Attention Economy


Tuesday, January 17, 2017

Politics, Economics and Freedom

The economic peril of aggrieved nationalism by Martin Wolf [MUST READ]
Wolf notes:
“Perhaps the greatest contribution of economics is the idea that societies will gain more from seeking to trade with one another than trying to conquer one another. Moreover, the richer their partners, the greater the opportunities for mutually enriching commerce. The wise relationship between states, therefore, is one of co-operation, not war, and trade, not isolation. This brilliant idea happens to be correct. But it is also counter-intuitive, even disturbing. It means that one might gain more from foreigners than fellow citizens. It erodes a sense of belonging to the imagined tribe.”

A Warning to Trump From Friedrich Hayek by Cass Sunstein
Cass Sunstein notes:
“One of Hayek’s enduring achievements was to clarify the importance of government neutrality and forbearance, not through anything like laissez-faire, but by avoiding commands in favor of clear, general, stable, predictable rules on which the private sector can rely. A Dealmaker-in-Chief might turn out, in practice, to be a Commander-in-Chief in precisely the sense that Hayek deplored.”


What Not to Do – Lessons from Poland and Hungary

The Five Lessons of Populist Rule by Sławomir Sierakowski

A Whiff of Corruption in Orbán's Hungary – Der Spiegel
http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/a-whiff-of-corruption-in-orban-s-hungary-a-1129713.html