“From a social point of view, it's beneficial that homeownership encourages commitment to a given town or city. But, from an economic point of view, it's good for people to be able to leave places where there's less work and move to places where there's more.” PeopleAbleMovingGivenSocialViewsCitiesEconomicCommitmentTownsPoint Of ViewBeneficialHomeownership Author:James Surowiecki
“I started in business journalism from the outside, so when I started writing about markets and business, I was struck by the fact that markets seemed to work well even though people are often irrational, lack good information and are not perfect in the way they think about decisions.” PeopleThinkingWayWritingWellsFactsDecisionPerfectInformationJournalismIrrationalNot PerfectGood Information Author:James Surowiecki
“If someone really wants my company's business, why shouldn't he be able to do everything he can - including paying me off - to get that business? Because bribery encourages people to make decisions based on the wrong criteria, which means in the business world that it distorts the efficient allocation of resources.” PeopleIfsWorldWantMeanAbleDecisionCompanyResourcesIncludingEfficientCriteriaBusiness WorldBriberyAllocation Author:James Surowiecki
“If we want our regulators to do better, we have to embrace a simple idea: regulation isn't an obstacle to thriving free markets; it's a vital part of them.” IfsWantIdeasSimpleEmbraceObstaclesRegulationFree MarketRegulatorsSimple Ideas Author:James Surowiecki
“If you thought the advent of the Internet, the spread of cheap and efficient information technology, and the growing fragmentation of the consumer market were all going to help smaller companies thrive at the expense of the slow-moving giants of the Fortune 500, apparently you were wrong.” IfsHelpingMovingCompanyTechnologyGrowingInformationInternetFortuneSpreadConsumersGiantsThriveExpensesEfficientInformation TechnologyAdventFragmentation Author:James Surowiecki
“If you work for Google or Apple, stock options give you a chance to share in the increasing value of the company. In the N.F.L., nothing like this happens; the players, though rich, are just working stiffs like the rest of us.” IfsGivingHappensValuesChanceCompanyRichPlayerShareApplesGoogleStock Options Author:James Surowiecki
“In a world where companies increasingly know about their business in real time, it makes no sense that public reporting mostly follows the old quarterly schedule. Companies sit on vital information until reporting day, at which point the market goes crazy.” KnowsWorldRealCompanyCrazyInformationSchedules Author:James Surowiecki
“In industries where a lot of competitors are selling the same product - mangoes, gasoline, DVD players - price is the easiest way to distinguish yourself. The hope is that if you cut prices enough you can increase your market share, and even your profits. But this works only if your competitors won't, or can't, follow suit.” IfsWayEnoughCuttingPlayerShareProductsIndustryIncreaseProfitSellingSuitsCompetitorsDvdsGasoline Author:James Surowiecki
“In practice, downsizing is too often about cutting your work force while keeping your business the same, and doing so not by investments in productivity-enhancing technology, but by making people pull 80-hour weeks and bringing in temps to fill the gap.” PeopleForceHoursPracticeTechnologyCuttingWeekInvestmentProductivityGapsDownsizing Author:James Surowiecki
“In terms of productivity - that is, how much a worker produces in an hour - there's little difference between the U.S., France, and Germany. But since more people work in America, and since they work so many more hours, Americans create more wealth.” PeopleLittlesAmericaTermHoursDifferencesWealthProduceWorkersProductivityFranceGermany Author:James Surowiecki
“In the auto industry, there's one thing you can always count on: if a new environmental or safety rule is proposed, executives will prophesy disaster.” IfsOne ThingIndustrySafetyEnvironmentalDisasterExecutivesAuto Industry Author:James Surowiecki
“In the days when corporate downsizing was all the rage, Wall Street took a lot of flak for judging companies too harshly and setting the bar for corporate performance so high that executives felt their only option was to slash payrolls.” FeltCompanyStreetsJudgingWallPerformancesRageBarsSettingSettingsCorporateExecutivesPayrollDownsizing Author:James Surowiecki
“In the struggle between capital and labor, more often than not capital has won, because the real source of value for most companies has historically been the hard assets that they owned and controlled.” RealHardValuesCompanyStruggleSourceLaborControlledAssets Author:James Surowiecki
“Instead of mindlessly tossing billions at or taking billions from the Net as such, investors should be spending their time making sure that it's the future Fords and General Motors of cyberspace that are getting the capital they need.” NeedsShouldSpendingBillionsInvestorsMotorCyberspaceGeneral Motors Author:James Surowiecki
“Intellectual-property rules are clearly necessary to spur innovation: if every invention could be stolen, or every new drug immediately copied, few people would invest in innovation. But too much protection can strangle competition and can limit what economists call 'incremental innovation' - innovations that build, in some way, on others.” PeopleIfsWayToo MuchDrugLimitsIntellectualInnovationCompetitionPropertyProtectionInventionEconomistStolenSpursIntellectual Property Author:James Surowiecki
“It may be that the very qualities that help people get ahead are the ones that make them ill-suited for managing crises. It's hard to prepare for the worst when you think you're the best.” PeopleThinkingMayHardHelpingQualityWorstCrisisIllGet AheadYou Re The BestPrepare For The Worst Author:James Surowiecki
“Life insurance became popular only when insurance companies stopped emphasizing it as a good investment and sold it instead as a symbolic commitment by fathers to the future well-being of their families.” WellsFatherCompanyCommitmentInvestmentWell BeingSymbolicInsurance Companies Author:James Surowiecki
“Linux is a complex example of the wisdom of crowds. It's a good example in the sense that it shows you can set people to work in a decentralized way - that is, without anyone really directing their efforts in a particular direction - and still trust that they're going to come up with good answers.” PeopleWayStillsShowsAnswersEffortExampleParticularComplexesCome UpCrowdsGood ExamplesLinux Author:James Surowiecki
“Lower oil prices won't, by themselves, topple the mullahs in Iran. But it's significant that, historically, when oil prices have been low, Iranian reformers have been ascendant and radicals relatively subdued, and vice versa when prices have been high.” Has BeensLowsVicesOilSignificantRadicalIranVice VersaIranianReformersOil PriceMullahs Author:James Surowiecki
“Making loans and fighting poverty are normally two of the least glamorous pursuits around, but put the two together and you have an economic innovation that has become not just popular but downright chic. The innovation - microfinance - involves making small loans to poor entrepreneurs, usually in developing countries.” TwoCountryTogetherFightingPoorPovertyEconomicInnovationEntrepreneurPursuitDevelopingLoanGlamorousChicDeveloping CountriesMicrofinance Author:James Surowiecki
“Markets work best when there's lots of information available and a historical track record to go on; they excel at predicting things like horse races, election outcomes, and box-office results. But they're bad at predicting things like who will be the next Supreme Court nominee, as that depends on the whim of the president.” NextPresidentResultsRaceRecordsInformationGoes OnDependsOfficeHorseElectionCourtHistoricalTrackBoxesAvailableSupremeOutcomesSupreme CourtWhimBox OfficePredictingTrack Record Author:James Surowiecki
“Medical tourism can be considered a kind of import: instead of the product coming to the consumer, as it does with cars or sneakers, the consumer is going to the product.” KindDoeCarProductsMedicalConsumersTourismImportsSneakers Author:James Surowiecki
“Nike used to be known as Blue Ribbon Sports. What's now Sara Lee used to be Consolidated Foods. And Exxon was once Standard Oil Company of New Jersey. These were name changes that worked. But for all the ones that do, there are 10 or 20 that don't.” UsedNamesSportsCompanyKnownStandardsBlueOilUsed To BeJerseyNew JerseyRibbonsNikeOil CompaniesStandard OilName Changes Author:James Surowiecki
“Now, modern economies have a very effective mechanism for deciding if salaries are really too high: it's called the free market. That's how most people's salaries are set, after all, including those of major-league baseball players and European soccer players.” PeopleIfsEconomyPlayerModernMajorsBaseballIncludingSoccerLeagueMechanismFree MarketSalaryBaseball PlayerMajor LeagueSoccer PlayerMajor League Baseball Author:James Surowiecki
“Of course, looking tough on inflation is part of any central banker's job description: if investors believe that inflation is going to get out of control, you end up with higher interest rates and capital flight, and a vicious circle quickly ensues.” IfsBelieveEndsJobsCoursesInterestHigherToughRateCirclesFlightDescriptionInvestorsViciousInflationBankersInterest RateVicious Circles Author:James Surowiecki
“Of course, politicians always say they're just describing their opponents' positions, even if they are in fact offering absurd caricatures, if not outright lies.” IfsFactsLyingCoursesPositionPoliticianAbsurdOpponentsOfferingDescribingCaricatures Author:James Surowiecki
“On the simplest level, telecommuting makes it harder for people to have the kinds of informal interactions that are crucial to the way knowledge moves through an organization. The role that hallway chat plays in driving new ideas has become a cliche of business writing, but that doesn't make it less true.” PeopleWayWritingKindIdeasPlayMovingLevelsRolesOrganizationHarderDrivingCrucialInteractionNew IdeasSimplestClicheHallwaysBusiness Writing Author:James Surowiecki
“Political risk is hard to manage because so much comes down to the personal choices of policymakers, whether prime ministers or heads of central banks.” HardPoliticalChoicesRiskManageMinistersPrimePrime MinisterCentral BanksPersonal Choice Author:James Surowiecki
“Publishers, naturally, loathe used books and have developed strategies to depress the secondhand market. They bring out new, even more expensive editions of popular textbooks every three to four years, in a classic cycle of planned obsolescence.” YearsBookUsedThreeFourStrategyClassicExpensiveCyclesFour YearsDepressingPublishersTextbooksLoatheObsolescencePlanned ObsolescenceUsed Books Author:James Surowiecki
“Punk rock has never really had much patience with musical virtuosity. Actually, it'd be more accurate to say that for most of its history, punk has been actively hostile to virtuosity.” Has BeensRocksMusicalPunkAccurateHostilePunk RockVirtuosity Author:James Surowiecki
“Self-dealing, essentially, occurs when managers run companies to line their own pockets instead of those of the companies' owners. It's been a perennial problem in American capitalism and became a real dilemma when America moved toward a model in which corporations would be run by professional managers who had only small ownership stakes.” RealSelfProblemWould BeRunningAmericaLinesCompanyModelsCapitalismMovedManagersCorporationsPocketsOwnersStakesOwnershipDilemmaAmerican Capitalism Author:James Surowiecki
“Since the Protestant majority in Northern Ireland wants to remain a part of Great Britain, and since Ireland itself has shown little interest in reunification, the IRA's prospects for success through political channels have always been limited.” WantLittlesPoliticalInterestMajorityBritainIrelandProtestantsProspectsGreat BritainNorthern IrelandIraReunification Author:James Surowiecki
“Solyndra's failure isn't a reason for the government to give up on alternative energy, any more than the failure of Pets.com during the Internet bubble means that venture capital should steer clear of tech projects.” GivingShouldMeanReasonGovernmentEnergyClearInternetGiving UpProjectsAlternativesPetBubblesVentureSteersVenture CapitalAlternative Energy Author:James Surowiecki
“Speculators get a bad rap. In the popular imagination they're greedy, heedless, and amoral, adept at price manipulations and dirty tricks. In reality, they often play a key role in making markets run smoothly.” PlayRealityRunningImaginationRolesKeysRapTricksDirtyManipulationGreedyAdeptSpeculators Author:James Surowiecki
“Standards wars involve lots of variables, and understanding them often seems more an art than a science. They generally involve just two big players, and end in a winner-take-all situation.” ArtTwoWarEndsBigsSeemsUnderstandingSituationPlayerStandardsWinnerVariables Author:James Surowiecki
“Technological innovation has dramatically lowered the cost of computing, making it possible for large numbers of consumers to own powerful new technologies at reasonably low prices.” PowerfulNumbersTechnologyCostLowsInnovationConsumersTechnologicalNew TechnologyLarge NumbersComputing Author:James Surowiecki
“The fundamental problem with banks is what it's always been: they're in the business of banking, and banking, whether plain vanilla or incredibly sophisticated, is inherently risky.” ProblemFundamentalsSophisticatedBankingVanilla Author:James Surowiecki
“The history of the Internet is, in part, a series of opportunities missed: the major record labels let Apple take over the digital-music business; Blockbuster refused to buy Netflix for a mere fifty million dollars; Excite turned down the chance to acquire Google for less than a million dollars.” OpportunityChanceMillionsRecordsInternetMajorsDollarsSeriesMereLabelsApplesAcquireFiftyDigitalGoogleMillion DollarsMusic BusinessTurned DownRecord LabelsNetflixBlockbusterDigital Music Author:James Surowiecki
“The paradox of Steve Jobs's career is that he had no interest in listening to consumers - he was famously dismissive of market research - yet nonetheless had an amazing sense of what consumers actually wanted.” WantedJobsInterestCareersListeningResearchConsumersParadoxMarket Research Author:James Surowiecki
“The reason advertising is governed by fear, after all, is that most agencies rely on just a few clients to bring in the lion's share of their revenues.” ReasonShareAdvertisingRelyAgencyLionsClientsRevenue Author:James Surowiecki
“The truth is that the United States doesn't need, and shouldn't have, a debt ceiling. Every other democratic country, with the exception of Denmark, does fine without one.” NeedsDoeCountryStatesUnitedUnited StatesFineTruth IsDemocraticDebtExceptionCeilingsDenmarkDemocratic CountryDebt Ceiling Author:James Surowiecki
“The value of a currency is, ultimately, what someone will give you for it - whether in food, fuel, assets, or labor. And that's always and everywhere a subjective decision.” GivingValuesDecisionLaborFuelAssetsCurrencySubjective Author:James Surowiecki
“The Xbox 360 is the best game console ever designed. It's fast and powerful - games look as good on the 360 as on high-end PCs that cost six times as much. It's easy to navigate and has lots of useful secondary features - the ability to play digital video, stream MP3s, and so on.” LooksEndsPlayGamesEasyAbilityPowerfulCostSixVideoFeaturesStreamsDigitalConsoleNavigateXboxMp3 Author:James Surowiecki
“There are certainly valid reasons for taking a company private, and it's also possible that C.E.O.s perform better when monitored by a small number of owners in a private company rather than by the dispersed and often uninterested shareholders of a public corporation.” ReasonNumbersCompanyCorporationsOwnersShareholdersSmall NumbersUninterested Author:James Surowiecki
“To be sure, if you watch CNBC all day long you'll pick up some interesting news about particular companies and the economy as a whole. Unfortunately, to get to the useful information, you have to wade through reams of useless stuff, with little guidance on how to distinguish between the two.” IfsLittlesLongTwoWholeStuffInterestingCompanyWatchesEconomyInformationParticularNewsPicksUselessGuidanceWadeSome InterestingUseful InformationUseless Stuff Author:James Surowiecki
“Tough times have always lent themselves to nativist sentiments and closed-door policies. But in the case of highly skilled immigrants these policies are a recipe for stagnation.” CasesDoorsPolicyToughImmigrantsSentimentsRecipesTough TimesStagnationClosed Doors Author:James Surowiecki
“Unlike fuel-economy standards, the most common method of reducing demand for oil over the past thirty years, a gas tax doesn't tell people what kind of car to drive. It simply raises the price of gasoline and lets people adjust their behavior accordingly.” PeopleYearsKindPastCommonEconomyCarDemandTaxesBehaviorStandardsRaisesMethodOilThirtyFuelGasReducingThirty YearsOver The PastGasolineFuel Economy Author:James Surowiecki
“Unlike most government programs, Social Security and, in part, Medicare are funded by payroll taxes dedicated specifically to them. Some of the tax revenue pays for current benefits; anything that's left over goes into trust funds for the future. The programs were designed this way for political reasons.” WayReasonGovernmentPoliticalLeftSocialPaySecurityTaxesBenefitsProgramCurrentsFundDedicatedSocial SecurityRevenueMedicareGovernment ProgramsPayrollTrust FundsPayroll Tax Author:James Surowiecki
“Until the nineteen-seventies, Western countries paid little attention to corruption overseas, and bribery was seen as an unpleasant but necessary part of doing business there. In some European countries, businesses were even allowed to deduct bribes as an expense.” LittlesCountryAttentionPaidWesternCorruptionExpensesSeventiesBribeNineteenEuropean CountriesBribery Author:James Surowiecki
“What an economy really wants, after all, is not more investment per se but better investment. It wants capital to flow to companies that will create value - not in the form of a rising stock price but in the form of more goods for less cost, more jobs, and rising wages - by enhancing productivity.” WantJobsFormValuesCompanyEconomyCostFlowInvestmentProductivityRisingGoodsWagesStock Price Author:James Surowiecki
