The Class Action Incentive Problem

I just signed up as a claimant in (yet another) class action lawsuit. This one is against Visa and MasterCard. “The deadline for the Visa/Mastercard $5.54 billion settlement claim is approaching quickly…This settlement provides all eligible businesses the...

Pointing at Who Did It

The pilot who successfully lands the crippled airliner gets the headlines. So does the emergency room doctor who restarts the heart of a 53-year old man. As they should. These are extraordinary efforts that lead directly to saved lives. Plus, it’s easy to point...

Benevolent Monopoly

The benevolent monopoly can make life easier and better for customers. That’s why they’re benevolent. Bell Telephone, Standard Oil, and Microsoft all were benevolent monopolies. The efficiencies of their monopolies were passed on to customers in the form...

Do You Want to be Boeing or SpaceX?

Boeing has pedigree. SpaceX is the young upstart. Boeing is slow and steady — do it right the first time. SpaceX fails fast and fixes it later. Boeing conjures feelings of pride, trust, and safety. SpaceX’s CEO pisses off the...

Are You Committed or Just F’n Around?

James Hetfield said that when he found Lars, he had finally found the other person who was just as committed as he was to making it work. Everybody else was just f’n around. That’s who he was looking for. Someone else who was committed. He knew this was...

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