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Thomas Friedman had a column in the NYTimes about a week ago. While I did not agree with the specific, this quote was gold: "We cannot bail or tax-cut our way

by AJ007 15y ago

Thomas Friedman had a column in the NYTimes about a week ago. While I did not agree with the specific, this quote was gold: "We cannot bail or tax-cut our way to prosperity. We can only, as Jobs understood, invent our way there." Measuring GDP, inflation, deflation, the unemployment rate, all of these numbers are not a reflection of quality of life. Prosperity is a quality of life issue which is solely improved (or destroyed) through technological advancement.

achompas 15y ago
If you're going to listen to a Friedman talk about economics, make it Milton. Quoting Thomas Friedman is an exercise in pop sociology and buzzword-dropping. Invention is not a necessary or sufficient condition for prosperity. You can arrive there via many paths (thriftiness or wise investment, service provision, etc.).
- cjy 15y ago
  I don't like Thomas Friedman either. But, that is a good quote that I think Milton would agree with. He doesn't say that invention is a necessary condition for prosperity. He said it is a necessary condition for prosperity GROWTH.
  - achompas 15y ago
    I'm shocked that you inferred as much from his quote. He's notoriously vague (because he's not actually saying anything), and after re-reading the quote I'm not sure where you got the "growth" part from.
SkyMarshal 15y ago
This is directed at Thomas Friedman, not you... He is the most uncritical cheerleader blowhard I've just about ever read. He spent the early 2000s raving about how outsourcing America's wealth-creation capacity was a great thing, and now he's taking the lead in lamenting it. I don't know who feeds him his ideas, but he lacks experience, judgment, and wisdom to fully evaluate them himself, and is at best an unskilled popularizer of spurious memes. The few times he says something not totally sophomoric, it's almost certainly due to random chance alone. Broken clock is right twice a day. If you're going to listen to any one person on this issue, Andy Grove is the one: http://www.gsb.stanford.edu/news/bmag/sbsm1106/manufacturing.html http://www.gsb.stanford.edu/news/bmag/sbsm1106/manufacturing... http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/10_28/b4186048358596.htm http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/10_28/b41860483... I wish I could vote for Grove for President. I just might write him in. /rant

by AJ007 15y ago

achompas 15y ago

If you're going to listen to a Friedman talk about economics, make it Milton. Quoting Thomas Friedman is an exercise in pop sociology and buzzword-dropping. Invention is not a necessary or sufficient condition for prosperity. You can arrive there via many paths (thriftiness or wise investment, service provision, etc.).

cjy 15y ago
I don't like Thomas Friedman either. But, that is a good quote that I think Milton would agree with. He doesn't say that invention is a necessary condition for prosperity. He said it is a necessary condition for prosperity GROWTH.
- achompas 15y ago
  I'm shocked that you inferred as much from his quote. He's notoriously vague (because he's not actually saying anything), and after re-reading the quote I'm not sure where you got the "growth" part from.

SkyMarshal 15y ago

This is directed at Thomas Friedman, not you... He is the most uncritical cheerleader blowhard I've just about ever read. He spent the early 2000s raving about how outsourcing America's wealth-creation capacity was a great thing, and now he's taking the lead in lamenting it. I don't know who feeds him his ideas, but he lacks experience, judgment, and wisdom to fully evaluate them himself, and is at best an unskilled popularizer of spurious memes. The few times he says something not totally sophomoric, it's almost certainly due to random chance alone. Broken clock is right twice a day. If you're going to listen to any one person on this issue, Andy Grove is the one: http://www.gsb.stanford.edu/news/bmag/sbsm1106/manufacturing.html http://www.gsb.stanford.edu/news/bmag/sbsm1106/manufacturing... http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/10_28/b4186048358596.htm http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/10_28/b41860483... I wish I could vote for Grove for President. I just might write him in. /rant