Getting beyond the OK Plataues with 'deliberate practice'

When you want to get good at something, how you spend your time practicing is far more important than the amount of time you spend. In fact, in every domain of expertise that’s been rigorously examined, from chess to violin to basketball, studies have found that the number of years one has been doing something correlates only weakly with level of performance....

Benjamin Franklin was apparently an early practitioner of this technique. In his autobiography, he describes how he used to read essays by the great thinkers and try to reconstruct the author’s arguments according to Franklin’s own logic....

The secret to improving at a skill is to retain some degree of conscious control over it while practicing—to force oneself to stay out of autopilot....

Unlike mammographers, surgeons tend to get better with time. What makes surgeons different from mammographers, according to Ericsson, is that the outcome of most surgeries is usually immediately apparent—the patient either gets better or doesn’t—which means that surgeons are constantly receiving feedback on their performance. They’re always learning what works and what doesn’t, always getting better. This finding leads to a practical application of expertise theory: Ericsson suggests that mammographers regularly be asked to evaluate old cases for which the outcome is already known. That way they can get immediate feedback on their performance.

-Foer, Joshua (2011-03-03). Moonwalking with Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything . The Penguin Press. Kindle Edition.

Arnold Kling has an interesting discussion on the topic over at their blog.

Foer, citing Anders Ericcson and confirming with his own experience, says that what is happening at a plateau is that you are doing too much on auto-pilot. Instead, you have to jar yourself into engaging in the activity more consciously....

I wonder if there is an analogy with firms or even larger economic units. That is, a firm is bound to operate on "autopilot" to a large extent, but if it does so it will reach a plateau. And maybe firms or larger economic units sometimes have to cut back on autopilot and do worse for a while in order to escape a plateau.

Narayana Murthy- Bill Gates of India

N. R. Narayana Murthy- a true Indian hero.

"I want to be remembered as a fair person...nicety I don't care"

He attributes the success of the firm to the reforms of 1991.

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Infosys Foundation

Policy Talks at Google

Condoleezza Rice & David Miliband


Robert Atkinson, Edwin Garrubbo, Michael Avon, and Google Chief Economist Hal Varian

More Idiocy from Chavez

'Willy Wonka' faces closure threat from Chavez

Hayek Quote of the Day

"The curious task of economics is to demonstrate to men how little they really know about what they imagine they can design." (The Fatal Conceit, p. 76)

via Steve Horwitz

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Hayekian Insights on Economic Development

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Clinton Aide’s Private Databank Venture Breaks Ground in Politicking;

In creating Catalist, Mr. Ickes, who was deputy chief of staff in the Clinton White House, has formed a rare entity on the political scene, a for-profit limited-liability corporation that allows wealthy Democratic donors to help progressive organizations and candidates by investing in the company. And if Catalist, which has data on 230 million Americans, is successful as a business, these donors-turned-investors stand to reap financial returns from using their money to help elect Democrats.

But some campaign finance watchdogs say they wonder whether Catalist was established not so much to make money but to find a creative way to allow big-money liberal donors to influence the election without disclosing the degree of their involvement or being subjected to other rules that would govern spending by an explicitly political organization.

Catalist has raised over $11 million in venture capital, including more than $1 million from the billionaire financier George Soros, according to his aides. It also counts on such large unions as the Service Employees International Union and the A.F.L.-C.I.O., to buy its products and create revenues. And it plans to be the go-to source for voter data for a broad swath of groups often aligned with Democrats — like the Sierra Club, Emily’s List and Clean Water Action — as they embark on ambitious get-out-the vote efforts this fall.

These liberal clients will buy lists of likely voters based on information that Catalist has gleaned from voter registration files and commercial data providers. For instance, Catalist computers will take voter registration information along with data from appliance warranties, hunting and fishing licenses, charitable memberships and other data points to draw models of potentially sympathetic voters that these clients can approach.

Catalist grew out of the embers of two groups that Mr. Ickes headed in the 2004 election, Americans Coming Together and the Media Fund, which, in part, conducted strong get-out-the-vote efforts. But when the Democrats failed to take the White House in 2004, wealthy donors believed that one reason they had failed was that Democrats lacked the sophisticated voter databanks of the Republican Party, its celebrated “voter vault” that can pinpoint likely supporters.

Out of that analysis came a decision to set up a Democratic voter databank outside the formal party apparatus and structured as a business, with investors and customers drawn from the same pool of those who had worked closely together in 2004.

“We wanted to come at this differently,” said Laura Quinn, chief executive of Catalist. “We needed people with a business background and a political background. Putting together a business model was critical to our effort, but we also needed someone who understood the political space, and that was Harold.”

What's the company about;

To help progressive organizations realize measurable increases in civic participation and electoral success by building and operating a robust national voter database of every voting-age American; by offering tools and expertise that allow clients to use that data to improve fundraising, organizing and communications; and by updating and refining that data on a continuous basis.

Oral Justice

Oral Justice

Meet the Entrepreneur - Mr. MTV

Bill Roedy of MTV

Fidel Castro requested him to use MTV to teach Cubans English

Latest- MTV Arabia;

MTV Arabia takes into account local cultural values in its content, even to the extent that Israel is excluded from the country list, when users try to register for an "MTVip" account.

Econ Talks- Hayek for Africa

Hayekian Insights on Economic Development
Featuring William Easterly, Professor of Economics, New York University, with comments by Arvind Subramanian, Senior Fellow, Peterson Institute for International Economics. Moderator Ian Vásquez, Cato Institute.

Let Failing African Governments Collapse: A Radical Solution to Underdevelopment
Featuring: Edward N. Luttwak, Senior Associate, Center for International and Strategic Studies; George Ayittey, Professor of Economics, American University; and Mauro De Lorenzo, Resident Fellow, American Enterprise Institute. Moderated by Marian Tupy, Policy Analyst, Cato Institute

Economic Collapse and Political Repression in Robert Mugabe's Zimbabwe
Featuring: Walter H. Kansteiner, Principal, Scowcroft Group Former Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs; Carol Thompson, Deputy Assistant Secretary, Bureau of African Affairs, Department of State; and Richard Tren, Director, Africa Fighting Malaria. Moderated by Marian Tupy, Cato Institute.

Doing Business in Small Islands

Interesting post from World Bank's Doing Business blog;

In Mauritius, it takes only 7 days. Mauritius, the best performing SIDS economy, ranks 27th on the ease of doing business, while Guinea Bissau is at 176 out of 178 countries.

The government that took office in July 2005 embarked on a bold economic reform program aimed at moving Mauritius from reliance on trade preferences to global competitiveness. Over the last two years Mauritius has reformed in 7 of the 10 areas Doing Business measures—one of the most dedicated government reform efforts that the project has seen worldwide. Out of 18 reforms affecting business regulations in SIDS introduced between April 2006 and June 2007, 6 were implemented by Mauritius.

Reforms pays off. Over the past two years, Mauritius's economy has enjoyed a steady increase in the annual growth rate – from 2.2% in 2005 to 5.4% in 2007. This is consistent with Doing Business research finding - a hypothetical improvement on all aspects of the Doing Business indicators to reach the level of the top quartile of countries is associated with an estimated 1.4 to 2.2 percentage points in annual economic growth. This is after controlling for other factors, such as income, government expenditure, investment, education, inflation, conflict, and geographic regions.

Reforms are also associated with faster job creation. In Mauritius, overall the unemployment rate dropped by 1.1% from 9.6% in 2005 to 8.5% in 2007. Doing Business research also shows that women and young workers benefit the most from reforms. Mauritius is no exception. Female unemployment was reduced by 2% from 16.4% in 2005 to 14.4% in 2007.

Koch Associate Program

Applications Now Open

A reminder- the Mercatus Center Master's Fellowship Program

The deadline for applications for the Fall 2008 semester is April 18, 2008.

The Mercatus Center Master's Fellowship Program is a competitive fellowship program for students in George Mason University's MA economics program (thesis option) who are interested in pursuing an advanced degree in applied economics in preparation for a career in business or public policy. Our master's fellows take specialized courses which provide analytic training in applying economic ideas to solve problems in the world.

The Mercatus Center Master's Fellowship program is targeted toward students with an interest in gaining advanced training in economics, but who do not anticipate a career in academia. Students who anticipate working in public policy or in a decision making position in business are ideal candidates for this fellowship.

Doing in Business in Middle East

Fadi Ghandour, founder of Aramex

So where do you think he learned the art of entrepreneurship? You guessed it right- in USA.

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Delivery companies are consolidating

“WE ARE competing with giants,” says Fadi Ghandour. The Jordanian businessman has first-hand experience of consolidation in the logistics business. He is chief executive of ARAMEX International, which began life as the Middle East partner of a number of American delivery companies. Partnerships and alliances allow operators to link with others to provide services in places where they have no operations of their own. All went well until 2003, when DHL bought Airborne Express, ARAMEX's chief partner in America. The deal gave DHL a way to compete in the backyard of UPS and FedEx. But for ARAMEX it meant its link to the crucial American market was cut.

To restore it, Mr Ghandour set out his own strategy of alliances and acquisitions, replicating what his big rivals were doing. ARAMEX now offers a delivery service to more than 190 countries. Last year it was listed on the Dubai stock exchange. The company is continuing to buy local operators, and recent acquisitions include logistics firms in Ireland, Britain and Egypt. “There are always entrepreneurs out there,” says Mr Ghandour. “We are never going to be left without a real partner.”

ARAMEX illustrates how local markets present their own, often unique opportunities for logistics companies. ARAMEX's services range from the secure delivery of credit cards and legal documents to delivering goods and accepting payments for users of souq.com, an Arab version of eBay. The company also offers a “shop and ship” service for people buying things in America, especially online. Although international deliveries have become easy, some American companies and traders on eBay will not ship goods overseas. ARAMEX helps out Middle East shopaholics by providing them with addresses in America to which goods can be shipped. It then couriers the items to the buyers.

The Davos Question

Nobel laureate on solutions for Afghanistan

Edmund Phelps and Graciana del Castillo have an op-ed on Afghanistan;

The main sources of growth in the economy relate directly to the large presence of the international community and indirectly to the illicit drug economy. This does not offer any possibility of genuine economic development, and will never allow the country to get out of its aid dependency.

Is it possible to turn the entre­preneurial spirit of the Afghans away from producing drugs into lawful production such as cotton and textiles? Crop eradication – which often kills subsistence crops and pollutes water at the same time – has proved ineffective in controlling drug cultivation. It has proved to be a way to create huge profits for criminal and armed groups. It is likely to increase the power of the Taliban further.

The replacement of the illicit economy requires viable options. Both the US and the European Union assist their farmers through loan and price support programmes and other incentives. If donors want to “do good”, they should support a two-pronged economic reconstruction strategy.

First, donors should channel reconstruction aid through the budget to enable the government to provide subsidies or other incentives (such as price support programmes) to replace poppies with lawful crops such as cotton, which was produced in the past. The UK government is at present considering price support for Afghan farmers. Other donors should do the same.

Second, once production of lawful crops increases, donors should provide know-how, technical support and credit for the local industrialisation of such crops. At the same time, donors should open their markets through special preferential tariff treatment to light, labour-intensive manufactures from Afghanistan, including textiles.

Such a strategy – or any similar one producing and adding value to fruits, vegetables, grains, lavender or anything else that Afghans can produce – could help the country to stand on its own feet. By increasing dynamism and social inclusion this strategy would create a good economy. It would also be a way of establishing the legitimacy of the Afghan government and decreasing the attractiveness of the Taliban.

Brainwashed in Old Europe

Stefan Theil has an interesting article in the current issue of FP on Europe’s Philosophy of Failure

What a country teaches its young people reflects its bedrock national beliefs. Schools hand down a society’s historical narrative to the next generation. There has been a great deal of debate over the ways in which this historical ideology is passed on—over Japanese textbooks that downplay the Nanjing Massacre, Palestinian textbooks that feature maps without Israel, and new Russian guidelines that require teachers to portray Stalinism more favorably. Yet there has been almost no analysis of how countries teach economics, even though the subject is equally crucial in shaping the collective identity that drives foreign and domestic policies.

Just as schools teach a historical narrative, they also pass on “truths” about capitalism, the welfare state, and other economic principles that a society considers self-evident. In both France and Germany, for instance, schools have helped ingrain a serious aversion to capitalism. In one 2005 poll, just 36 percent of French citizens said they supported the free-enterprise system, the only one of 22 countries polled that showed minority support for this cornerstone of global commerce. In Germany, meanwhile, support for socialist ideals is running at all-time highs—47 percent in 2007 versus 36 percent in 1991.

It’s tempting to dismiss these attitudes as being little more than punch lines to cocktail party jokes. But their impact is sadly and seriously self-destructive. In Germany, unemployment is finally falling after years at Depression-era levels, thanks in no small part to welfare reforms that in 2005 pressured Germans on the public dole to take up jobs. Yet there is near consensus among Germans that, despite this happy outcome, tinkering with the welfare state went far beyond what is permissible. Chancellor Angela Merkel, once heralded as Germany’s own Margaret Thatcher, has all but abandoned her plans to continue free-market reforms. She has instead imposed a new “rich people tax,” has tightened labor-market rules, and has promised renewed efforts to “regulate” globalization. Meanwhile, two in three Germans say they support at least some of the voodoo-economic, roll-back-the-reforms platform of a noisy new antiglobalization political party called Die Linke (The Left), founded by former East German communists and Western left-wing populists...

French students, on the other hand, do not learn economics so much as a very specific, highly biased discourse about economics. When they graduate, they may not know much about supply and demand, or about the workings of a corporation. Instead, they will likely know inside-out the evils of “la McDonaldisation du monde” and the benefits of a “Tobin tax” on the movement of global capital. This kind of anticapitalist, antiglobalization discourse isn’t just the product of a few aging 1968ers writing for Le Monde Diplomatique; it is required learning in today’s French schools.

Germans teach their young people a similar economic narrative, with a slightly different emphasis. The focus is on instilling the corporatist and collectivist traditions of the German system. Although each of Germany’s 16 states sets its own education requirements, nearly all teach through the lens of workplace conflict between employer and employee, the central battle being over wages and work rules. If there’s one unifying characteristic of German textbooks, it’s the tremendous emphasis on group interests, the traditional social-democratic division of the universe into capital and labor, employer and employee, boss and worker. Textbooks teach the minutiae of employer-employee relations, workplace conflict, collective bargaining, unions, strikes, and worker protection. Even a cursory look at the country’s textbooks shows that many are written from the perspective of a future employee with a union contract. Bosses and company owners show up in caricatures and illustrations as idle, cigar-smoking plutocrats, sometimes linked to child labor, Internet fraud, cell-phone addiction, alcoholism, and, of course, undeserved layoffs. The successful, modern entrepreneur is virtually nowhere to be found.

Entrepreneurship and Development

Read Making Poor Nations Rich- Entrepreneurship and the Process of Economic Development
edited by Benjamin Powell

via Frederic Sautet