Friday, February 1, 2013

Observations on Meeting Bill Gates

Tyler Cowen recently met with Bill Gates. Cowen is far from the radical type free market economist that Gates needs to meet, to shake Gates to the core on much of his government leaning views on how to "fix" society. Cowen in his recount of his meeting with Gates, at one point, writes, "Gates understands the very high returns from better governance." How about the very high returns from less government? Does Cowen not understand the teachings of Mises, Hayek and Rothbard that central planning will always be inefficient? Let's hope Gates didn't walk away from the meeting thinking that Cowen's views are hardcore free market views.

by Tyler Cowen


I am pleased to have been invited to a small group session in New York City to meet Gates and hear him present his new letter.  My observations are these:
1. Gates has a command of data and analytics in development economics better than that of most development economists, or for that matter aid professionals.  He also expects everyone at the meeting to know everything about what he is talking about, or at least is willing to proceed on that basis.  That said, when it comes to answering questions he sometimes assumes a stupider version of the question than what is actually being asked.
2. He is smart enough, and health-savvy enough, not to waste time with handshakes at the beginning of meetings.  People as productive as Gates should not be required to shake hands, and the same can be said for people less productive than Gates.
3. He does not go on and on.  His opening remarks were about two minutes long, with no notes, and all of his answers were to the point.
4. We were served water, at exactly the right cool temperature, yet without ice cubes.  No cookies.
5. Unlike Gates, I am not convinced that “health” is the key breakthrough area for economic development, but there is enough low-hanging fruit out there that it doesn’t have to be.  That said, when questioned on this his answers were closer to tautology than they needed to be.  Much of their emphasis on measurement seemed to me to track absolute movement toward goals, rather than relative efficacies of different project investments.
6. Gates suggested that if he had been more careful tracking and organizing his AP credits, he might have been able to receive his undergraduate degree.  That is one sense, in his words, in which he is barely a college drop out.  In another sense, it makes him a very extreme college drop out.
7. He mentioned that he is an extremely eager consumer (and not just funder) of on-line education and The Teaching Company.  And this is a man who could receive free (or paid) lectures from almost anyone he wants.

5 comments:

  1. 1. Gates has a command of data and analytics in development economics better than that of most development economists, or for that matter aid professionals....(don't point out the obvious errors if you want to apply for a hand out)
    2. He is smart enough, and health-savvy enough, not to waste time with handshakes at the beginning of meetings. (Rich Mr Gates doesn't want to know who you are)
    3. He does not go on and on. His opening remarks were about two minutes long, with no notes, and all of his answers were to the point. (he gets bored easily)
    4. We were served water, at exactly the right cool temperature,(from the tap) yet without ice cubes. No cookies. (Mr Gates is aleady giving you his extraordinarily valuable time and incredible intellect and you want a bloody cookie too?
    5. Unlike Gates, I am not convinced that “health” is the key breakthrough area for economic development, but there is enough low-hanging fruit out there that it doesn’t have to be. That said, when questioned on this his answers were closer to tautology than they needed to be. (Gates gives the same speech to everybody
    6. Gates suggested that if he had been more careful tracking and organizing his AP credits, he might have been able to receive his undergraduate degree. (heck he could be like the dude who blew off IBM and went flying instead so Gates could offer up his QDOS.)

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  2. Gates sounds like the perfect totalitarian to me. He just knows what is best for all of us because he has command of data and analytics and won't waist time on the frivolity of civilized behavior such as shaking hands.
    Oh brother!

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  3. Gates made a fortune feeding from the public trough. Some people appear to respect trough-feeders more than is deserved.

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  4. "4. We were served water, at exactly the right cool temperature, yet without ice cubes. No cookies."

    What a faggot.

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  5. Quite clearly Mr. Cowen is more interested in kissing Bill's backside than critically analyzing anything he says. One would expect #8 to read:

    8. Gates passed gas repeatedly during the meeting, but it was aromatic, perfumed and clean, and arrived to the melodious "bing" of "you've got mail".

    It is best to think of Bill as an idiot savant. Anyone who bothers to listen to anything he says about any subject other than computers deserves the drivel they get. The thing that should concern us all is that with his billions, he can do an untold amount of damage trying to make the world into what he thinks it should be. Truly a loose cannon on deck. Don't lose sight of the fact that for all his genius, he managed to build the buggiest, most crash prone, hackable, un-intuitive, operating system the world has ever seen.

    Definition of IDIOT SAVANT (Merriam-Webster)
    1: a person affected with a mental disability (as autism or mental retardation) who exhibits exceptional skill or brilliance in some limited field (as mathematics or music) —called also savant
    2: a person who is highly knowledgeable about one subject but knows little about anything else

    I, am Spartacus

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