Sustainability, not going back to a pre-Covid normal, should be the primary policy objective. Formally ‘normal’ taxation dynamics are set to change. So is US economic primacy, according to some pundits. Technology is changing the nature of many jobs – often for the worse. To learn better, don’t forget to take a break.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“Redesigning the system is our only option” (Muhammad Yunus)

ARTICLE OF THE WEEK
Muhammad Yunus, The Pandemic Opportunity
(Project Syndicate, 09 July 2021)
The Nobel Peace Prize laureate and founder of Grameen Bank worries that governments and businesses are now directing all their energy toward restoring the old normal. But he argues that our policy mantra really should be the opposite: “No going back.” He explains why there is no better time to consider new approaches to development, because until we have achieved environmental, social, and economic sustainability, “we as a species will be racing against the clock” (free access – reads in about 6 min).
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Gabriel Zucman and Gus Wezerek, This is tax evasion, plain and simple
(The New York Times, 6 July 2021)
Zucman (one of the world’s foremost authorities on taxation and inequalities) explains in simple terms and great graphics how corporate tax breaks have helped business owners amass inconceivable amounts of money over the past few decades while middle-class Americans have footed the bill, as Congress has propped up the budget by raising taxes on wages. This article is US focused, but the argument extends well beyond the US (metered paywall – reads in about 4-5 min).
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Ruchir Sharma, For US, this is as good as it gets: Why another dominant decade for America is so unlikely
The Times of India, 5 July 2021)
This is an interesting and contrarian perspective from Morgan Stanley’s economist and author of the upcoming ‘10 Rules of Successful Nations’. He thinks that the US will have a mediocre decade, weighed down by the excesses of its recent boom. Relative to other markets, US stocks are at a 100-year peak, and such high valuations reflect the new optimism: after a decade of unanticipated US success, many analysts now expect more of the same. “Alas, as Sharma observes, this may be as good as it gets for America” (free access – reads in about 5-6 min).
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Emily Stewart, Robots were supposed to take our jobs. Instead, they’re making them worse
(VOX, 02 July 2021)
We spend so much time talking about the potential for robots to take our jobs that we fail to look at how they are already changing them — sometimes for the better, but sometimes not. New technologies give corporations tools for monitoring, managing, and motivating their workforces in ways that may be harmful. It’s not technology itself that is innately nefarious, but the way in which companies can use it to maintain ever tighter control on workers (free access – reads in about 8-9 min).
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Karen Hopkins, Our Brain Does Something Amazing between Bouts of Intense Learning
(Scientific American, 07 July 2021)
This article is a bit technical but worth reading. It explains how new research shows that lightning-quick neural rehearsal can supercharge learning and memory. In effect, the brain takes advantage of the rest periods during practice (in this case music) to review new skills, a mechanism that facilitates learning. In short: we need breaks to learn faster and better (free access – reads in about 1 min).
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