50 Fascinating Things I've Read Lately(fool.com)
fool.com
50 Fascinating Things I've Read Lately
http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2011/04/15/50-fascinating-things-ive-read-lately.aspx
4 comments
Agreed. I think synthesis of many facts/ideas/etc is the major advantage of the knowledge worker.
When I was getting into programming in the early 00's, most people had stacks of books that they would refer to. I was using Google (and google groups was really useful back then) and just blowing by my co-workers in knowledge and productivity. I became the go-to person simply because I could research a problem and synthesize a solution quickly.
Rainbow's End http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rainbows_End by Computer Science prof Vernor Vinge tells of a future where synthesis of data is the major skillset. Interesting read.
When I was getting into programming in the early 00's, most people had stacks of books that they would refer to. I was using Google (and google groups was really useful back then) and just blowing by my co-workers in knowledge and productivity. I became the go-to person simply because I could research a problem and synthesize a solution quickly.
Rainbow's End http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rainbows_End by Computer Science prof Vernor Vinge tells of a future where synthesis of data is the major skillset. Interesting read.
>"So [government] spending [in 2010] was $186 billion higher than if we'd stuck to the [2000-2007] trend, and revenue was $681 billion lower. In other words, the giant deficit is mainly the result of the collapse in tax receipts brought on by the recession, not the increase in spending. Nice to know, huh?"
--Justin Fox
This one seems a little misleading. Fox is comparing 2010 spending vs. revenue to the 2000-2007 trend, but spending far outpaced revenue in this period. When revenue dropped in the recession, he points to that and says, "see, it's a revenue problem." But even if revenues somehow hadn't dropped dramatically during the recession and the trend continued, the federal government would still be spending much more than it is taking in. That seems to me more indicative of a spending problem.
This one seems a little misleading. Fox is comparing 2010 spending vs. revenue to the 2000-2007 trend, but spending far outpaced revenue in this period. When revenue dropped in the recession, he points to that and says, "see, it's a revenue problem." But even if revenues somehow hadn't dropped dramatically during the recession and the trend continued, the federal government would still be spending much more than it is taking in. That seems to me more indicative of a spending problem.
This is the first time I've seen the revenue shortfall blamed on the recession. Typically one sees the tax cuts taking the fall for that, don't they?
Matt Ridley seems to be mis-attributing advances in medicine and technology to economic equality. In his world, I can only be truly poor if I rode a horse drawn carriage to work.
Something I really enjoyed recently:
Common sense is that which tells us the world is flat. --Stuart Chase
There's something really profound here. Teaching fact memorization was necessary in the past because people didn't have those facts readily available to them where ever they went. Now that they do we should really examine the way we teach and adjust accordingly