After a long hiatus, I'm back with a shiny new book summary for How Asia Works: Success and Failure in the World's Most Dynamic Region by Joe Studwell. Though published in 2014, it holds up pretty well, with some of its insights on industrial policy and central bank independence might be more relevant than ever (though one must take care not to overgeneralise from things that worked in a particular context in the past). Anyway, as usual the key takeaways are below, and you can find the full...
about 1 month ago • 2 min read
Hope you've all had a good June. I've only posted 1 book summary and 2 blog posts: Book summaries Deep Utopia by Nick Bostrom (22 mins) — this weird book explores the question of what utopia could look like and what problems might be left after we've reached a state of technological maturity. Blog posts — both posts this month came about as I've been thinking and reading about the economics of AI. I'm planning to do a third post that will address that more directly, but these two lay the...
4 months ago • 1 min read
My latest summary is for Deep Utopia: Life and Meaning in a Solved World by Nick Bostrom, a former Oxford professor in philosophy. The books explores the question of what utopia could look like if technological progress goes as well as it possibly could, and what problems might still be left. As usual, the key takeaways are below, and you can find the full summary by clicking the link above. KEY TAKEAWAYS Bostrom explores what utopia could look like if we reached a state of technological...
5 months ago • 1 min read
After a month off in April, I got back to posting my usual 2 summaries this month: Book summaries The Art of Gathering by Priya Parker (23 mins) — an easy-to-read book with helpful advice on how to host meaningful social gatherings. The New Map by Daniel Yergin (28 mins) — a denser read that explains how energy security affects geopolitics and how the fracking boom and green energy transition have altered some of those dynamics. My next summary will be for Deep Utopia by Nick Bostrom, which...
5 months ago • 1 min read
I've just published a summary for The New Map: Energy, Climate, and the Clash of Nations by Daniel Yergin. The book is a bit of a denser read, explaining how changes in energy markets are reshaping geopolitics, but I found it highly educational. As usual, the key takeaways are below, and you can find the full summary by clicking the link above. KEY TAKEAWAYS Energy is a major driver of geopolitics. The shale revolution beginning in the 2010s has made the US into an energy superpower. Shale...
5 months ago • 2 min read
I'm back after a short break with a new summary for The Art of Gathering: How We Meet and Why It Matters by Priya Parker. Great gatherings have so much potential to deepen our social connections and enrich our lives, yet so many gatherings frankly kind of suck. It's worth a read even if you've never thought of yourself as much of a “gatherer”. As usual, the key takeaways are below, and you can find the full summary by clicking the link above. KEY TAKEAWAYS Gatherings don’t have to suck. But...
6 months ago • 1 min read
March was a quieter month with only 2 book summaries: Why We’re Polarized by Ezra Klein (25 mins) — published in 2020, Ezra Klein looks at how US politics got to be so polarized. A Hacker’s Mind by Bruce Schneier (25 mins) — Schneier applies his background in computer security to looking at how market, legal, political, and cognitive systems can also be "hacked". I'm also planning to take some time off next month, so I'll see you in May! Thanks for subscribing and until next time, To Summarise
7 months ago • 1 min read
My latest summary is for A Hacker’s Mind: How the Powerful Bend Society’s Rules, and How to Bend them Back by security expert Bruce Schneier. It's an interesting look at the systems around us through the lens of hacking. As usual, the key takeaways are below, and you can find the full summary by clicking the link above. KEY TAKEAWAYS A hack is an activity allowed by the system that subverts the goal or intent of the system. Hacks exploit a vulnerability in the system to advance the hacker’s...
7 months ago • 1 min read
If, like me, you’ve been watching US politics recently and wondering how it got to be the way it is, you might find my latest summary for Why We’re Polarized by Ezra Klein to be an enlightening read. As usual, the key takeaways are below, and you can find the full summary by clicking the link above. KEY TAKEAWAYS America has polarized significantly over the past few decades: Political polarization has increased. Swing voters who are genuinely persuadable are going extinct. Polarization by...
7 months ago • 1 min read