President Duque and Mahuad

Note: These are live notes from a conversation at Jackson that I partly attended.

Duque: We prioritised policy over politics. Made sure people could see the data.

Mahuad: Politics is way to decide who gets what and who pays what price for it.

Gettysburg Address, despite being <300 words, is one of the greatest speeches ever.

{They both were suddenly on some "wow, democracy." Editing this later–I think this was relevant to what they were saying, but I don't remember how–I doubt that democracy (as an ideal) is automatically the most important thing for a President to think about. Shouldn't that place be occupied by their country and its people, followed by which you think about how democracy, or whatever form of government is best, relates to it?

Mahuad: My ability to communicate was decreasing rapidly, because nobody likes to hear bad news. (and that's what he was communicating) ~valid

Q lady asked: What does democratic backsliding imply for economic performance?

Duque: Democracy is about more than elections etc: it has to do with a free market economy. Which you can't have w/o democracy. (sounds circular).

Prosperity vs wealth: rich authoritarian countries are wealthy. However, prosperity comes from ingenuity and disruption. People need to be able to express themselves and be entrepreneurs; this is difficult to do in non-democracies.

{I see some merit in what he's saying. I'm not fully convinced that democracy is the pre-requisite to this/that it is equivalent to the free market}

{He discussed why we don't often hear about a "Singaporean Dream" or "Chinese dream" etc. It is because being able to dream requires freedom.

This 100% makes a lotta sense to me. I wonder if Indian culture restricts freedom to some extent, then. And how} {I don't think his intention is to say that people have no freedom in those specific East Asian countries; just that their cultures are more restrictive in their customs and/or law}

{Singapore became what it became with a lot of rules. I can see how the restrictions manifest in people's personalities. Preventing eccentricity prevents exceptionalism although it enables a higher standard average.}

Duque: America's greatest strength has been that nobody challenged free-market and independent judiciary in 250 years. Never become a fan.

Mahuad: Don't become a leader. Just become yourself, and enjoy the process of becoming. Never betray yourself. If you have the clarity about who you are, you will know what to do.

Mahuad: Good example of how we, as people, are always fishing for connection. And we love when we find connection.