Mitt Mixes His Facts and Numbers

There have been predictable reactions to Mitt Romney's claim that the difference between Israel and its neighbors is because the former has a better culture. Jared Diamond, who wrote the book Guns, Germs and Steel, dissects the claim in this NYT piece. That piece aside, many people asked about whether it was appropriate to make that claim given the different circumstances in which the two nations live. Still, this matter is worthy of consideration because there are differences between Israel and Egypt, Syria or other closer countries that do not live under the same political constraints of Palestine.

My view is that Mitt Romney may really believe in the argument that culture is a determinant of economic success. More surprising to me is that he and his team make quotes and attribute certain findings to Jared Diamond and other authors when these are not correct. Its clear that as the article by Jared Diamond states, this candidate for the presidency has most probably not read the book that he quotes liberally from and seems to be less concerned with differences between these countries. In spite of his support for "superior cultures", one would expect him to note that an income per capita of US$ 10,000 that he attributes to Palestine would still make it a mid-income country. An undeniably good business head should not show such ignorance about the economy. Its a plain fail for the campaign research team.   

How Cities Aid Ambition

I have kept this interesting piece on my browser for about a week now and just got to read through it a short while ago. It reminds me of the thinking on whether culture determine entrepreneurship or economic development. Coming to the article, the author who is obviously well-travelled across major European and north America cities, presents a very incisive understanding of the city-level culture and how this shapes the dominant professional clusters.

Worthy of reading for oneself, I am still struck by the keenness of the author in assessing what a city is bound to be best at and the distinctions drawn between cities in California, Cambridge (US),New York and Paris. Whether one agrees with the fact that Cambridge has cut for itself a niche in producing ideas on account of the existence of the "Intellectual Hub" while New York is best at cultivating interest in personal grooming and financial power, is less important than the ability to divide cities and make a coherent case for what they represent.

In all the most potent statement is the contrast between New York and Silicon Valley as it presents the central thesis of the article. Cities truly speak for something that every curious traveller should try to figure out. Here is the bold claim:

"Power matters in New York too of course, but New York is pretty impressed by a billion dollars even if you merely inherited it. In Silicon Valley no one would care except a few real estate agents. What matters in Silicon Valley is how much effect you have on the world. The reason people there care about Larry and Sergey is not their wealth but the fact that they control Google, which affects practically everyone."


HT: Ben Casnocha