Niall Ferguson
Appearances
3 Takeaways
Top Takeaways of 2024 (#232)
Well, the great thing about my theory is that it's quite testable. We ran a series of experiments. They weren't really thought of experiments, but they turned out that way in which we would give the same people different institutions. And you mentioned the classic examples.
3 Takeaways
Top Takeaways of 2024 (#232)
There are two Germanys, one of which is essentially integrated into the Western world of democracy and rule of law, limited government and market economics. And then there's East Germany, which is part of the Soviet bloc. Two Koreas, one of which is fully Marxist-Leninist, the other one part of the American alliance system and becomes democratic.
3 Takeaways
Top Takeaways of 2024 (#232)
I hope you've enjoyed these highlights. If you'd like to listen to any of the full episodes, historian Neil Ferguson is episode 199. Melody Hobson is episode 184. Former New York Times executive editor Jill Abramson is episode 206. Norway's Ina Eriksson-Soraida is episode 213. Former Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer is episode 220. Extraordinary food expert Barb Stuckey is episode 183.
3 Takeaways
Top Takeaways of 2024 (#232)
Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt is episode 225. Negotiation expert William Urey is episode 193. Global health surgeon Dr. Atul Gawande is episode 182. Bioethicist Peter Singer is episode 224. Former Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman is episode 227. Journalist Fareed Zakaria is episode 209. And executive coach Marshall Goldsmith is episode 221.
3 Takeaways
Top Takeaways of 2024 (#232)
And in each case, with amazing speed, the outcomes diverge. And you could equally make this argument about mainland China and Taiwan. So we see in a great many different places these experiments in which one people is given a couple of different systems. And what proves that ideas and institutions really matter is how quickly the different incentives produce different outcomes.
3 Takeaways
Top Takeaways of 2024 (#232)
It doesn't matter how long a cultural tradition you may have. As soon as the institutions are different, then behavior completely changes. We kind of assume that there's a life cycle of empire, of civilization, that they have a sort of vigorous youth and they're in the prime of their lives and then they age and then finally die. But that's what we do as individuals.
3 Takeaways
Top Takeaways of 2024 (#232)
It is not actually what polities do. Because civilizations or empires, which are sort of structured civilizations, can vary enormously in their lifespan. I would offer the insight that there is a kind of interplay between those forces that allow a frontier to expand and those forces that cause the core to rot. to corrode. And understanding those dynamics helps us.
3 Takeaways
Top Takeaways of 2024 (#232)
And one of my favorites is that once a society is spending more on paying the interest on its public debt than it's spending on defense or national security, it's probably in trouble. The situation in the United States is precisely that. This year, for the first time, the United States is now going to spend more on interest payments than on defense in 2024.
3 Takeaways
Top Takeaways of 2024 (#232)
Barb and her wonderful book, Taste, helped me become more attuned to a world of tastes, aromas, textures, sights, and sounds that I didn't even know I was missing.