My friends sometimes approach me with career anxieties, under the false impression that writing about economics makes somebody a good career advisor. My counsel is typically something like optimistic incrementalism. Don’t quit your job, mastery comes with time, job satisfaction comes with mastery… that sort of stuff.
When the same friends ask my roommate, an entrepreneur building a financial services app, they’re whiplashed with radical optimism. Get the hell out of there! Quit if you have to! You’ll be happier doing just about anything else!
I never said it outright, but I assumed that my cautious approach was more responsible, even if it seldom proved more inspirational. But according to a new study of youth unemployment by economists Martin Gervais, Nir Jaimovich, Henry Siu, and Yaniv Yedid-Levi, my incrementalist advice, while appropriate for the worst periods of the Great Recession, isn’t so great, overall.
Instead, there is what you might call a “dream-job premium.” Jumping between jobs in your 20s, which strikes many people as wayward and noncommittal, improves the chance that you’ll find more satisfying—and higher paying—work in your 30s and 40s.
via Quit Your Job – The Atlantic.
Video: Dwayne Wade Moving On
The unbearable B-ness of software | Michael O. Church
I’m not Jack Welch’s biggest fan. For one thing, he invented the “rank-and-yank” HR policies that literally decimate companies. I don’t disagree with the idea that companies would improve their health by letting go 5-10 percent of their people per year, but I think the discovery process involved is impossible and often politically toxic. There is, however, one thing he’s said that I think has a lot of value: “A players hire A players; B players hire C players“. His point is that if you have mediocre management, you’ll actually end up with terrible employees. I would say it’s not limited to hiring only. A players make more A players. They teach each other how to be better. Not only that, but they raise the potential for what an A player can do. B players don’t have the foresight or “ownership” mentality to mentor others, and produce non-productive C players.
via The unbearable B-ness of software | Michael O. Church.
Coron, Palawan: 8 Must-See Places In This Paradise
Still deciding between Coron vs Batanes vs Siargao.
In the recent years, Coron has become a must-visit destination not only for Filipinos but also foreign tourists who want to relax, unwind, and enjoy breathtaking land and seascapes.
An island that lies off the coast of Palawan, Coron has stunning rock formations, pristine white sand beaches, and is home to one of the cleanest lakes in the Philippines.
Plan ahead and make sure to make time for some of these destinations in Coron.
via Coron, Palawan: 8 Must-See Places In This Paradise.
Five Science 'Facts' You Learned At School That Are Plain Wrong
Time To Rewrite Textbooks?
There are many more than the five “facts” that need to be fixed in school textbooks. I am not suggesting that we should start teaching 6-year-olds about matter that only appears in Nobel Prize-winning physics labs or filling the curriculum with detail on dozens of senses. But maybe we should stop telling kids fibs.
Perhaps a biology lesson should start with: “We have many senses, here are the five we are going to learn about.” Or a sentence dropped in here and there that mentions the existence of more than three states of matter. As for the tongue map, just rip that page out of the book.
via Five Science ‘Facts’ You Learned At School That Are Plain Wrong.
Another reason to spend money on experiences rather than things—the positive benefits of anticipation – Quartz
All of the studies indicated that anticipation of an experience is more exciting and pleasant than the anticipation of a material purchase—regardless of the price of the purchase. In the case of crowds queuing up to make purchases, those in line for an experience (such as a play or admission to a theme park) generally are in better moods and on better behavior than those in line to buy material goods. In a press release, Gilovich said one reason the research is important to society is that it “suggests that overall well-being can be advanced by providing an infrastructure that affords experiences—such as parks, trails, beaches—as much as it does material consumption.”
via Another reason to spend money on experiences rather than things—the positive benefits of anticipation – Quartz.
A Week After Its Release, John Wick Already Seems Like a Cult Classic – The Atlantic
Purely for the fun, wanted to watch again after exiting the movie house.
I’m not even sure this attempt at meaning is what will make me and others watch John Wick again and again. The coolest thing about it really is the violence. Whether Wick is taking out people at a thudding nightclub, a rain-drenched dock, or a neon-lit bathhouse, everything is presented with a crispness lacking from most lazily cut shaky-cam action movies these days. And there’s the refreshing, oddball sense of humor, down to the world-building and Nyqvist’s engagingly big performance. The entire ensemble is filled with great “hey, it’s that guy!” character actors, including John Leguizamo, Lance Reddick, Ian McShane, Clarke Peters, and Thomas Sadoski in what amount to one-scene performances.The difficulty in anointing any film a cult sensation is that it immediately gives it a whole new burden to bear: Audiences going to see John Wick expecting something ironic or skewed might exit disappointed. It’s having fun, but it’s still a straight-ahead revenge drama that gets a little bogged down in its own seriousness towards its last act. It’s not perfect. But it is special, especially for a mid-budget Hollywood action drama, and it has stuck firmly in my mind since that late-night screening last Friday. I’m going to see it again; the question is just how many of you I’m dragging along with me.
via A Week After Its Release, John Wick Already Seems Like a Cult Classic – The Atlantic.
Apologizing to Japan – NYTimes.com
TOKYO — For almost two decades, Japan has been held up as a cautionary tale, an object lesson on how not to run an advanced economy. After all, the island nation is the rising superpower that stumbled. One day, it seemed, it was on the road to high-tech domination of the world economy; the next it was suffering from seemingly endless stagnation and deflation. And Western economists were scathing in their criticisms of Japanese policy.
I was one of those critics; Ben Bernanke, who went on to become chairman of the Federal Reserve, was another. And these days, I often find myself thinking that we ought to apologize.
Now, I’m not saying that our economic analysis was wrong. The paper I published in 1998 about Japan’s “liquidity trap,” or the paper Mr. Bernanke published in 2000 urging Japanese policy makers to show “Rooseveltian resolve” in confronting their problems, have aged fairly well. In fact, in some ways they look more relevant than ever now that much of the West has fallen into a prolonged slump very similar to Japan’s experience.
via Apologizing to Japan – NYTimes.com.
Put Together a Productive Team with Jeff Bezos's "Two Pizza Rule"
When you’re heading a collaboration of any kind, the number of people you bring on board can change how effective your team’s output is. Jeff Bezos, the CEO of Amazon, suggests employing the “two pizza rule” to help keep yourself from including too many people.
Rachel Gillett at business blog Fast Company explains that it’s as simple as it sounds. Imagine you’ve ordered two pizzas for glorious consumption. Now how many people could you reasonably feed with those two pizzas? That’s how many people should be involved in your team project. It should be somewhere between five and eight people, which is a pretty safe range when it comes to possible collaboration downfalls.
via Put Together a Productive Team with Jeff Bezos’s “Two Pizza Rule”.
Was SC justice partial in BCDA-SM Land issue?
Justice is (NOT) for sale, maybe.
Time to revamp the supreme court.
Judicial overreach
In its MR filed in September 2014, the BCDA broadened its case with a new argument: that the Court has encroached upon the powers of the executive. It built its case by showing that questions hounded the integrity of the previous process and that it was within the powers of the Office of the President to “exercise control” over all the executive departments – including changing the mode of disposition of government properties.
‘…the haste and the reckless manner by which the TROs were served and re-served create an impression of bias and manifest partiality in the minds of the respondents and erode their faith in the Honorable Court.’ – BCDA
When he took over, President Aquino suspended the privatization and development of the 33-hectare property via competitive challenge or “Swiss Challenge” as part of a wide-ranging policy review and due diligence process. Fort Bonifacio was not singled out; the Food Terminal Inc complex and the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway were subjected to the same rigor.
In 2012, Aquino decided that the Bonifacio property should be opened to public bidding.
In its narration, the BCDA said that “a shadow was cast on the integrity of the process” because the previous board appeared to have rushed approval of the unsolicited proposal of SM Land days before the May 2010 elections.
“The undue haste by which the award was made was a cause for concern of the newly appointed directors and for President Aquino himself,” the BCDA wrote.
Moreover, the offer of SM Land was way below the market value of the land. The BCDA cited the recent appraisal by Cuervo Appraisers placing the cost of each square meter at P78,000. Besides, the BCDA pointed out, SM Land can participate anew, this time in a public bidding.
via Was SC justice partial in BCDA-SM Land issue?.