"Our Obsession with Efficiency Is Destroying Our Resilience" and "Moore's Law for Everything" both highlight the negative consequences of our current focus on efficiency and the need for a shift in thinking. The pursuit of efficiency has led to a high degree of specialization, concentration of power in a few dominant players, and a decrease in resilience.
Hatched by Kei
Sep 20, 2023
2 min read
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"Our Obsession with Efficiency Is Destroying Our Resilience" and "Moore's Law for Everything" both highlight the negative consequences of our current focus on efficiency and the need for a shift in thinking. The pursuit of efficiency has led to a high degree of specialization, concentration of power in a few dominant players, and a decrease in resilience.
In "Our Obsession with Efficiency Is Destroying Our Resilience," the author argues that resilience should be a source of competitive advantage rather than efficiency. Efficiency creates a risky business environment where high returns go to a limited number of companies and people. The remedy, according to the author, is for business, government, and education to focus more on building resilience.
Similarly, "Moore's Law for Everything" discusses the coming AI revolution and its potential to create phenomenal wealth. However, the author emphasizes the need for a change in policy to distribute this wealth and ensure economic inclusivity. The author suggests taxing capital rather than labor and using these taxes to directly distribute ownership and wealth to citizens.
Both articles point out the dangers of an overly efficient system and the need for a shift in focus. Here are three actionable pieces of advice that can be derived from these articles:
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Limit scale and promote competition: To avoid excess concentration of power, antitrust policies should be more rigorous to ensure dynamic competition. This means preventing market domination and encouraging a larger number of competitors.
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Introduce friction strategically: Instead of striving to eliminate all friction, productive friction should be injected into the system to build resilience. Lower barriers to trade should not always be seen as a positive, as they can lead to Pareto outcomes and concentration of power.
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Promote long-term thinking and good jobs: Companies should invest in training and skill development for employees, prioritize customer service and quality, and design jobs that require more skills. This not only benefits employees but also leads to increased sales, profits, and further investment. Additionally, policies should be implemented to ensure good jobs are created, as the cheap labor model transfers expenses to taxpayers.
In conclusion, our obsession with efficiency and the concentration of power it creates is detrimental to our resilience and overall societal value. To address this issue, we should prioritize resilience over efficiency, promote competition and good jobs, and distribute wealth more equitably. By taking these actions, we can create a more inclusive and sustainable economic system.
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