Newsletter 851
Best of the Moment
Damien Hirst: Jumping The Shark
Andrew Rice | Businessweek | 21 November 2012
Prices of Hirst's work have been collapsing at auction, since he staged his own $200m sale in 2008. He's in a vicious circle: Trophy-art buyers don't like losers. “Hirst screwed with his market, and it came back to bite him” Comments (http://thebrowser.com/articles/damien-hirst-jumping-shark)
The Jihadis Of Yemen
Robert Worth | NYRB | 19 November 2012
Yemen's former president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, rode two horses at once, manipulating both the US, for its aid money, and local militants, to do his dirty work. He's been forced from office, but Yemen remains a complex, unstable place Comments (http://thebrowser.com/articles/jihadis-yemen)
Inequality Is Killing Capitalism
Robert Skidelsky | Project Syndicate | 21 November 2012
Growing inequality of wealth was a big part of what got us into this mess. And how do we get out? "Our current situation requires not a lender of last resort, but a spender of last resort, and that can only be governments" Comments (http://thebrowser.com/articles/inequality-killing-capitalism)
What Killed Michael Porter's Monitor Group?
Steve Denning | Forbes | 20 November 2012
Consulting firm founded by business-school guru goes bankrupt. Why? Because Monitor advised clients to focus primarily on protecting themselves from competition. Not on innovation or customer satisfaction. Bad strategy Comments (http://thebrowser.com/articles/what-killed-michael-porters-monitor-group)
Going Overboard
Thomas Hodgkinson | Spectator | 22 November 2012
How L Ron Hubbard and a boatload of Scientologists almost took over the Greek island of Corfu in 1968. They might have succeeded, but for Hubbard's habit of throwing a few blindfolded crew members overboard each morning Comments (http://thebrowser.com/articles/going-overboard)
Ask An Economist: Which Bond Villain Plan Would Have Worked?
Bilge Ebiri | Vulture | 9 November 2012
Goldfinger's plan to irradiate the US government's gold reserves with a nuclear bomb was pretty good. But Le Schiffre's scheme—in Casino Royale—to short airline stocks, then bring down a plane, has the added virtue of simplicity Comments (http://thebrowser.com/articles/ask-economist-which-bond-villain-plan-would-have-worked)
(http://www.amazon.com/Best-of-FiveBooks-2011-ebook/dp/B007GAM6RC?tag=thebro-21)
FiveBooks Interview
(http://thebrowser.com/interviews/alex-bellos-on-maths)
Alex Bellos on Maths
The author of "Alex's Adventures in Numberland" tells us about popular attempts to explain the history of counting and numbers Read on (http://thebrowser.com/interviews/alex-bellos-on-maths)
Featured Special Report
(http://thebrowser.com/reports/hackers)
Hackers
Cars, nuclear plants, computers, phones, webcams -- they all succumb to hackers in the end Read on (http://thebrowser.com/reports/hackers)
Reader Recommendations
@henrylf 9 Events That Have Shaped The Humanitarian Industry: Starting with Battle of Solferino back in 1859 #browsings t.co/mH2WB6GS #browsings (https://twitter.com/search?q=#browsings) More like this (http://thebrowser.com/browsings)
Book of the Day
Book of the Day (http://thebrowser.com/recommended/city-history-by-lewis-mumford)
The City in History by Lewis Mumford
Jon Calame says (https://thebrowser.com/interviews/jon-calame-on-divided-cities) : “The most influential book ever written on the growth of cities and their impact on human interaction.” FiveBooks Archive (http://thebrowser.com/fivebooks/archive)
Video of the Day
Le Slip Francais
(http://thebrowser.com/videos/le-slip-francais)
You just have to watch it. Then we can discuss More videos (http://thebrowser.com/videos)
Quote of the Day
Kevin Kelly, on progress (http://www.kk.org/thetechnium/archives/2011/04/techno_life_ski.php)
"Technologies improve so fast, you should postpone getting anything until 5 minutes before you need it"
More quotes (http://thebrowser.com/quotations)