Leaving Microsoft to Change the World

我在一個社企 (社會企業 social enterprise) 的晚宴看到這本書，題目很吸引。特別是我也在科技界工作了一段日子，更想知道有甚麼驅動這位John Wood放棄成功的事業，投身到完全陌生的世界，為一群他不認識的小朋友建造圖書館。

John Wood是 Room To Read 的創辦人，專為落後貧困地區的兒童建設圖書館和學校，包括硬件(建築物)及軟件(書籍)。跟每一位社會企業家一樣，他有一顆赤子之心，也有一點點衝動和較為容易放下的性格。這種性格對任何創業者，無論是社會企業或掙錢的企業，都是非常重要。計算太多或太傾向安全的生活模式對創業者來說都是大忌。John Wood跟其他大多數社企或慈善工作者不同的地方，在於他的商業經驗。當然現在愈來愈多有商界經驗和背景的有心人加入NGO的行列，開展他們的第二事業。在十多年前這現象還不大普遍，所以John Wood 以營商的手法去經營慈善事業就予人耳目一新的感覺。

這是一本半自傳半叙事型式的書，非常易看，絕不沉悶，也有看小說的感覺。激勵人心以外，也有幾個引人思考的要點。第一是他決定離開 Microsoft 全身投入慈善事業的過程。許多人包括我在內到一些落後地區旅遊時，都會有剎那間的衝動要為那地方做一點事情。但旅遊完後回復忙碌工作很快又忘記得一乾二淨。John Wood 能把自己的理想付諸實行，己經很不簡單。在其時他還要是Microsoft 亞太區的要員，就更不容易。書中記載了幾段關於微軟的小插曲，包括作者與 Steve Ballmer 和 Bill Gates 接觸的小故事，可以滿足讀者八卦的心態。他描述自己內心世界的掙扎頗為細膩，亦令人信服。最精彩是他和女友感情的發展，由開始的志同道合，到真正落實計劃時意見相左而分手，雖然是作者單方面的故事，我覺得對他的女友不是很公平，但己確切地反映了要改變 Corporate Life 的困難。

書中另一 insight 是作者如何克服創業的重重難關。雖然John Wood 要創立的是非弁利的事業，但中間領略的艱辛，跟建立賺錢的企業沒有甚麼分別。好像一開始時籌募資金，找企業贊助，沒有人明白你在做甚麼，受盡白眼，沒有秘書，每樣事情都要親力親為。中間經過一段黑暗期，懷疑自己的決定是否正確，懷念過往大機構的日子，甚至於後悔冒了這個險。最後一個 big break 突然來到，把握著機會突圍而出，成功達成第一宗生意 (John Wood 則是成立第一所圖書館)。隨後生意愈做愈大，經歷 growing pain 等等。對於搞過生意的過來人，這一切都感同身受，很有共鳴。

跟另外一本書 Three cup of teas 比較，我覺得John Wood 的經歷較為傳統，讀他的故事就好像讀一個典型美國創業者的故事一樣。Mortensen 的經歷則像一位傳教士，努力學習當地的文化風俗，融入他要幫助的社會。John Wood 擅用他的商業技巧，在美國的關係網絡， 把『商品』輸入到目標市場去。Mortensen 則憑他一股幹勁，以摸著石頭渡河方式達成他的夢想，整體過程更曲折甚至驚險。兩人有不少共通的地方，不約而同對教育女性都非常看重，亦為理想放棄很多。他們堅韌不移的鬥志，和面對困難時顕現的決心，都值得有志開拓新天地的人借鏡。

Dreams from My Father (Part 3)

The story of Obama in Chicago is highly impressive. This is easily the most enjoyable section of the book, well…at least for me it is. His determination in devoting his career to some cause that had been irking his heart for so long (racial issues in the US and his roots), even though that would mean he would make much less money, have a less stable life, and venture into a job not highly regarded by most people around him, mesmerizes me. Maybe it is because I had more or less similar experience in my youth (I devoted six years of my twenties to a cause I felt strongly about.) Most young people have a strong conscience and sense of justice about people, things and society around them. Not many of them give them serious and lasting thoughts, even less will risk their life style or career prospect to turn these thoughts into action. Obama did it. Beyond his wildest dream, even he could not imagine 20 years later he would be presented the chance to do even more.

There is a dialogue in the book that I like. It’s when Obama met his to-be employer Marty Kaufman in a job interview, for an organizer trainee role in Chicago. Here is the dialogue:

“Why does somebody from Hawaii want to be an organizer?”
Obama went on and told him a bit about himself.
“You must be angry about something.”
“What do you mean by that?”
Marty shrugged. “I don’t know what exactly. But something. Don’t get me wrong – anger’s a requirement for the job. The only reason anybody decides to become an organizer. Well-adjusted people find more relaxing work.”

Doesn’t this bring back some old fond memory to you? It does for me. Probably only those who have taken part at social actions for some causes they believe in understand the meaning of this question “What are you angry about?” Without this anger people will not be motivated to step outside the pre-defined boundary the world has imposed on them. Without this anger the world cannot advance, humanity cannot step up to a new level. It is great that Obama directed his anger at something positive and constructive.

Now in Hong Kong there are discussions about those youths who expressed dissatisfaction over the government’s decision to go ahead with the high-speed railway project. The media calls them “Post Eighties” and generally depicts them as a group of young people not having a career, losing orientation, and too aggressive in expressing their opinions. Too aggressive? Well I don’t know about that. I have not seen them carrying a suicidal bomb to Legco yet. One thing I am sure, however, is that they have demonstrated their conscience. It may not just be about this railway project. It is about the government consultation process for major capital spending. It is about the extreme imbalance of wealth distribution in the society. It is about why the interests of those rich and wealthy commercial entities are always taken care of over the poor and underprivileged. If our society can tap into the anger and energy of this group of young men and women, and turn them into something positive and constructive, the society as a whole can only benefit.

Dreams from My Father (Part 2)

His stepfather Lolo, an Indonesian, also had some influence on his growth. A boy at pre-teen age like Obama was at that time will be strongly influenced by a trusted father figure. There was a discussion between Obama and Lolo about men. Obama asked if Lolo even saw a man killed. Lolo said yes and Obama pushed on for the reason why this man was killed. Lolo’s answer was straightforward.

“Because he was weak.” And he went to lecture Obama about his view of power, “Men take advantage of weakness in other men. They’re just like countries in that way.” His final advice to Obama? “If you can’t be strong, be clever and make peace with someone who’s strong. But always better to be strong yourself. Always.”

I think the best word to describe my reaction when I read these few paragraphs is: Amused. It’s so Asian. It has some truth in it, just like any other words of wisdom. But I can certainly relate to these words. They are the same teaching from adults around me when I was a boy! Being masculine is the key to survival for a man in Asia, especially during those 30 years after the Second World War. I’m not sure if this has affected Obama’s life philosophy or even how he governs a country. His few years’ experience in Indonesia is good for him as a politician. At least he understands more about what justice, power, wealth, rights – the set of words politicians always use, actually mean in other cultures.

His two-week spell with his father in Hawaii was only described in less than 10 pages, though his father’s influence on him is everywhere in the book. Every time he mentioned his father, there is a sense of mystery as well as admiration. Yes he worshipped his father. He was swollen with pride for his father’s talents and wits. While his father was in Hawaii visiting him, his mom and grand parents, he went to Obama’s school and eventually ended up giving a speech to Obama’s class. You can tell by the way Obama described the reaction of his classmates and his class teacher – he is really proud of his old man. From those little stories heard from his grandparents and other friends, we can also say Obama has inherited his father’s intelligence, persuasive power and influencing skills. Of course he also inherited from his mother the good look, hard working attitude and good heart.

Can you call him a lucky person? Probably not. Just imagine he only spent two weeks with his father. Can you say he had a misery childhood? Again the answer is more no than yes. If you look at his grandparents, his mother, and even his stepfather, they all care about his well being, and have played a strong role at different stage of his life. Perhaps we should just be happy with the things and people around us, and live up to the full potential within us. Nothing in this world is absolutely good or bad. Everyone starts with a different hand. Just play the poker game the best you can.

To be continued...

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Dreams from My Father (Part 1)

This is a book written by Barack Obama long time ago. To be exact it was first published in 1995 and then revised in 2004. He wrote this book after graduation from Harvard Law School in early 90’s. The 2004 edition was made possible due to his success in being elected to the US Senate. The book is a perfect alley to the heart and mind of a President, in the truest sense. It is written well before he became a politician, a half memoir half root-searching story. Unlike his second book “The Audacity of Hope” which he wrote after his political career had been crafted, he had neither rhetoric to trumpet nor any political viewpoints to hide. Even in his widest dream he could not possibly imagine 15 years later he would have become the most powerful person in the world. The book is divided into three parts. Part One is about Obama’s childhood in Hawaii and Indonesia, teen years in Hawaii again, and then his college life in New York. This part includes the first climax of the entire book – his getting together with his father in Hawaii for ten days. These ten days are the only time he spent with his father together, pretty difficult to imagine for most people including myself. Part Two is about his first career as a community organizer in Chicago. He had a first job as a trainee in New York but he didn’t consider this his career – just a job to make some money to pay for his college debt. There are lots of details about the campaigns and movements he had tried to instigate in a local community of Chicago. From this few chapters we came to know more about what’d been irking him in his early life, driving his actions and shaping his eventual career. Part Three is about his root-searching trip to Kenya. To be honest I just scanned through these few chapters. It is not easy for me to relate to his strong desire to iron out his identity through visiting his ‘home’ country and his extended family. He is a really good communicator and story teller. There are some debates in the US about who is the real author of this book but that is beside the point. This is his book, period. Some of the things he mentioned stir up some inner thoughts within me – I guess people call these insights. While he was still a boy living with his mother and stepfather in Indonesia, he made a couple of astute observations. The power is displayed in its naked form in Indonesia, he said, compared to the Western world. That’s after he witnessed a poor woman begging money from a group of men living in a wealthy neighborhood. I would say this is true for most Asians. For some unknown reasons, Asians are not ashamed to show off their wealth and power, even to these days. Mercedes will be running everywhere in China five years from now, not just because wealthy people there want a good car, but they need to tell the world around them that they are rich. They can afford a Mercedes. Adding to that is the cultural tendency of Asians to conform. That’s why luxury brands are bound to enjoy a booming decade in China. Obama paid tribute to his mother’s effort to bring him education while in Indonesia. Unable to afford International School, Obama went to local an Indonesian school. She supplemented that with correspondence courses from the U.S. She woke him up at four a.m. every morning, and taught him English lessons for three hours before he went to school. This reminds me of another recent book “Outliers” which suggests at least part of a person’s success comes from fate and luck. Without his mother’s effort, Obama might not have had a solid education which helped shape his life and career.

To be continued...

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Best Buy of 2009 – Amazon’s Kindle

l have heard e-books for quite a while but never had the courage to try it out. First I’m not sure about the technology E-ink. If it is an alternative version of LCD then it is unusable. My eyes will not be able to read LCD display without some discomfort for a reasonably lengthy time period (such as an hour). It is not uncommon for me to keep reading for a few hours, especially if the book is good.

Another worry is the lack of contents. Up until the beginning of 2009 all e-books ready for downloading seem to be collection of classics or out of favor books (I might be wrong but that was the perception I was under). Without new books available in e-book format the device will not be of any value.

In March 2009 Amazon launched their second generation of Kindle and I began to see lots of good feedbacks from customers. On the Kindle pages I also saw more and more newly published books listed there – at a very attractive price (mostly $9.99). Unfortunately Kindle 2 was only available in the US, meaning that even if you bought a Kindle (in fact Amazon did not allow you to purchase if you are based outside the US), you would not be able to download any books.

I kept checking once in a while and was pleasantly surprised when Amazon announced in Oct that international edition of Kindle was available. And good news is Hong Kong is among those countries that Kindle can be bought. I promptly placed an order and got hold of the new Kindle in early Nov.

It looks handsome on the outside. It is small (though will be smaller in the future I’m sure) and can be easily slipped into the side pocket of my suit. It is light (though again will become lighter in the future) and can be carried without imposing any burden on your trip. This is a great plus considering not too long ago I have to carry at least the weight of a paperback, sometimes a hard cover. I did not order the leather jacket as I don’t want to increase its size. It turns out to be a wise decision. I carry my Kindle on my pocket and pull it out for some intense reading in a train, in a bus, or even in an elevator.

The E-ink technology far exceeds my expectation. I later learned it was developed by MIT. It is based on tiny capsules filled with positively charged white particles and negatively charged black particles suspended in clear liquid. Display can then be manipulated by polarity in specific areas of the display. It is easy on the eyes and can be read even under bright sunlight. It does not require backlight so the battery can last for many days after one single charge. My impression is it looks exactly like a black-and-white printed book. No it does not have color, nor does it show great pictures or graphics. But it serves my purpose really well, which is to simulate a real book.

The download logistic from Amazon is also well designed. The 3G/GPRS network connection is great, whether I am in Hong Kong or Canada. I can browse through the Kindle store with ease, download sample chapter of a book for free, and if I like a book I can purchase and download immediately to my Kindle at reasonably good speed (within a minute). Prices for new books have been increased to $12.99 but are still acceptable.

I would call Kindle the best buy of 2009 for me. It exceeds my expectation. Although some new books are still not available in e-book format, most books are there once they are released in hard cover. I don’t have to wait for shipment after placing an order – downloading is immediate. The Kindle interface is easy to use if not fantastic – it does the job nicely. I’m sure future version will keep improving, but the time to jump into e-reading is – NOW.

Three Cups of Tea

I’ve been a little behind in updating my blog. There are many books I’ve read over the year 2009, and I want to write something about them. The typical excuse is I don’t have time. Adding to this is I really need some down time to be able to recollect my thoughts on these books.

I read “Three Cups of Tea in early 2009. It’s the type of book that can easily turn you off after the first 30 pages. English is somewhat difficult and you have to adapt to the co-author’s style of writing. Although the story starts with an adventurous expedition to K2, plus a tragic anecdote of the death of the author’s younger sister, the pace of story-telling is a bit confusing and at times lacking a focus. Once you get through this hurdle, however, you’ll be impressed by the author, Mortenson as he is known, and what he did and achieved in the end.

It’s an amazing story. Sometimes you find the author’s action really impulsive and naïve. It is this single-mindedness and naivety that I admire the most though. His entire act of charity that would eventually become his career, started from a simple conversation with an elderly of a mountain village in northern Pakistan. His sympathy of the children who lacked the most fundamental education drove his determination to do something for them. Reminiscence of his sister also played a part in his resolve. Rest of the book is all about a familiar story – how a person in an inferior position achieved something even he could not imagine in the very beginning. He just wanted to do something, but this something turned out to be a lot of influential events. It is also an adventure. Mortenson not just sacrificed his own personal time and family life, as he had to travel a lot to Asia. At times he was also risking his own life, being abducted for a week near the border of Afghanistan.

What I really like about this character is his willingness to respect the culture of other people. The title “Three Cups of Tea” is a statement of cultural difference. Mortenson even adopted the practices of Muslim, putting on their dresses and praying five times a day. After 9/11 and invasion into Afghanistan, he was actually invited by the US government to provide briefing on the latest development in Pakistan and Afghanistan. The book emphasizes many times the importance of soft power. Providing education for women in Pakistan and Afghanistan is the key to changing people’s hostility to the western world there. Hard power like guns and bombs can suppress, but cannot capture the hearts and minds of human beings. Only education can satisfy their most basic needs, help improve their living standards and eventually lead them to appreciate the developed world’s culture.

So overall I like this book, and recommend it. For those who believe in fairytales and enjoy multi-cultures, you will definitely enjoy it.

Man's Search for Meaning (Part 2)

It’s in this context that Man’s Search for Meaning offers a completely different perspective. When people are under adverse condition, their life under threat, their daily activities more as for sustaining than living out any meaning of existence, they persevere. They live on. Their will to survive flourishes. Yes it is difficult to understand. Born in each man is a will to survive and to live. It’s this will that keeps human beings as a group to continue their existence on earth.

Surely there still is the strong and the weak. Some are blessed with a stronger will to live, and they live on regardless of how unfavorable their surroundings are. How this will is sustained I’m not so sure. It can be just an animal instinct. Or more likely it’s love, legacy, and hope.

Love is well known to be a driving force for life. Viktor Frankl described his longing to see his wife made him want to stay alive. It is sad that while he was struggling to survive with the flimsy hope that he would live with his wife together one day, she was already dead. But reality does not matter. So long as a man’s love for someone stays afloat, he will strive to live on. “Nothing could touch the strength of my love, my thoughts, and the image of my beloved,” he said. We’ve heard stories like a prisoner serving long prison term not losing his resolve because there was a young family he hoped one day would reunite with. Or a person trapped in debris for several days after an earthquake, without food or water, not knowing her chance of survival, did not give up simply because of the thoughts of her family. Love provides a man’s life with meaning. “Set me like a seal upon thy heart, love is as strong as death.” How beautiful!

Legacy is something one leave to this world. This is most of the time closely related to a person’s achievement. Viktor Frankl mentioned several times his desire to finish his academic writings in psychology and publish them as a book. Once he even risked his life hiding his work from SS guards. People may argue “if you can preserve your life, you can always finish your work later.” But this is actually easier said than done. When one is faced with a situation that what he sees as precious is going to be taken away, there is really an urge to protect it at the cost of his own well being or even his own life. This ”precious something” is not necessarily material thing. In our society a lot of people work extremely hard. Other people may comment that they work for money that they don’t really need (as they are already wealthy.) The truth is they work for their psychological need of leaving a legacy. This is similar to the phenomenon that many elder men take sex enhancement drugs, even at the risk of their life, not for sexual pleasure but to prove their potency. (I may be a bit off track here.) Legacy is the second component that fulfills life with meaning.

The final piece of the puzzle is hope. Hope of something better to come in the future strengthen one’s will to survive. How hope stays with a person under a difficult situation yet leaves another person under a similar situation is anybody’s guess. No one knows the answer for sure. Is it something to do with a person’s personality and character traits? Or is it due to a person’s experience during his growing up? Or is it more to do with a person’s mental strength coming from his ancestors’ genes, or religious belief, or encouragement from friends? Viktor Frankl had not explicitly mentioned hope as a key factor of his survival through the concentration camp. Nevertheless he hinted in different occasions the importance of focusing on the positive side of this ordeal. The prisoners’ thankfulness for the smallest of mercies, the image of his wife, their ability to look at life in a humorous way - all are evidence of hope at work here.

Love, legacy and hope – these are the three cornerstones of man’s meaning of existence!

Man's Search for Meaning (Part 1)

This is the second time I tried to write some of my thoughts inspired by this very good book. The first time I stopped after five minutes. Apart from the usual excuse of too busy with work, there is also a feeling that I don’t know where to start. In fact I find myself too irrelevant compared to what this book’s author had experienced.

This is a classic book, aka very old book. Its first edition came out in 1959, before I was even born. There is a reason why this book still captures the attention of many readers after many decades. It is simply good. It is also heavy. So be warned - it will destroy your good mood if you try to do some pool-side reading during a vacation.

It’s about a Jewish scholar’s unique experience of surviving Nazi death camps during the Second World War. I say unique because not many Jewish could survive death camps – they either were executed or died of hard labor and malnutrition, or sometimes just lacked the will to live on. Even for those who survived, they might not be able to describe people’s inner feelings under extremely adverse conditions in such details – fear, hope, compassion, and love, at times with deep psychological analysis.

Again I have to emphasize that I’m not qualified to comment anything on Victor Frankl’s theories or views. I’ll just share a few insights or probably personal feelings gained from this book. What’s the meaning of a man’s life? I’ve been asking this question since I entered adolescence (and now I am in my mid life). There are many ready-made answers to suit your appetite. In fact the answer changes with your age. For a teenager or young adult, a simple answer from what most religions offer, like “living for God” or “be a good son/daughter of the Lord”, will do. For adults from mid-twenties to late-thirties, it is difficult not to focus on their needs (or desires) to establish a family, to earn a stable income, and to improve their material life. So life’s meaning to them is just to make more money. Money also contributes to their having a sense of security, and self-esteem as well – belonging to a class of the society that ‘has’. People of all ages look for a kind of inner fulfillment or satisfaction that often results in them feeling ‘happy’. For the first half of a man’s life - from childhood to early mid-life, it’s a sense of CERTAINTY and SECURITY that contribute to this inner fulfillment.

Entering mid-life, however, a man’s landscape changes. There is less urge to accumulate more stuff and things (well… it depends). There is a sense of stability because you already own a house with mortgage almost paid off. Your kids are in high school and your job seems safe. If you lose your job, your investment is probably enough for your family to live a comfortable life for the next 5 years. Well, a few of their friends and peers already died, perhaps prematurely. So some people even think they have lived long enough, seen enough, and if their lives end suddenly it would be acceptable. The need for security and certainty diminishes. Here comes their mid-life crisis. You start wondering why you live and what this fuss is all about. What have you accomplished in the first 40 years? Is there any strong reason to live on? Does one carry on living just because one hasn’t died?

Outliers – The Story of Success

This is Malcolm Gladwell’s new book after his immense hits ‘The Tipping Pont’ and ‘Blink’. Both books were a joy to read. For a non-fiction what you look for is insight, and both books provide plenty. I must say I was a bit skeptical before opening his latest work. Can someone really keep pounding out great ideas? That’s three in a row in less than 10 year. For the first fifty pages I even thought I was right – They are all banal observations which border on common senses. After I finished the last page, however, I had to admit this guy is a real genius. He can pull many small seemingly unrelated anecdotes together and verge onto a very convincing conclusion. The fact that he is a good story teller makes the whole book journey really enjoyable.

In typical Gladwell style, the book starts with some interesting statistics about successful baseball players in Canada. It is trying to identify patterns associated with outliers – individuals or groups who stand out from the main stream. The first attribute is opportunity. One has to be given opportunity to succeed. In the case of junior baseball players in Canada, some of them were not given an equal opportunity because of their birthday. (I do not want to spoil your reading interest. You have to find out exactly what happen in the book.)

Chapter 2 and 5 are the ‘banal’ stuff which every curious person should have noticed in the real world. What Gladwell does is to use more examples to illustrate the point that both ‘luck’ and ‘hard work’ plays an important part in a person’s success. They are not very convincing. Nevertheless they form part of the entire thesis Gladwell is trying to build up. The discussions in Chapter 3 and 4 about studies of geniuses are interesting. Most people would probably bask in a sense of ‘justice’ when they finally learn that high IQ does not necessarily lead to a brilliant career or a life of achievement. In fact according to the study Gladwell quotes; your IQ is only one half of the equation. The other half is your family background and whatever that comes with it. Up to this moment the book can keep my interest but the insights I have been expecting from a Gladwell’s book are still missing.

Part 2 of the book makes the read all worthwhile. All chapters focus on the effect of culture, that is, the society where one grew up, on one’s behavior or even capability. As a person coming from the Delta Pearl River region, I’d gladly accept that Rice Paddies where my ancestors come from do improve my mathematical ability. Such is the talent of Gladwell. He is a journalist by training. But his observations and researches and subsequent formulation into some theories make you think. His theories may not be entirely true, and they are not established and verified by commonly accepted research methodology. Nevertheless they are convincing enough to the extent that even government administrators would have an urge to apply them immediately. In Part 2 it’s the KIPP program that is enticing. It’s basically a reinforcement of his theories that hard work is an important element of building up one’s mathematical capability. A person with a more disciplined lifestyle and academic achievement, especially in mathematics, has a better chance of going to college and improve his or her life. If anything, this is common belief all across Asia. The genius of Gladwell is he seems to have ‘proved’ it.

The entire book focuses on disapproving the commonly accepted concept that success in life comes from individual talents and efforts. Gladwell methodically demonstrates evidences including stories of individuals, research papers, and even his own life events to argue that success comes from a few common elements – opportunity given, culture, environment, hard work and talent. Just like the old saying goes, ‘Right time, right place, and right person’. This is reminiscent of what my parents used to tell me: Success only has two components – luck and hard work.

The Logic of Life

I finished this book by Tim Harford over Christmas holidays. Harford has another successful book a few years ago called “The Undercover Economist” which I’ve not read. From the style of “The Logic of Life”, I’d guess his early book would also be interesting. The theme is to discover a general pattern from small things, and to give them an overall explanation based on human rationality. This approach is very similar to the two other successful books “Blink” or “The Tipping Point”, both written by another famous author Malcolm Gladwell.

Overall speaking I still enjoy this book, though not as much as the other two books by Malcolm Gladwell. There are still insights from some of the author’s observations and explanations of human behavior through the microscope of rational thinking, particularly in the first half of the book. The chapter on game theory is enjoyable, providing in layman’s term an overview of the theories of game ranging from playing poker to war games between superpowers. The discussion of “focal point” in negotiation scenario, as proposed by Thomas Schelling is insightful. At least I will try to use it in future negotiation. The chapters on dating and marriage, and the one on the economics of discrimination are also good. The reasoning of how the balance of supply and demand affects the eventual selection of a dating partner borders on common sense. But the subsequent extrapolation to explaining the phenomenon why there are always more females in big cities more than compensates its earlier banality. (Having said that, the statement that females now are doing better than males academically because they need to improve their chance of finding a better mate is rather unconvincing.) There’s been mention of many economic theories and experiments, and I find all of them very interesting. The laboratory experiment by Roland Fryer at the University of Virginia provides very good insight into how discrimination can start somehow randomly. The tournament theory stipulating why bosses are always overpaid, not based on their own merit, but rather as a prize incentive for those who work under them is really funny. And I have to say it carries some truth.

However the book suddenly turns into a downward spiral in the second half. I just managed to scramble through the last three chapters without really trying to understand what the author tries to say. It’s quite boring and one-sided, very much like a lecture or monologue from the author. There is a little bit of reasoning but the overall logic is rather weak. Maybe he was under a publishing deadline or something, but the last three chapters turn the book from Grade A to B.

So overall I enjoy the book. It is for the inquisitive minds who want to understand more about life. And the ability of the author to pull out so many little theories and experiments from the body of economic research to explain phenomena in life is admirable.

There are a few final comments though. First, I never understand why these life observations and reasoning process are the job of an economist. To me some of these subjects should come under the realm of sociology and other social science subjects instead of economics. (Were I to know economics cover that many areas I might have chosen it as my subject of study for my first degree! Now it’s too late.) Second, just like any other economic or financial theories, the assumption that human being is a rational entity is dubious. As so many recent incidents in the world economy and financial markets show, people are not just rational beings. At best it is a combination of logical reasoning and human psychology that drives their behaviors and decisions. At worst they might just follow their instincts or demonstrate herd behavior. Therefore the effort to explain a trend in human history based purely on logical reasoning is doomed to fail. The rise of status of women around the world over the past 50 years certainly is not due just to the invention of more effective and convenient birth control tools such as pills or condom. And that leads to my third comments: When two events have correlation, they don’t necessarily have a causal relationship, i.e. one thing may not lead to another. That’s something you should keep in mind when reading this book.

The Conscience of A Liberal

I didn’t pay attention to this book when it was first published in 2007. It’s probably the Nobel effect (The author Paul Krugman is the sole winner of this year’s Economic prize), his books are displayed at the entrance of the bookstore. I have not followed Paul Krugman’s writings since the late 90’s, when he published lots of articles about the Asian financial crisis. Perhaps under the same influence of a Nobel prize winner, I decided to buy this book and do some serious readings.

Over the past few years a question keeps haunting me. As a person born and raised in Hong Kong I feel very strongly about the growing inequality between different social classes there. Yes it’s true after the 80’s a new middle class has emerged. They have a much higher quality of living than their parents. Although they typically spend a significant portion of their income in making mortgage payments, they still have sizable disposable incomes. They enjoy the lifestyle of typical middle class around the world. Having said that, more than 40% of the population are still struggling with life’s daily necessities (1). Let’s call this group low-skill low-income working class. People in this working class are cleaners, waiters, taxi drivers, construction workers, or security guards. They are the losers in this capitalist game, i.e. they don’t have the right skills for the new economy, or they are too old to change. An objective measurement of income disparity in a society is the Gini Coefficient (2). Hong Kong has always been ranked one of the cities with the highest income disparity . Most developed countries around the world have a more equal society than Hong Kong. The US is probably an obvious exception.

This may also be the “deep social problems” Premier Wen referred to when he spoke about Hong Kong two years ago. Unfortunately we have not seen any ideas or actions from the Hong Kong Government. When there was a huge surplus in 2006 and 2007, the government just gave the money back to taxpayers, instead of creating new social programs to improve the situation. Perhaps they all believe in jungle capitalism.
Paul Krugman provides us some insights. US is the only developed country that has seen its income disparity grow over the past thirty years. When he analyzes the problem by taking a walk through the socio-political-economic history of the United States over the last 100 years, he concludes that the present situation is not the result of the invisible hand of economic force. It’s rather the direct result of government policies since the early 80’s when Ronald Reegan became the President. From the early 80’s up to this year the US was largely a Republican era, with an 8-year interruption of Bill Clinton. Paul Krugman’s argument is the Republican policies have greatly favored the upper class in the form of significant tax reduction, and continuous delay in implementation of social programs that benefit the poor. An obvious example is the lack of universal medical insurance program, resulting in a certain percentage of US citizens not covered by any medical insurance.

That’s quite a non-traditional view from an economist. As a primary student of economics myself, I always think today’s economists believe in market economy. The invisible hands of market force shape all aspects of a capitalist economy. Every person’s income will eventually be determined by the value of skills possessed by this person, as well as the demand of the market. Tax rate should be kept the lowest possible, so that people have sufficient incentives to work harder. Instead Paul Krugman suggests the government plays a big role in how the economy works. By using financial tools such as tax rate, the government can help create a fairer society, comprised largely of middle class.

As a business consultant, my company usually charges our client a daily rate of US$2-3K. Sometimes when I dine in a fast-food chain such as Café de Coral, I always wonder why those cleaning ladies or food servers only earn a monthly wage of HK$6K. We are talking about people who work non-stop at least 10 hours a day, with at most one day-off per week. That means my daily rate is equivalent to 3 or even 4 months of their monthly income, that in turn translating to a 20:1 earning discrepancy (assuming I have 6 or 7 billable days per month). Most economists would suggest that this disparity is decided by the supply and demand of different skills in the market. However, why the disparity ratio is 20:1, and not 10:1? Isn’t there any human intervention that can make income distribution of this society a bit more even? Now Paul Krugman seems to have an alternative. Governments can intervene by applying a higher tax rate both for individuals and corporations, and using those additional tax incomes to shape a ‘fairer’ society.

I know I know. You are now raising your fists and shouting at the computer. Is this guy suggesting a socialist system which has been proved non-functional? Isn’t the capitalist system a perfect system that is proved to create wealth for everyone that even those communist countries are modeling after? The discussion of which system is better is probably beyond my capacity. One thing I’d like to point out though is we should see various economic models as part of a spectrum, or various points along a scale. Communism and Capitalism are probably the two extremes of this scale. Most of modern society reside somewhere in between these two extremes. Countries in Northern Europe such as Sweden, Norway, or Denmark have a strong socialist style laden on top of capitalism. They levy heavy taxes, but that have not dented creativity or affected their ability to create wealth. Only they have a society with incomes that are more evenly distributed.

There are two or three more insights in “The Conscience of a Liberal”, such as the role of unions and efficiency gain from publicly run universal medical care system as compared to that based on private medical insurance and private medical organizations. As an economist (remember he just won a Nobel prize!), his arguments are all well supported by data and evidence. Although he only focuses on the United States, his arguments and conclusions have universal implications. This is a book well worth reading.

(1) According to a Legco briefing paper, the proportion of households at both the upper and lower ends of the income distribution increased over the decade from 1996 to 2006, whereas the proportion of middle-income households decreased.

(2) The Gini Coefficient were 0.518, 0.525 and 0.533 for 1996, 2001 and 2006 respectively, representing a rising trend. For comparison, Gini Coefficient for Singapore was 0.481, New Zealand 0.485 and Canada 0.51.

Conversations with God - an uncommon dialogue

Out of curiosity I finally mustered all the patience that was required and finished this ‘new age classic’. I was a bit surprised at myself when I eventually turned to the final page after three weeks. I remember picking up this book several times in book stores over the past ten years, and could not go further than a few pages every time. It was not so much as being presumptuous and pretentious to speak from the mouth of God, nor that I was associated with fundamental Christian church at the time, as my lack of confidence that a new age guru could provide any insight regarding spiritual matters.

I was therefore pleasantly surprised at the story telling skills of Neale Donald Walsch. His writings are eloquent and arguments ‘logical’ at times. He is able to jell some of the major thoughts in the bible, stories we heard in Sunday school and common concerns of Christians (esp. Christians in the US) together into his own theology. I have to say his linkage of soul-mind-body and thought-word-action into Spirit-God-Son has its moment of brilliance (thought it is not entirely original).

Unfortunately that doesn’t mean this book provide any real spiritual insights. If anything, it contains a cocktail of truths, half-truths and quarter-truths, combined with wisdom and belief from Oriental religions, mixed with US style self-empowerment teachings, and finally served with a little chicken soup too. It is especially tailor-made for those readers who have some bible knowledge and are concerned about discrepancies in its teachings with struggles in real life. Basically Neale Donald Walsch tells them what they want to hear. It’s all about you, and nobody else, claims the book. You can become God yourself (actually I find this acceptable but am repelled by the self-centered God-becoming process described in the book.) You want to be spiritual and secular at the same time? No problem. Making lots of money yet serving the others in a single mission? Of course there is no conflict. If you want a successful relationship, just focus on yourself, not your partner. You can also enjoy many lives through reincarnation, or have sex with as many partners as you like just for the fun of it. No worry, no guilt, no pain. Everything in life is good. Just “be Who You Really Are.”

The single biggest thing I don’t like about this book is its total focus on oneself. It probably suits those self-centered Gen-Y’ers. It influenced those me-me-me gospels spread by popular culture like Whitney Houston’s “Greatest Love of All” which says the “greatest love of all is to love yourself” (The book says “If you cannot love your Self, you cannot love another.” Note the capital ‘S’.) I instead will choose to believe in the traditional interpretation of self sacrifice, loving one another, and loving thy neighbors as the highest expression of love.

If there is a God who tells me salvation can be achieved through some self-serving means and continuing to lead the same life as I am, I’d probably turn to other Gods or no God at all. If I can become God myself, why do I need a God at all?