Quotes of the day

If [Bill and Melinda Gates] indeed have a much-improved aid model, then why this big campaign to defend US government aid agencies (including USAID), whom we and many others have documented do not change in response to – or even acknowledge – failures?--William Easterly

Explaining life does not count as explaining the Universe.--Steven Landsburg

To me, insects are where sushi was 20 years ago.--Marc Dennis

Most commentary I come across is populist diatribe claiming the sector is grossly overpaid, and with public funds too, so requiring that bankers are paid next to nothing. "They wouldn't even be there if we hadn't bailed them out" is a fashionable argument. Newsflash: That is not a solution, it is a quest for retribution against a single cog in a system which all stakeholders (employees, boards, shareholders, regulators, central bankers, tax collecting politicians etc) blithely allowed to develop over the last two decades.--Andrew Clavell

[George] Bonanno and his colleagues found that there are at least three common patterns of grief. Some people find the experience deeply distressing and disorienting but then slowly heal. Some become completely dominated by their sadness, perhaps never to recover. This type is extremely rare. Then there are people who experience some initial shock and distress but who pretty quickly bounce back into the competent execution of their daily lives. Most people, says Bonanno, fit into the third category.--Christine Kenneally