I don't know if it's just me, but Amit's voice is very attractive. Heavy but light enough to leave a good impact on the listener almost making him/her believe. Also, do you need a section divider? With a music? The transition is not seamless.
Intriguing discussion, you guys are really putting together a comprehensive primer on development economics! My only contestation is Amit’s rather blinkered view on the perfection of markets. Ideal markets don’t exist in the real world & market failures are not esoteric. Market power and information asymmetry is ubiquitous, and well functioning markets need to be well regulated to ensure stability and competitiveness. One need only look at trends seen in mature financial markets globally over the past few years to reveal how market excesses fuelled by under-regulation has undoubtedly played a role in enabling the rise of populism. The key question to be answered is on the effective dispersion of power across society, which requires effective markets enabled by effective state regulation.
Thanks Ajay and Amit - another thought provoking episode! Applying Stossel's 'double thank you' lens to understand the difference between people-to-company and people-to-state interactions is illuminating. People-to-state interactions by definition cannot be 'double thank you' moments as the state wields coercive power and people don't have an option but to deal with it (i.e. no real consent or at best, passive consent). This can quite literally be observed or felt in India - think of our interactions with the state for mundane things such as getting a drivers license, registering a real estate transaction or countless other examples. The attitude of government officials is as though they're doing us a favour. Contrast this to interactions with corporations in a well-functioning free market (not a crony-led system, which unfortunately we continue to see in India in some areas) - providing a delightful customer service is at the core of these interactions. I also thought I'd chime in on of the discussion around 'bias for action' in companies as I have some direct experience in that domain, as a former management consultant, early-stage VC and operator at startups. Broadly speaking, I tend to agree with Amit that 'bias for action' is important in companies. An important nuance here is what stage the company in question is at. Bias for action is disproportionately important for early-stage companies or what in startup parlance is referred to as the zero-to-one stage. The idea being that when a young company is trying to disrupt something, theory does not have as much value as having fast feedback loops to get real data and course correct quickly. Peter Thiel, Paul Graham, Jeff Bezos and others have written about this extensively. Useful to check those out. There is also the practical matter of which is the more commonly faced challenge in a company. It's fairly well-established now that the problem of 'analysis-paralysis' and middle-management not being action oriented are the bigger challenges. So building a culture around a bias for action becomes important. Lastly, fully agree with Ajay on the question of consultants in public policy. Policy is a specialized field with a lot of nuances and complexity. At best, I can see a role in the last stage of the policy pipeline i.e. the actual machinery and mechanics of rolling policies out as those tend to be problems of organizational design and delivery, where consultants can bring in best-in-class learnings from the private sector. Thanks again for all you guys do! Nitin
This makes me wonder if a company can be run like a country - atleast in some parts. Maybe all good companies are run like one already. Decentralized, very little coercion, aspirational, and sustainable.
I work in a start up in the Netherlands. This country is a lot like the US - bias for action is quite strong leading to multiple start up crashing and burning. Luckily the one I am at has strategically navigated itself to survive till now. Having lived in Belgium, Italy and now back to the NL. I am noticing all the aspects that you have mentioned/discussed in your podcasts and videos. Decentralized governments catering to local problems is key to a well functioning democracy. Key policy initiatives (SME tax breaks etc) allow innovation to flourish while giving push to large companies to also decarbonize by adopting new technologies which are developed by institutes or private small firms. I look forward every week to these episodes! (One on innovation funding was quite enlightening)
Two firms that come to mind that have mastered the art of long term thinking and decentralization within the firm are Constellation Software and Danaher. This episode reminded me of them.
well in the episodes with the bookcase as the background, I often zoom at the screen to look at the tiles of many books. It's a very tedious task so I would request that both of you do a full episode on books- could be a recommendation episode, a bookshelf tour, reminiscing about old books, or the simple love for the smell of paper vs the comfort of kindle or I pads. I would prefer a vlog that is both a bookshelf tour and a conversation about reading and spending time with books. Also, since I suspect there are a few DVDs on the top right shelf, an episode on physical media in the age of streaming.
@@amitvarma What I am suggesting is a Bookshelf tour like this: th-cam.com/video/7i62gnTgs1o/w-d-xo.html - this is Alex O'Conner's bookshelf tour. These videos are exciting as they humanise the Gentle Reader's approach towards books and focus on the experiences of not just the content of the book but how you keep the books, when you encountered it, and why and to whom you would recommend or not recommend(based on Tyler Cowen's philosophy) For instance: long-time listeners of TSATU know how you encountered Dostoyefvesky's House of the Dead. I am sure there will be similar stories for many more books for both you and Ajay and I guess these stories instill some form of curiosity that is not a recommendation as such but always a good anecdote when one encounters the book or decides to read them,
Dear Amit and Ajay, Nice one, as usual. I have two points to make: 1. The time frames for firms and countries differ significantly. While a firm's time frame might be long, a country's is always longer. In the case of countries, considerations of inter-generational equity and justice play a much larger role. 2. The emotional content and sense of pride associated with a country are much higher, despite their irrelevance in substance. For instance, Modi can drumbeat about 1,000-year plan for India and receive admiration and votes from his constituents, arising out of perceived greatness of the country after 1000 years. However, if a CEO of a firm were to propose a 1000 year vision for the firm, he would be chucked out next day.
Almost at the fag end of the show Amit casually mentions that "I would never read Pablo Neruda because I know too much about him". Am intrigued Amit by that statement gven the stature of Neruda. Would be delighted to hear more on it.
Neruda was a rapist, and describes a rape he committed in Sri Lanka once, I think in his autobiography. His own words, not a shred of remorse etc etc. I'm sure you'll find it if you Google. I disliked his poetry to begin with in any case, but that's neither here nor there...
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I don't know if it's just me, but Amit's voice is very attractive. Heavy but light enough to leave a good impact on the listener almost making him/her believe.
Also, do you need a section divider? With a music? The transition is not seamless.
Intriguing discussion, you guys are really putting together a comprehensive primer on development economics!
My only contestation is Amit’s rather blinkered view on the perfection of markets. Ideal markets don’t exist in the real world & market failures are not esoteric. Market power and information asymmetry is ubiquitous, and well functioning markets need to be well regulated to ensure stability and competitiveness. One need only look at trends seen in mature financial markets globally over the past few years to reveal how market excesses fuelled by under-regulation has undoubtedly played a role in enabling the rise of populism.
The key question to be answered is on the effective dispersion of power across society, which requires effective markets enabled by effective state regulation.
Thanks Ajay and Amit - another thought provoking episode!
Applying Stossel's 'double thank you' lens to understand the difference between people-to-company and people-to-state interactions is illuminating. People-to-state interactions by definition cannot be 'double thank you' moments as the state wields coercive power and people don't have an option but to deal with it (i.e. no real consent or at best, passive consent). This can quite literally be observed or felt in India - think of our interactions with the state for mundane things such as getting a drivers license, registering a real estate transaction or countless other examples. The attitude of government officials is as though they're doing us a favour. Contrast this to interactions with corporations in a well-functioning free market (not a crony-led system, which unfortunately we continue to see in India in some areas) - providing a delightful customer service is at the core of these interactions.
I also thought I'd chime in on of the discussion around 'bias for action' in companies as I have some direct experience in that domain, as a former management consultant, early-stage VC and operator at startups. Broadly speaking, I tend to agree with Amit that 'bias for action' is important in companies. An important nuance here is what stage the company in question is at. Bias for action is disproportionately important for early-stage companies or what in startup parlance is referred to as the zero-to-one stage. The idea being that when a young company is trying to disrupt something, theory does not have as much value as having fast feedback loops to get real data and course correct quickly. Peter Thiel, Paul Graham, Jeff Bezos and others have written about this extensively. Useful to check those out. There is also the practical matter of which is the more commonly faced challenge in a company. It's fairly well-established now that the problem of 'analysis-paralysis' and middle-management not being action oriented are the bigger challenges. So building a culture around a bias for action becomes important.
Lastly, fully agree with Ajay on the question of consultants in public policy. Policy is a specialized field with a lot of nuances and complexity. At best, I can see a role in the last stage of the policy pipeline i.e. the actual machinery and mechanics of rolling policies out as those tend to be problems of organizational design and delivery, where consultants can bring in best-in-class learnings from the private sector.
Thanks again for all you guys do!
Nitin
This makes me wonder if a company can be run like a country - atleast in some parts. Maybe all good companies are run like one already. Decentralized, very little coercion, aspirational, and sustainable.
Amit, your take on McKenzie is so hilarious. Besides, I couldn't agree more.
Please do explore the idea of doing a podcast on bias for action. How to strike a balance between planning, documenting, processes etc.
I work in a start up in the Netherlands. This country is a lot like the US - bias for action is quite strong leading to multiple start up crashing and burning. Luckily the one I am at has strategically navigated itself to survive till now. Having lived in Belgium, Italy and now back to the NL. I am noticing all the aspects that you have mentioned/discussed in your podcasts and videos. Decentralized governments catering to local problems is key to a well functioning democracy. Key policy initiatives (SME tax breaks etc) allow innovation to flourish while giving push to large companies to also decarbonize by adopting new technologies which are developed by institutes or private small firms. I look forward every week to these episodes! (One on innovation funding was quite enlightening)
Would love to see an episode of bias for action in firms, individuals and the state
Two firms that come to mind that have mastered the art of long term thinking and decentralization within the firm are Constellation Software and Danaher. This episode reminded me of them.
Thanks, will read up on them.
Please do an episode on bias for action conflicting with deep thinking. I work in an MNC and genuinely interested in knowing when I should what.
well in the episodes with the bookcase as the background, I often zoom at the screen to look at the tiles of many books. It's a very tedious task so I would request that both of you do a full episode on books- could be a recommendation episode, a bookshelf tour, reminiscing about old books, or the simple love for the smell of paper vs the comfort of kindle or I pads.
I would prefer a vlog that is both a bookshelf tour and a conversation about reading and spending time with books.
Also, since I suspect there are a few DVDs on the top right shelf, an episode on physical media in the age of streaming.
Each of us have thousands of books, and these books aren't those. The shelf is random, not representative of what we read. :)
@@amitvarma What I am suggesting is a Bookshelf tour like this: th-cam.com/video/7i62gnTgs1o/w-d-xo.html - this is Alex O'Conner's bookshelf tour.
These videos are exciting as they humanise the Gentle Reader's approach towards books and focus on the experiences of not just the content of the book but how you keep the books, when you encountered it, and why and to whom you would recommend or not recommend(based on Tyler Cowen's philosophy)
For instance: long-time listeners of TSATU know how you encountered Dostoyefvesky's House of the Dead. I am sure there will be similar stories for many more books for both you and Ajay and I guess these stories instill some form of curiosity that is not a recommendation as such but always a good anecdote when one encounters the book or decides to read them,
Can anyone please make one list with all the recommendation episodewise?
It is their in the description
Dear Amit and Ajay,
Nice one, as usual. I have two points to make:
1. The time frames for firms and countries differ significantly. While a firm's time frame might be long, a country's is always longer. In the case of countries, considerations of inter-generational equity and justice play a much larger role.
2. The emotional content and sense of pride associated with a country are much higher, despite their irrelevance in substance. For instance, Modi can drumbeat about 1,000-year plan for India and receive admiration and votes from his constituents, arising out of perceived greatness of the country after 1000 years. However, if a CEO of a firm were to propose a 1000 year vision for the firm, he would be chucked out next day.
I would love to see an episode for bias for action for firms
Is there a complied list somewhere of book recommendations from all the episdoes?
can you guys please make a episode about singapore and lee kuan yew
Is this meant to be a pushback against the New Public Management type approach to administration? If not, how is NPM different?
Letsss gooo!
We don't know what's going on in other people's head, don't know all sides of the story, we do know what happened.
Curtis Yarwin would disagree 😅
Almost at the fag end of the show Amit casually mentions that "I would never read Pablo Neruda because I know too much about him". Am intrigued Amit by that statement gven the stature of Neruda. Would be delighted to hear more on it.
Neruda was a rapist, and describes a rape he committed in Sri Lanka once, I think in his autobiography. His own words, not a shred of remorse etc etc. I'm sure you'll find it if you Google.
I disliked his poetry to begin with in any case, but that's neither here nor there...
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