The economic importance of inclusive institutions. Signs that the US political system is drifting into autocracy. What happened at OpenAI. Why reading matters. Could pop-up restaurants be here to stay.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“Musk is hoping to actually own the state.” (Reynolds in the second article)
ARTICLE OF THE WEEK
Melissa Dell, Institutions and prosperity: The 2024 Nobel laureates
(CEPR, 29 October 2024)
The wealth gap between the richest and poorest nations has remained stubbornly persistent, with the wealthiest half of the global population generating over 90% of global income. Such striking disparities have been remarkably persistent across time and constitute one of the most enduring puzzles in economics. This year’s Nobel laureates have successfully addressed this issue by shedding light on the pivotal role institutions (i.e.: the formal and informal rules governing how societies function) play in shaping long-run economic prosperity. In short: inclusive institutions, which encourage broad participation in economic and political activities, protect property rights, promote equal opportunities and uphold the rule of law, are essential for long-term prosperity. (free access, 6-8 min).
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Maura Reynolds, ‘Everything Is Subservient to the Big Guy’: Fiona Hill on Trump and America’s Emerging Oligarch
(Politico, 28 October 2024)
An interview with Fiona Hill, one of the world’s top experts on Russia and Putin who briefly worked as a Trump adviser. Even before Trump is potentially elected, she sees the American political system drifting into autocracy. For her, a key sign is that members of the US billionaire class are acting more and more like oligarchs. “They aren’t driven by the people they represent or the companies that they represent, but by the peer group that they are in, which is an extraordinarily small group of people. Their interactions are all about them figuring out how to exercise power together” (metered paywall, 8-10 min).
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Kelsey Piper, Inside OpenAI’s multibillion-dollar gambit to become a for-profit company
(Vox, 20 October 2024)
An insightful article to understand better what happened at OpenAI (that recently went from nonprofit to megacorp) and what this means for the future of AI. This has been the subject of heated debates, and the well-informed journalist argues that OpenAI’s transition isn’t what we think. Her premise: the stakes are gigantic: tens of billions of dollars — and the future of AI. Read on (free access, reads in 7-9 min).
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Yiyun Li, The Seventy Percent
(Harper’s Magazine, November 2024)
Why do we read? “Thinking through – rather than just thinking – is important”, notes the author who was born in China. In her opinion, “what afflicts literature, more than book banning, is this rapid loss of the ability to read for deeper meanings, to grasp subtlety, and to understand ambiguity” (metered paywall, 10-12 min).
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Kate Krader, Chef Rene Redzepi Reveals the Future of World’s Best Restaurant Noma
(Bloomberg, 29 October 2025)
Redzepi, the chef who had the best restaurant in the world (Noma in Copenhagen), organizes every year his MAD Symposium: a culinary world gathering with impact well beyond dining out that has also a pronounced influence on the mainstream dining world. He now wants to operate a pop-up restaurant “with pop-up energy, where you spend a year in preparation, with field trips and collaborations with artists. You open for a moment and then it goes away, almost like performance art.” Could this be a realistic long-term vision? (gifted article, 4-5 min).
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