World, Chow Yong Han

USA is still attracting talents around the world

(Excerpt from Prisoners of Geography by Tim Marshall) For thirty years it has been fashionable to predict the imminent or ongoing decline of the USA. This is as wrong now as it was in the past. The planet’s most...

July 24, 2022| Politics Read More

Why Tibet is important to China

(Excerpt from Prisoners of Geography by Tim Marshall) If China did not control Tibet, it would always be possible that India might attempt to do so. This would give India the commanding heights of the Tibetan Plateau...

July 24, 2022| China Read More

Network effects are hard to build before hitting the critical mass

(Excerpt from Modern Monopolies by Alex Moazed and Nicholas L. Johnson) network effects are a double-edged sword. Successful platforms are very hard to compete against, but the same network effects that drive growth...

October 18, 2020| Tech Read More

Surge pricing is to alter demand and supply inbalance

(Excerpt from Modern Monopolies by Alex Moazed and Nicholas L. Johnson) Uber’s “surge pricing”—dynamic pricing that rises in response to high demand—is a direct attempt to balance supply and demand. Surge...

October 18, 2020| Tech Read More

Modern monopolies are facing fierce competition and fighting obsolescence

(Excerpt from Modern Monopolies by Alex Moazed and Nicholas L. Johnson) Monopolies are typically viewed as a result of market forces breaking down—the forces of supply and demand aren’t able to keep a company’s...

October 18, 2020| Tech Read More

Software alone is a commodity

(Excerpt from Modern Monopolies by Alex Moazed and Nicholas L. Johnson) (Fred Wilson) he has told what he called the “dentist office software story.” The story, “a modern day fable about defensibility in the...

October 18, 2020| Tech Read More

Technology may be an enabler for central planning

(Excerpt from Modern Monopolies by Alex Moazed and Nicholas L. Johnson) The core argument in favor of markets was always that they were more efficient than central planning. In the United States, we take that as gospel,...

October 18, 2020| Tech Read More

Information warfare is ever more crucial in an Internet era

(Excerpt from Mindf*ck Monday #47: The endless pursuit of truth by Mark Manson) I attended a talk (on Zoom) a few months ago given by a former official from the US State Department and he said something that kind of...

September 17, 2020| Politics Read More

The ruler needs to decide what’s best for the country, even with unpopular decisions

(Excerpt from Han Feizi translated by Burton Watson) those who do not understand how to govern invariably say, “You must win the hearts of the people!” If you could assure good government merely by winning...

August 30, 2020| Politics Read More

Humans cannot be trusted – Legalism

(Excerpt from Han Feizi translated by Burton Watson) Legalist thought in general, and that of Han Feizi in particular, is marked by a drastically low opinion of human nature. Some scholars detect in the latter case the...

August 30, 2020| China, Machiavellian Read More