People today don't become economists to make the world a better place.

Economists have allowed themselves to walk into a trap where we say we can forecast, but no serious economist thinks we can.

So the problem is not the algorithms, or the big datasets. The problem is a lack of scrutiny, transparency, and debate.

Few human inventions are more complex and tightly coupled than the banking system; Charles.

A hammer looks like a useful tool to a carpenter; the nail has a different impression altogether.

The food surplus enabled larger populations and societies with specialists – builders, priests, craftsmen, but also specialist soldiers.

Failure in Innovation – it’s a price worth paying.

It may be satisfying to castigate the likes of Geithner and the heads of Lehman Brothers and AIG, but safety experts like Perrow know it is far more productive to design better systems than to hope for better people.

Much of what we think of as cultural differences turn out to be differences in income.

Ten rules of thumb are still a lot for anyone to remember, so perhaps I should try to make things simpler. I realize that these suggestions have a common thread – a golden rule, if you like. Be curious.