President Duque and Mahuad

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're both very "wow, democracy." Idk, is democracy the most imp thing for a President to think about, or is his country and its success the most important?

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

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 talked about why we don't talk 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.}

{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.