I wonder if languages that are hard in certain ways, for example French for spelling, German in terms of grammar or Chinese in terms of writing, end up creating a special difficulty for social mobility. All languages have a class distinction in terms of the ability of different individuals to master them. But those that are especially hard, create an additional obstacle for class mobility. People who don’t master their own language in all cultures are poorly regarded by the elites, but if the language they speak are very hard to improve as an adult, then language can be an obstacle for social mobility. Individuals can suffer discrimination in jobs and their social standing can be diminished just because of not mastering the idiosincracies of their language. Is it a coincidence that English is associated with democracy and social mobility?

Argentina has had the biggest default known in history. Yet when you look at Argentina before it blew up, it was in much better shape than Greece is today. Argentina had a deficit that was 3% of GDP, Greece 13.6%. Argentina had debt to GDP ratio of 50%, Greece of 115%. Argentina had a foreign trade deficit of 2%, Greece of 10%. Even if it all goes well for Greece, debt will be 150% of GDP in 2016. Two lessons on this: One is that Argentina could have paid without defaulting. The other one is that Greece probably has to go bankrupt. There has to be a mechanism for countries to go bankrupt. How will a new generation of Greeks grow with so much debt and few growth prospects?

I have flown jets with WiFi before. Lufthansa used to have a great WiFi service that Boeing managed, but with poor timing, they disconnected the service just as WiFi became popular. But in the U.S., WiFi on airplanes is back. I am now on a Delta flight JFK – Miami and find myself blogging at 30,000 ft. I love it. But for my friends in old media, WiFi on planes may become the straw that broke the camel’s back. Airplanes, precisely because they had no connection, were the last place where print publications thrived. Indeed, just today, before boarding, and not knowing that there was WiFi on the plane, I spent $45 dollars including over $7 just for the Economist. But with WiFi at $10 per flight, I will just not buy magazines and papers anymore. Nor will millions of people. Print is heavy, bad for the planet, and with tablets becoming commonplace few will continue to consume it.