Galbraith At 110

The first time I heard about him was when I saw my dad showing a couple of the books of the great economist to some people in his study – which also served as living room. I was probably watching Spiderman – thank you Stan Lee – but kept an eye on what they were doing. You know just in case the massive personal library did have some cartoon books somewhere. It looked like he was a fan. How could he not be? They were both curious writers, sharp observers, had designed policies and even spent a fair amount of time in India.

I think the first JKG book I read from cover to cover was The Great Crash and funnily enough I read it in 1987 a year in which the Dow Jones collapsed by 508 points in a single day. It didn't take long to like the guy and learn plenty of stuff. For example it is in one of his books that I learned that we owe the sentence the survival of the fittest not to Charles Darwin but to Herbert Spencer. Elsewhere that trickle-down economics aka supply-side economics was in fact the horse and sparrow theory of the 1890s. It was obvious that Ken had read an extremely large amount of stuff. And it is important to read him to get the big picture, avoid groupthink and develop enough of self-preserving wit.

I always wondered if my dad and Galbraith had met. Thanks to Assange I found out that he was trying to get him to visit Mauritius back in 1974. They probably have. When I feel nostalgic about JKG I go read this obituary to be reminded that it takes several versions for a text to feel right and that spontaneity doesn't arrive before the fourth day. November 15 also turns out to be the birthday of another great: Guy Rozemont.

Idiot Factories

I used to love laureates. A lot. Who wouldn't? They were the reason we could stay away from dumb teachers for one or more days. And taunt the other schools which did not have any in a particular year. Yep, if you want to be mean, start early.

But then we learn that some of them don't actually manage to finish their first degree. Which is fine. Or if they do they do so in a very average way. Which is fine too. Lack of ambition is one reason. That can change later. Peaking too soon is another. Relying on rote learning will not help them either because there is now way too much codified knowledge around to digest. 

And because there is only so much you can learn in the three years of your first degree. Compared to say the fifty or so years that you'll have on the clock after you promised to stay hungry and stay foolish. If you don't keep on learning you will be outsmarted fast because learning has never been easier. It's even better to learn different things. And stay out of narrow silos at all costs.  

The media can provide a nice platform for some to try -- to borrow from Ken Galbraith -- to make the ideas of your graduate days or of a Washington-based loan shark last a lifetime. But it will be an increasingly risky strategy. Worldwide. Besides maintaining a large ego is quite draining: you will have less energy to go to sleep everyday a bit less stupid than you when woke up. And it will hurt when you will come off that arrogant pedestal. 

So yeah, every year prestigious universities around the world will produce smart people and brilliant ideas. And idiots too. It will become increasingly easy to recognise them. 

Ex-Governor's Memory Playing Tricks on Him

This is the impression I got on skimming through an interview of Basant Roi that was published in a newsletter earlier this week. In it the guy who was in charge of the Bank of Mauritius for a little over eight years stated that the independence of our central bank had now been thrown out of the window.

Kind of funny to come from the person who was Governor precisely when the independence of the institution he had been entrusted with was murdered during the MCB-NPF saga before being hanged in the second half of 2006 when the rupee was allowed to freefall despite the record FDI.

And the hansard contains interesting replies that will kind of support the view that when it comes to degrading our institutions Berenger has no match. Except maybe Sithanen.

Today of course is a great day to read a few pages of The Great Crash for at least an extra reason: John Kenneth Galbraith would have turned 100.