resistant to it that we end up not even knowing what we don’t know. This is dangerous. When …
Daniel Kahneman Answers
In one of the most in-depth and wide-ranging Q&A sessions held by the Freakonomics blog, Daniel Kahneman answered 22 new questions about his book Thinking, Fast and Slow. Three of the questions …
Rating Teachers is Educational Seduction
One of the most interesting studies I’ve come across is the case of Dr. Myron L. Fox. Dr. Fox, an authority on the application of mathematics to human behavior, presented a lecture on …
Several Uncomfortable Realities
Something to ponder. A sobering excerpt from Vaclav Smil‘s Global Catastrophes and Trends: The Next Fifty Years: The first is that even the most assiduous deployment of the best available …
This is a World of Incentives
I thought Warren Buffett said a lot of interesting things in his recent interview with Charlie Rose. Here are some of the bits that stood out for me. Fairness: BUFFETT: …I also think fairness is …
A Simple Checklist to Improve Decisions
We owe thanks to the publishing industry. Their ability to take a concept and fill an entire category with a shotgun approach is the reason that more people are talking about biases. Unfortunately, …
The Colonel Blotto Game: How Underdogs Can Win
If you’ve ever wondered why underdogs win or how to improve your odds of winning when you’re the underdog, this article on The Colonel Blotto Game is for you. *** There is a rich tradition …
Can one person successfully play different roles that require different, and often competing, perspectives?
No, according to research by Max Bazerman, author of the best book on decision making I’ve ever read: Judgment in Managerial Decision Making. Contrary to F. Scott Fitzgerald’s famous …
Seth Klarman: The Forgotten Lessons of 2008
In this excerpt from his annual letter, investing great Seth Klarman describes 20 lessons from the financial crisis which, he says, “were either never learned or else were immediately forgotten by …
Machiavelli’s Mistake: Why Good Laws Are No Substitute For Good Citizens
A summary of Samuel Bowles’ lecture series entitled “Machiavelli’s Mistake” at the Santa Fe Institute. 1. Moral Sentiments and Material Interests The classical thinkers from …