First Derivative [66]
first Derivative [66]
8.8.2018
Happy reading! Specifically recommend the Thiel interview, the Fukuyama piece, and the piece from Wesley Yang, who continues to put out some of the best writing on race and culture today.
The Stratechery piece is good if you have a financial or business interest or structural curiosity in Facebook. The piece on when we eat is also a great starting point to further reading about the importance of timing to our diet and fasting, which has been a big part of my life this year.
I think the India piece is fascinating in terms of sheer scale of infrastructure and mass improvement in quality of life.
Also, if you still haven't seen it, really recommend watching Succession on HBO. Just saw the season finale this Sunday, fantastic—TK
“Hypnotic Mass Phenomena”
by Florian Schwab with Peter Thiel (Die Weltwoche)
"The fact that the US does not have a surplus, that actually it has a massive deficit, tells you that something is completely wrong with the standard globalization picture that we have. It is sort of like: Chinese peasants are saving money and it is flowing uphill into low-return investments in the US and bonds in Europe with negative interest rates. There is something completely crazy about that dynamic." Quite a good, dense interview with Peter Thiel—TK
Facebook Lenses
by Ben Thompson (Stratechery)
"for all of the company’s travails and controversies over the past few years, its moats are deeper than ever, its money-making potential not only huge but growing both internally and secularly; to that end, what is perhaps most distressing of all to would-be competitors is in fact this quarter’s results: at the end of the day Facebook took a massive hit by choice"
What’s Wrong with Public Policy Education
by Francis Fukuyama (TAI)
“It is entirely possible that an analysis of the implementation strategy, rather than analysis of the underlying policy, will tell you that the goal is unachievable absent an external shock, which might then mean changing the scope of the policy, rethinking its objectives, or even deciding that you are pursuing the wrong objective.” Very good, short piece from Fukuyama—TK
Race Quotas and Class Privilege at Harvard
by Wesley Yang (Tablet)
"It’s an ambivalent gift to owe one’s elevation into a system of privilege to the denigration of others like oneself. You’re not like the others, you’re different, is the overt message... There is a sense in which one could call this racist. There is another sense in which this is just the way institutions of privilege have always reproduced themselves and must by necessity do so in order to preserve a continuity of values and behavioral standards across time."
The Pension Hole for U.S. Cities and States Is the Size of Japan’s Economy
by Sarah Krouse (WSJ)
When We Eat, or Don’t Eat, May Be Critical for Health
by Anahad O’Connor (NYT)
"A growing body of research suggests that our bodies function optimally when we align our eating patterns with our circadian rhythms, the innate 24-hour cycles that tell our bodies when to wake up, when to eat and when to fall asleep... Every organ has an internal clock that governs its daily cycle of activity."
World’s Biggest Toilet-Building Spree Is Under Way in India
by P.R. Sanjai (Bloomberg)
Pakistan’s Recent Election Could Signal Change
by Reihan Salam (Atlantic)
"There is little doubt that Pakistan’s powerful military was involved in securing Khan’s victory, and of course his ties to Islamist parties are deeply worrisome. However, his party's popularity portends at least one positive development for Pakistan: the decline of political parties rooted in ethnicity."
Saudi Arabia Planned to Invade Qatar Last Summer. Rex Tillerson’s Efforts to Stop It May Have Cost Him His Job.
by Alex Emmons (Intercept)
Good to keep on an eye on this—TK
99 Days to Go, and the Midterm Elections Battleground Is Not What Was Expected
by Nate Cohn (NYT)
"It’s not dominated by well-educated, suburban districts that voted for Hillary Clinton. Instead, the battleground is broad, and it includes a long list of working-class and rural districts that voted for Donald J. Trump in 2016."
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fD is a newsletter on what I think matters. I highlight signals, insights, and deep trends in ideas, technology, politics, economics, foreign affairs, culture, philosophy, and more. My goal is to give you content that will still matter beyond the present moment.
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