Review: The Three Languages of Politics: Talking Across the Political Divides

The Three Languages of Politics: Talking Across the Political Divides by Arnold Kling
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A great (small/efficient< 150 pages) book, it explains in a simple and concise way the basics of the major political divide and why the majority tend to go to the extremes while debating it and be so intransigent to the others who see differently from us and finally why in the public domain it's so difficult to have a sound and value-added discussion about politics and policy options,

Don't expect it to be an in-depth political science book, but one that tries to explain the divide, one that lays the foundation of the communication (languages) problems and how we could start changing the current status.

The 3 axis are heuristics/rules of thumb of the 3 main political tendencies and should not be seen as an extensive portrait of each spectrum (they, are used to exemplify, sometimes to the extreme, why we cannot understand each other and find a common ground.

Its simplicity, objectivity and capacity to convey the thesis that the author presents (and that i fully relate to), coupled with a great capacity of synthesis, not extending beyond the fundamental of your argument (in area that could push you to do so), made me give a 5 stars rating.

Strongly advise its reading as its reach and insights will last way more that the time you will invest in it, and it's applicable not only to politics but other areas,

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Sunday thoughts - while Peppa Pig and the kind is playing nonstop on my tele.

Another Sunday morning, Peppa Pig, Paw Patrol and SpongeBob are playing non stop on the tele, for the happiness of my 3 kids and my mind tries find refuge somewhere else for the sake of my mental sanity.

Is based on this setup that i started thinking about an article that i have read in the Economist that basically was saying that all the latest big successful IPOs were almost exclusively done by companies that had blitzscaled based on business models that the winner takes it all, thus growth at all cost trumps anything else and the price they charge for the services/products provided are significantly below the price of its marginal costs and even not mentioning its value (the Uber, Lyft, Neflix, Spotify, Tesla's of these world). This, then creates an huge consumer surplus and on a macro level tames the inflation on the big economies.

If we compound all the direct effects created by this trend and also the spillovers to the other industries, we mix it with the trade wars and the massive subsidies that are being given to the Agricultural sector in the US and also in EU (the latter something almost perennial since the EU inception), we see that most probably the current low inflation could be the results of all these non natural factors that cannot be sustained on the long term (the markets are already asking positive results to these companies and that can only be achieved with higher prices that the end-consumer will have to pay eventually).

Then if we go from the Micro to Macro, we see that the QE and historical low interest rates (even negative) can be done only in an environment of low inflation and even with this big stimulus we denote that the economic growth prospects are dismal to say the least to the advanced economies.

So if inflation picks-up due to this rebalancing of the current pricing levels of these everyday more important products/services in the CPI basket (technological and agricultural ones) and the low inflation scenario disappear are we set to a major disruption in Macro terms?

Well, just started an episode of Motown Magic that i really like, thus have decided to stop the nonsense thinking and enjoy the music and the story with my 3 kids! Enjoy the weekend!

Review: The Conservative Sensibility

The Conservative Sensibility by George F. Will
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Really enjoyed reading this book and do recommend it to all the ones interested in political science.

I do think that all, so called conservatives or progressives, should read it so they can have a better perspective on what Conservatism is, entails and projects from a societal standpoint.

Several misconceptions and believes from both sides are exposed, analyzed and significantly challenged. You might not agree with everything (even be far from that), but, as it's presented, will allow you to think about it and stress your own philosophy and political building blocks.

The big question is: are there natural rights, consequence of the human existence and uniqueness, that supersede any social and moral construct, made by men and imposed by a majority, that should be the overarching principles of any society (eg. "...all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness ..." - take creator as you might feel appropriate). If yes, these principles are prior to any social construct and are its unchangeable foundations.

Based on this premise all the areas of a society (judicial, executive, legislative, economic, science, etc...) should be based and always address and respect these natural rights and protect them no matter what (the so called conservative sensibility).

The book has broaden my way thinking (made me address these problems in a different way) and pushed the boundaries of my rationale and how I framed some essential questions. Writing that, i do not say that i fully agree with the author, but even when i disagree it made me think of my preconceived and long established ideas.

What I really liked in the book were the areas related with the:
- epistemological framework of the conservative sensibility;
- balance of the 3 political powers (executive, legislative and judicial) and how they have been biased to the executive side and with that the distortion that we can currently see in the society and;
- The political economy chapter.

So why i did not rate it higher (more than 3)? Mainly due to 3 main reason, that are:
1 - the book is significantly biased to the US reality - very interesting, but sometimes limiting the full conservative spectrum;
2 - The book could have between 100 to 150 pages less, the arguments are properly disclosed, explained and rationale/critic presented, however sometimes this exercise is stretched beyond the value added that is generated by the additional pages;
3- The use of quotes to support the author argument are excessive and make the writing to lose momentum and sometimes disappear.

As a final overview, it was a pleasure its reading and time well invested.


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Review: Thinking in Bets: Making Smarter Decisions When You Don't Have All the Facts

Thinking in Bets: Making Smarter Decisions When You Don't Have All the Facts by Annie Duke
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I have finished reading this book more than a couple of weeks ago and although i liked it, it was a kind of disappointment.

Most probably that perception came from a very high expectations that i had when i started reading the book, due to a couple of podcast that i have heard with Annie that made me eager to read the book.

More than a couple of good insights related on:
- (i) how to think in probabilities (bets), instead of the deterministic way we usually do,
- (ii) how one should be able to distinguish the process of decision making (the thing we can improve based on a thorough analysis of our process and also by observing others) and the outcomes, as the latter can be a result of luck and a bad/biased/plain wrong decision making process (Nick the Greek example),
- (iii) how to overcome group biases and create a sound a diverse group to allow you to grow on your decision making process (this one, the one i liked it the most).

The poker analogies, in my opinion, were sometimes forced and with little insight and background, they were used from a 10.000 feet perspective and kind of a moto to introduce a subject, no real and concrete examples of decisions and strategies applied in the actual competitions that Annie was a key figure and connect them to the insights she was able to develop (positive or negative ones).

Most probably this high level perspective was a conscious choice of the writer in order to broaden the potential readers "audience", but kind of left me a "not so sweet" taste in my mouth after reading the book.

All in all, I still fo recommend its reading, specially for readers that would like to have a high level introduction to probabilities and behavior economics, kind of a trailer to future readings.





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Review: Never Split the Difference: Negotiating As If Your Life Depended On It

Never Split the Difference: Negotiating As If Your Life Depended On It by Chris Voss
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Great book on negotiation, very practical and easily implementable on your day-to-day work, and very easy to read. Should be mandatory, among others, on every sales capabilities program!

It's a great (if not mandatory) complement to the hard-skills you should know about negotiation and challenged several beliefs that i had and it made me think on how to approach every negotiation process.

Beside reading it, i will study it and will definitely read my notes every time i will enter a more demanding negotiation process to complement the other negotiation tools that i already have in my negotiation strategy bag-pack.

Concepts like:(i) Labels/Accusation Audit, (ii) Calibrated Questions; (iii) Questions to identify deal killers; (iv) how to diffuse deal-killing issues; (v) how to leverage noncash offers, (vi) identify black swans; (vi) how to set goals to maximize your possible outcome (not settle with one that is in the ZOPA range); (vii) how to be a mirror; (viii) how to master the No and get "That's right" moment, etc...are of great value!

Would be great if you do not read it so i can have leverage on the next negotiation process.



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Dynamic Pricing Silver Bullet?

https://www.ibbaka.com/blog/2019/11/7/dynamic-pricing-is-a-two-edged-sword

Fully agree with this great post! When you only have (want to sell) a hammer everything looks like a nail. Every solution has its value and should be applied accordingly and we should avoid to go with the latest trend flow and thoroughly assess the pros & cons and look at the value fundamentals. "...The conflation of willingness to pay and differentiated value has to come to an end. Willingness to pay is an outcome of the creation, communication and delivery of differentiated value. It is an outcome and not a driver. Pretending that you understand value because you can estimate willingness to pay is wrong headed. ..."

Review: The Strategy and Tactics of Pricing: A Guide to Growing More Profitably

The Strategy and Tactics of Pricing: A Guide to Growing More Profitably by Thomas T. Nagle
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A good text book on pricing in its strategic and tactical perspective. Decided to read it in order to shore-up my Pricing knowledge and it was of great utility. I do recommend its reading for someone that wants to know more about pricing, to the professionals already working to provide a sound framework to their day-to-day activities and allow better decisions that have implicit a tremendous value to the overall organizations they work for.

It provides pricing theory as deemed needed (and if you want to explore more you have a plethora of references you can explore), but it's practical text book that applies the theory presented to actual cases and guides you through such important strategic process. Even in the field on how to determine the pricing level (value, pricing elasticities, etc...) always have a pragmatic and practical approach that one can use immediately.

Pricing is presented where the push comes to shove. i.e. when every company captures the value it has previously created and you can see a lot of value be siphoned away due to bad practices.

From all the applicable concepts presented, i would like to highlight the following:
- The Value Cascade - great representation on how to manage value and then pricing. An how you spill value in each caption
- How to define the best value to your customer;
- How to estimate the economic value estimation (economic vs. psychological);
- How to create break-even sales curves vs. pure elasticities (difficult to estimate in real markets)
- Ethics and law - also a good chapter that push-back some preconceived ideas and limitations,

Do recommend its reading and have it readily available for every pricing professional.



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