Today I’ll talk about a classic article. Robert Merton’s “The Matthew Effect In Science”. This is an important and useful idea. You can tell it is has been successful as it has gained its own Wikipedia page, here. The Matthew Effect There are many things in life where perceptions drive success. This is often true…
Category: Public Policy
Finance For The Long-Term
Stephen Davis, Jon Lukomnik and David Pitt-Watson have a book that focuses on problems in finance. This includes the critical question, why does your pension fund charge such high fees? The authors have advice how we could recreate finance for the long-term. We need a financial system that has at its center a purpose that…
Not Aiding An Opposing Group
The fact that we form groups, alliances even, is fundamental human behavior. Working together allows us to achieve things that we couldn’t do independently. Sadly, almost inevitably, being in a group brings conflict with other groups. Much work is done on how we react to group-based conflict. What do we know about whether we are…
The Brussels Effect
The Brussels Effect is a phenomenon whereby regulations created by the EU (European Union) become global standards. A key point is that this is something that the EU can do on its own. It isn’t about expanding regulation through multilateral treaties whereby Brussels attempts to get other states to adopt the EU rules. Instead, the…
Planning For Sustainability
Bill Gates has a really useful book about what we might call planning for sustainability. It is a practical approach on what we can hope to achieve. The book has a lot of critical information conveyed in a relatively easy-to-understand form. I’d certainly recommend it. Before we start it is worth noting that some people…
Sage Advice On Positioning
Kim Whitler, author of Positioning for Advantage, has had a fascinating career. This has taken her through senior marketing roles at some notable companies. She is now at Darden, the University of Virginia (my MBA alma mater). Her book brought back a lot of memories. She has managed to distill the spirit of academic advice,…
The Perils Of Status
Most people worry about being low status. That makes sense. It really isn’t great to be low status. Academia is so status-obsessed it often makes me laugh. Doctor this, and professor that. I’m just waiting for carpets that non-doctors can’t walk on and we’ll have gone full-on House of Lords. This reminds me of the…
In Defense Of Robots And Their Judgments
A second post on the book, Noise, by Kahneman, Sibony, and Sunstein. For the first see here. The authors are experts in human judgment and they have a few useful comments in defense of robots and their judgments. Arguments Against, And For, Robots Noise is a book about the problems of variability in human judgment….
Understanding Data Analytics, And ‘Competitive Advantage’
Anil Maheshwari’s Data Analytics Made Accessible is a helpful book. Schools use it as a textbook and it has that feel. There is a lot of information there in a somewhat ‘just the facts’ sort of format. It should help with understanding data analytics. Useful Information To Aid In Understanding Data Analytics The book is…
Understanding Public Opinion: Oldie But Goodie Insights
In this post I look at classic book on understanding public opinion. Edward Bernays’ Crystalling Public Opinion. Some Advice Has Stood The Test Of Time In Helping Understand Public Opinion Firstly, this book clearly has a decent amount of the material that has stood the test of time pretty well. As far as PR precepts…
