Bill Gates is optimistic about our AI charged future. France’s secret bureaucracy ‘bonus’. Putin’s boycott bonanza. Preserve the existing forests rather than planting new ones. Good giving boosts happiness.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“There’s no question these are challenging times, but I remain optimistic about the future.” (Bill Gates in the article of the week)

ARTICLE OF THE WEEK

Bill Gates, The road ahead reaches a turning point in 2024
(Gates Notes, 19 December 2024)
Bill Gates’ famous end of year letter. He argues that 2023 signaled the start of a new era and sees 2024 as “an opportunity to shape the world’s next chapter for the better”, pointing out that the speed of innovation has never been faster. He is particularly optimistic about progress in health and the climate, where he sees “AI supercharging the innovation pipeline” (free access, reads in about 15 min).
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Tyler Cowen, The French Economy’s Secret Weapon: Bureaucrats
(Bloomberg, 18 December 2023)
Bureaucracy as a comparative advantage. Even more amazing as this comes from a (renowned) professed libertarian-leaning economist! The host of the famous podcast Marginal Revolution notes that France now has a dynamic startup scene, but also emphasizes that the strengths of the French economy run much deeper than a burgeoning tech scene. Since good companies and projects don’t come out of nowhere, what is the ‘secret’ source? The country’s long tradition of a competent civil service says Cowen, who also argues that it will prove most useful as the world enters an era of increased conflict and turmoil (gifted article, reads in 6-8 min).
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Paul Sonne and Rebecca Ruiz, How Putin Turned a Western Boycott into a Bonanza
(The New York Times, 18 December 2024)
A NYT investigation on how Russia’s regime managed to transform an expected misfortune into an enrichment scheme. Putin has turned the exits of major Western companies into a windfall for the country’s loyal elite and the state itself. He has forced companies wishing to sell to do so at fire-sale prices. He has limited sales to buyers anointed by Moscow. Sometimes he has seized firms outright (gifted article, with infographics, reads in less than 10 min).
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Alec Luhn, Stop Planting Trees, Says Guy Who Inspired World to Plant a Trillion Trees
(Wired, 14 December 2023)
Thomas Crowther’s research offered a seemingly easy climate solution by inspiring countless tree-planting campaigns and sparking a tree-planting craze by many companies and political leaders, ranging from Shell to Donald Trump. Crowther now regrets that his research served “as an excuse to avoid cutting emissions” (as avoidance offsets). Now he’s back with new research showing that the preservation of existing forests can have a greater climate impact than planting trees (metered paywall, reads in 6-8 min).
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Allison Aubrey, Giving gifts boosts happiness, research shows. So why do we feel frazzled?
(NPR, 18 December 2024)
Science shows that the act of giving does improve our happiness. Here are some tips to make giving even more relevant and satisfying. (1) Be intentional, (2) Create ritual around shopping and wrapping, (3) Experiences make great gifts – “When we give experiences to people, they’re almost by definition more personalized. They’re reflective of our relationship to them”, (4) Be present for the receiving, (5) Remember the why behind your giving (free access, reads in 5-6 min).
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