“The rapid economic development of the United States is frequently taken for granted, treated as a nonproblem that requires little formal analysis. To many historians, American prosperity is simply a logical extension of natural abundance.” So writes historian Thomas Doerflinger, in his book A Vigorous Spirit of Enterprise. For him, this spirit explains much more fundamentally why some countries prosper…
(This is a re-post of one of the first posts on this blog, on its one year anniversary.) Children’s Television Pioneer Fred Rogers once said: “Imagining something may be the first step in making it happen, but it takes the real time and real efforts of real people to learn things, make things, turn thoughts into deeds or visions into…
To be productive can be extraordinarily rewarding. But it also sometimes comes with side effects, one of which is “burnout.” Usually we think of burnout as resulting from overwork, as overtaxing oneself by spending too much time or effort. But this is not always the case. Sometimes burnout can arise not from how much you do but what you do…
Because we are beings of mind and body, all of our productive work involves both ― both thought and physical action. But the proportion of the one versus the other can be very different, depending on the nature of the work. In his study of early American expansion, The Winning of the West, Theodore Roosevelt observed: “The life of the…
“That unequaled spirit of enterprise, which signalizes the genius of the American merchants and navigators, and which is in itself an inexhaustible mine of national wealth.” So said Alexander Hamilton in Federalist 11. Referring to what he observed in the producers of his time and place, his comment also describes many producers around the world today. Perhaps most interestingly, he…
In his treatise, Capitalism, Socialism, and Democracy, economist Joseph Schumpeter describes what he calls the “process of creative destruction,” by which new products and services supplant existing ones; for example, the automobile’s replacing the horse and buggy. Such “destruction,” he stressed, is the natural outcome of business competition, but not so much the competition among existing firms, rather competition from…
Curt Gowdy, the legendary sportscaster, once thanked Ted Williams, the legendary baseball player, for making him a better announcer. Williams respectfully scoffed at the idea, replying that he didn’t know anything about announcing. But Gowdy explained that, No, what had improved his announcing was observing Williams’s approach to hitting, that Gowdy had been struck by Williams’s commitment to understanding the…
A wall display in the Musée d’Orsay in Paris describes the origins of Impressionism in painting. Included in its description is this passage: “The Impressionists wanted to paint their own era. They uncovered its modernity in the stations, avenues and cafés of Paris, in popular leisure pursuits on the banks of the Seine, and in suburban landscapes where industry was…
An article in the New York Times today recounts the economic collapse in Venezuela. Amid the chaos, local governments are overwhelmed and failing, such that, “armed gangs took control of entire towns.” Examples cited include looters who ransacked a hotel, “ripping out even window frames and cable wiring,” and gangs who “extort and rustle cattle from the surviving ranchers.” In…
Concentrate all your thoughts upon the work in hand. The sun’s rays do not burn until brought to a focus. ― Alexander Graham Bell