The weekend is here! Pour yourself a mug of coffee, grab a seat outside, and get ready for our longer-form weekend reads:
• The A to Z of economics: Economic terms, from “absolute advantage” to “zero-sum game”, explained to you in plain English. (The Economist)
• The Incredible Tantrum Venture Capitalists Threw Over Silicon Valley Bank: Remind me why, exactly, these guys have so much control over technological innovation? (Slate) see also How Not to Cover a Bank Run: When financial panic looms, reporters need to stick to the facts. (The Atlantic)
• Tech’s very bad year, in numbers: Reduced investment and large-scale layoffs have created dark times for tech globally. (Rest Of World)
• The Biggest Winner of the Gas Stove Fight Is Induction Ranges: While culture warriors and foodies panic over their favorite kitchen appliance, the induction range is still waiting for America to fall in love. (Businessweek)
• The Brilliant Inventor Who Made Two of History’s Biggest Mistakes: A century ago, Thomas Midgley Jr. was responsible for two phenomenally destructive innovations. What can we learn from them today? (New York Times Magazine)
• Behind the Show for Man’s Best Friend Lurks a Ruthless Competition: “You get cliques, you get jealousy, you get arguments. It’s competition, and people do get like that about competition.” (Bloomberg)
• What Do We Actually Know About Covid-19? Not Enough: Scientists studying the novel coronavirus say it is too early to sound the all clear; ‘Are there other tricks we have yet to see?’ (Wall Street Journal)
• We’re Distracted. That’s Nothing New. Ever since Thoreau headed to Walden, our attention has been wandering. (Chronicle of Higher Education)
• What Broken Windows Theory Can Teach Us: Now The discredited policing philosophy got one thing right: It isn’t crime that makes people feel unsafe. (Slate)
• Not to Be: High Art. Romantic intrigue. Monstrous villainy. The inside story of the original, star-studded—and star-crossed—production of Shakespeare in Love is the stuff of, well, Shakespeare. (Air Mail)
Be sure to check out our Masters in Business this week with Cliff Asness, co-founder and chief investment officer at AQR Capital Management. The quant firm manages $100 billion in 40 diversified strategies across equity and alternatives, applying mathematics to market data and making evidence-based investments. His published research can be found at Cliff’s Perspectives.
Wall Street’s Biggest Banks Rescue Teetering First Republic.
Source: NYT
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To learn how these reads are assembled each day, please see this.