The Weekly Distillation no.2
Flying, Inflation, AI, Navigating this moment, Being a doctor, Gin.
Skim it in a minute
The new form of dining - a restaurant in Amsterdam ensconced people in what appear to be mini greenhouses to keep diners safe from Covid19 and comply with social distancing requirements. We’re going to need a lot of plastic.
What it’s like to get on a plane in the US and why travel will remain difficult for a long time. We all want or need to travel again - but many of us have no desire to get in a confined space where they recirculate the air. I found this article interesting for the human psychology elements, as much as the practical tips of the how the airlines were managing (or failing) to adapt.
With trillions of $ being pumped into the economy, some investors see a massive rise in inflation as only a matter of time and are seeking security in Bitcoin. With the velocity of money having slowed rapidly, and liquidity become an issue, the question is arising about when that reverses. Will we have the same economy size as before, plus the extra $9 trillion or so that has been committed as health spending or stimulus? And if so, will we see the rapid reflation of higher risk assets as investors chase returns and prices sky-rocket (equity, private equity, venture capital, art, property, luxury items)? And inflation warnings come around regularly and have rarely lived up to the warning in the last 40 years but will this time be different? If so, how will that influence your spending, your assets, your approach to debt, your pension and your savings? And what does that mean at a macro level, particularly for countries loaded with debt? (high inflation = rapid shrinking of the debt burden as each £1/$1 becomes worth less and so easier to repay. But your savings become worth less too)
Can AI resolve our loneliness and help our mental health? Or are we failing as human beings if our lack of community forces people to find friendship in therapy in a machine? As we build our way out of lockdowns, people will seek real relationships, not more tech interfaces for disfunction. AI is fantastic in transactional settings but in relational settings, whilst it can be useful in the short term, it treats the cause and not the symptoms in the longer term.
My article of the week
This week I wrote about how to navigate the new normal. How we can learn from our current context. How to get unstuck. Creating momentum.
The long read for this weekend
What’s it actually like to be a frontline worker at the moment? This article is a great piece by a doctor in Edinburgh who has had to treat patients with Covid. It’s interesting for what goes on in his head and the conversations but also the lack of everything he needs it seems.
I read an article this week that said the British National Health System has become a belief or a religion - it can no longer be challenged, we are socially embarrassed if we fail to join the weekly clap, we create mantras such as “Thank you NHS” and children write “Thank You doctors and nurses” on the walls of their houses - perhaps not far from a North Korean veneration of its leader.
There is absolutely no doubt that doctors, nurses and other frontline workers have taken on an appalling risk that no worker should be forced to do. And I do applaud them for that (every Thursday at 8pm) and am grateful they stepped up above and beyond.
But there are also questions to be asked like why do we have no spare capacity; why are there shortages of key equipment and how good is our contingency planning? What is the model for the future? Why are we asking the health care system to fight with one hand behind its back? Is the answer to just throw more money at healthcare? Or do we need to rethink how we do healthcare? It’s worth the conversation and surely that is how best to thank the doctors and nurses - if this happens again then the risk they take has to be lower.
The other weekly distillation
“the action of purifying a liquid by a process of heating and cooling.”
A light and quick look at Spirits that have caught my eye or tongue.
This week’s distilled spirit is the Isle of Harris Gin. Crafted off the West Coast of Scotland in the Hebridean Islands, the drink not only comes in the most amazing bottle (with a thumbprint crafted in for grip), the colour and sea-kelp infusion take you on a journey far from the city. This is a favourite with friends and in our house too.