Books to Understand the Men and Context That Created America's Institutions and Its Checks and Balances

Books to Understand the Men and Context That Created America's Institutions and Its Checks and Balances Recommended by The Economist, plus one of my own additions: 1-Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation — Joseph J. Ellis (Knopf) 2-The Radicalism of the American Revolution — Gordon S. Wood 3-The Revolutionary: Samuel Adams — Stacy Schiff (Little, Brown) 4-John Adams — David McCullough (Simon & Schuster) 5-A Magnificent Catastrophe: The Tumultuous Election of 1800, America's First Presidential Campaign — Edward J. Larson 6-The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family — Annette Gordon-Reed (W. W. Norton) All six are on my wish list. And I would add one classic of my own: 7-Democracy in America — Alexis de Tocqueville Seven books to understand the Founding Fathers. https://www.economist.com/culture/2026/01/06/six-books-to-understand-the-founding-fathers From The Economist

- Pedro

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The Cost of Short-Term Thinking

The Cost of Short-Term Thinking Just read this quote on a Russ Roberts Substack article citing Bastiat (french economist from the XIX),that, as most of his work, I really liked — it made me think, and I could not agree more. "...In the economic sphere an act, a habit, an institution, a law produces not only one effect, but a series of effects. Of these effects, the first alone is immediate; it appears simultaneously with its cause; it is seen. The other effects emerge only subsequently; they are not seen; we are fortunate if we foresee them. There is only one difference between a bad economist and a good one: the bad economist confines himself to the visible effect; the good economist takes into account both the effect that can be seen and those effects that must be foreseen.Yet this difference is tremendous; for it almost always happens that when the immediate consequence is favorable, the later consequences are disastrous, and vice versa. Whence it follows that the bad economist pursues a small present good that will be followed by a great evil to come, while the good economist pursues a great good to come, at the risk of a small present evil. …" Frederic Bastiat — French economist https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fr%C3%A9d%C3%A9ric_Bastiat

- Pedro

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A Stark Wake-Up Call for Europe’s Defense

A Stark Wake-Up Call for Europe’s Defense This podcast series (7 episodes), included in the list recommended by The Economist for 2025, is one you simply cannot miss, given its importance and relevance in the current geopolitical environment we are living through. It exposes the cruel and devastating reality of the UK’s armed forces — and you don’t need to be Einstein to extrapolate this to the rest of Europe. All of this is revealed through a well-crafted war game, played by former UK politicians who held high office in the British government — individuals experienced in handling similar situations and fully aware of the resources available. The exercise shows just how thin and perilous the situation is, and how significant underinvestment in this area has made it dangerously fragile. We cannot forget that this kind of scenario was all too real for the Ukrainian government back in 2022. It is a frightening wake-up call for Europe’s current position. As critical as one may be of the current US administration, after going through this series it becomes difficult to disagree with the argument that Europe cannot maintain the current defence status quo in terms of investment and armed forces readiness. Going back to Maslow’s pyramid, we can only build a European society with all its values if we are able to secure its sovereignty and territorial integrity — and, as we have seen, that can only be achieved through robust and capable armed forces. I could not recommend this podcast series more highly. (text revised by a llm) https://open.spotify.com/show/4lHtW6x1D6R0E1QmGLkBK1?si=Zv2w4jAaQKS3ce0KI07m1g

- Pedro

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In Pursuit of Decisive (or Was It Incapable?)

In Pursuit of Decisive (or Was It Incapable?) It has been a while since I read an article that made me laugh several times… people nearby thought I was crazy. Another great one by Andrew Palmer, this time about the relentless journey one has to undertake to identify, lock in on the target, and win the contest for the right to use a meeting room in this “wonder world” called “the office”. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did. Below you can find a teaser: “…When rooms are in demand, the top of every hour ushers in the same scene. First, lots of people rise from their desks and start to walk around with water bottles. The risk of dehydration is not high if you are sitting in a conference room for an hour. But you never know. Someone asks a colleague which meeting room has been booked, a reminder that rooms should not be given names. “Are we in Decisive?” “What?” “Are we in Decisive?” “Oh. No. We’re in Incapable.” “What?” And so on, until someone reverts to normal speech: “It’s the big one by the lift.” …” (text revised by a llm) The excruciating quest for a meeting room https://www.economist.com/business/2026/02/12/the-excruciating-quest-for-a-meeting-room From The Economist

- Pedro

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¿Leemos más de lo que pensamos?

¿Leemos más de lo que pensamos? Una encuesta muy interesante de El País sobre el lector en España que recomiendo leer :-) Algunos datos son agradablemente sorprendentes: 1- El 25 % de la gente lee un libro todos los días y el 30 % al menos todas las semanas (?); 2- La lectura es más popular que los videojuegos o los pódcasts (??) 3- Las mujeres leen más que los hombres 4- Los jóvenes son más eclécticos en términos de género literario 5- La lectura está pasando del papel al formato digital 6- A todos les gustaría tener más tiempo para leer (¿aspiración o excusa?) Teniendo en consideración el 1 y el 2, que van en contra de mis expectativas —pues pensaba que serían resultados significativamente menos alentadores—, no puedo dejar de pensar que en esta encuesta puede haber un sample bias que sesgue los resultados de una forma positiva (solo la gente que lee contesta y la que contesta, por presión social, amplifica sus hábitos de lectura…). En los últimos años he leído más de 20 libros al año y, dentro del entorno en el que me muevo (familia y amigos), solo mi hermana mediana y mi padre leen más que yo; todos los demás, con mucha diferencia, no lo hacen. Pero, sea como sea, celebremos los resultados positivos y hagámoslo realidad todos los días. El camino se hace caminando. (texto revisado por un llm) https://elpais.com/babelia/2024-11-23/la-gran-encuesta-al-lector-espanol-del-siglo-xxi-que-leemos-quien-lee-que-distingue-a-los-z.html?sma=lanewsletterdekikollaneras_2024.11.23&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&utm_campaign=lanewsletterdekikollaneras_2024.11.23

- Pedro

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Adding Context: The Hidden Value in Every Chart

Adding Context: The Hidden Value in Every Chart A simple—and because of that, great—example of how to build a graph and how providing clear visualization, along with the right context, can guide users toward useful insights and better decisions. I really like this site because it consistently presents strong examples and ideas on how to communicate key messages through graphs. By going step by step, you can clearly see the added value that context and information bring to each version. (text revised by a llm) https://slowrevealgraphs.com/2026/01/09/highest-paid-athletes-in-the-world-comparing-salary-winnings-with-endorsements/

- Pedro

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Making Space for ‘I’m Sorry’ and owning up to your mistakes

Making Space for ‘I’m Sorry’ A must-see: a balanced, sensible, and well-structured statement on this subject — the best I’ve heard so far. “If he said something as bad as what he said, I would still hope there’s room for someone to apologize and say, ‘I’m sorry — I made a huge mistake.’” (text revised llm) https://youtu.be/fuVMzJBzLhI?si=bCJBKOWc_8cEygX_

- Pedro

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