Travel Guide to Minsk

aje on July 10, 2018

I visited Minsk expecting a Soviet time machine.

I thought it would be like Moscow was in 1992.

But I was wrong.

Yes, it’s architecture and visible insignia reflect the fact that most of the city was completely rebuilt straight after the second world war. Military uniform is everywhere, tractors roam the streets, school children look immaculate. And the absence of a democratic transition casts an intriguing shadow of communist rule. But the city is vibrant, affluent, and spotlessly clean. It feels more like a Baltic city break than an Eastern European industrial wasteland.

Outside of Minsk there’s an efficient train network and the surrounding countryside is beautiful and famously peaceful. I strongly recommend a visit to Belarus, and hope these notes are useful.

Flights

Belarus has connections to most major European cities. The national airline, BELAVIA, do a direct flight from London Gatwick to Minsk several times per week. If you want to travel by train, there’s only one man to ask.

Arrival at Minsk airport

  • Customs officials will ask to see proof of Travel Insurance (and they may also request to see an associated membership card).

Accommodation

    • Using a travel agent used to be a necessity because they could provide a letter of invitation (which was mandatory to obtain a visa). I used MinskLuxx who have an array of city-centre apartments and helpful services.

Getting around

    • Taxis to/from the airport cost ~ €20. Licensed taxis have yellow plates and can be trusted, and Uber is also available. There’s also a bus service to the train station.
    • Trains are cheap and easy to use.
  • The Metro is simple to use and has a regular service. Each journey requires 1 token (60 Kopeks) which can be bought at the ticket office.

Things to see

Minsk itself is easy to explore on foot. I recommend the following:

Day 1:

    • City gates (outside the train station)
    • Independence square (and the shopping centre underneath)
    • GUM shopping centre
    • Victory Square
  • Gorky Park

Day 2:

    • Great Patriotic War Museum
    • Botanic Gardens
  • National Library

For more: http://www.belarus.by/en/travel/belarus-life/minsk-attractions and https://34travel.me/gotobelarus/en/post/minsk-english-guide.

Restaurants

There are clusters of cafes and restaurants in the following places:

  • The upper town (vulica Zybickaja) – this is the main tourist area and contains several bars and restaurants on the banks of the river. 442 is the best place to watch soccer and sample interesting beer. Cherdok do great burgers in a laid back setting. Malt & Hops have a long and classy bar serving beer and many malts. El Pushka is a fun and intimate tequila bar. Beer Cap is a classic Eastern European-style bar – an outdoor labyrinth with interesting beers and a range of customers.
  • Trajeckaja nabiarežnaja (the old town) – the only real area of pre-WW2 buildings, it has a nostalgic feel compared to the rest of the city.
  • Karl Marx street – a number of classy bistros and restaurants with sincere cooking.
  • Kastrycnickaja Street – former industrial units now famous for bright murals and hipster coffee.

For a distinctly Belarusian experience, Rakovsky Brovar is a large, popular brewery serving traditional food in a friendly atmosphere. And watching the world pass by at the bar at Centralny is one of Minks’s cultural highlights.

Typical prices (as of 2017)

Minsk provides a fascinating mixture of standard European ambience and a gripping historical context. Belarus is not quite Poland and not quite Russia – it is something else. Something tangible and settled. But forward looking and optimistic. It’s truly unique.

—

Also check out Joe Jenkins’ “Postcard from . . . Minsk” Financial Times, April 21 2017

Update: my Travel Guide to Minsk was featured by Belarus Digest

Podcasts

aje on March 6, 2018

I use Overcast to listen to podcasts. The smart speed setting quickens the pace without you even noticing and I usually listen to 1.2x normal speed. If you want to get into podcasts I highly recommend tweaking these settings to get through them faster. An added bonus is that if you’re listening to a proper series or radio play at normal speed, you “feel the benefit” and get super engrossed. 

Economics

  • EconTalk – the original economics podcast featuring an array of fascinating guests. Each episode is typically over an hour long which can be daunting, but permits a relaxed and casual conversation. As a former student of Russ Roberts, I thoroughly enjoy recapturing some of the intellectual curiosity and excitement of grad school through EconTalk.
  • Macro Musings – David Beckworth is a wonderful economist, and by focusing on monetary macro he provides a consistently high quality conversation on a topic I know I will want to listen to. I think it’s pitched at the perfect level to walk listeners through the career trajectory and major insights of an impressive guestlist.
  • Hayek Program Podcast – interviews with a range of academics working in the classical liberal tradition.
  • The Curious Task – enjoyable interviews with some of my favourite academic economists, considering bold issues in the classical liberal tradition.
  • Planet Money – short (20 minute) episodes that illuminate important economic concepts through interviews. Can’t get enough of them.

Ideas

  • Conversations with Tyler – broad and eclectic range of guests exploring fascinating ideas in a warm format.
  • Lex Fridman podcast – long conversations with elite guests.
  • Making Sense with Sam Harris – lengthy and deep conversations with fascinating thinkers on topics such as the multiverse, AI, identity politics, and meditation. (Frustrating when it switched theme music and annoying now that free episodes are cut short.)

General

  • The Studies Show – Tom Chivers and Stuart Ritchie survey current scientific controversies in a friendly, engaging, yet rigorous way.
  • Stuff You Should Know – well produced, entertainingly presented, always interesting.
  • You’re Wrong About – informative but slightly preachy perspectives on important topics.
  • Adam Buxton – on the surface this is a comedy show, where likeable comic Adam Buxton (from Adam & Joe semi-fame) chats with his “showbusiness” friends. I enjoy it because it provides an honest and sincere look at the thought process behind public speaking, professional success, and the art of humour.

True Crime

  • Generation Why – two American friends present and dissect famous cases in an informal, engaging manner.
  • The Prosecutors – great rapport between two expert hosts who explain legal issues and provide well argued perspectives on famous cases.
  • Women & Crime – I find the attempt to intellectualise the cases a little jarring, but bridging classroom and studio with an often neglected but highly important female perspective is refreshing.
  • Casefile True Crime – the Australian narrator, following a well crafted script, provides an engrossing experience.
  • Criminal – somewhat hit and miss collection of interesting cases, but the good ones stay with you. My kids find Phoebe Judge’s voice annoying, but it’s distinctive and that contributes to the podcase.

Self contained series

  • Slow Burn (Season 8 Clarence Thomas) – I enjoyed this, and learnt a lot, but couldn’t help consider whether the presentation is affected by an assumption that Clarence lacks agency. Criticisms of his personal conduct are relevant and disturbing, but there’s a disappointing lack of inquisitiveness about what drives Thomas’s intellectual convictions, and whether they are reasonable or not. For example, Thomas Sowell is one of my favourite economists and is presented in an unambiguous and unchallenged negative light. Also, the scenes exploiting Thomas’s elderly mother were a little tragic. B. 
  • Chameleon: High rollers – fascinating telling of an FBI attempt to find money laundering, and the impact on petty criminals who get caught up in it. As with season 1, the adverts seriously undermined listening pleasure. C. 
  • The Great Post Office Trial, BBC Sounds – I can remember when the postmaster in the village where my brother did his paper round was sent to prison for stealing, and we were all gobsmacked that he was a crook, And yet, as this series explains, he was the victim of a despicable corporate wrongdoing. Perhaps lacking was the context for the installation of the new (and faulty) computer system, but the series did an excellent job portraying the human cost, and the problem when large organisations can’t roll back on errors and resort to politician speak. A.
  • Crimetown (Season 1) – I think I listened to this on a trip to Chicago, and it proved a fitting backdrop to the interplay between organised crime and politics. C. 
  • Chameleon: Wild Boys – slick account of a fascinating story, but longer than necessary and annoying adverts. B.
  • Things Fell Apart, BBC Sounds – Jon Ronson looks at the different origins of the culture wars, which are defined as “the battle for dominance over conflicting values”, or the things we shout about on social media. B.
  • Death by Conspiracy – an 11 part podcast documentary on Gary Matthews, who died from covid in January 2021 having been drawn to social media claims that it was a hoax. C. 
  • West Cork – seemingly about the murder of a French woman, this is really about the chief suspect, who demands centre stage, and delivers. A.
  • Slow Burn (Season 3 Biggie and Tupac) – engrossing account of the East Coast/West Coast rivalry and the emergence of Tupac as a cultural figure perhaps unrivalled. I couldn’t help imagining being a school teacher listening to the perspective of each side, and simply concluding “grow up”. Fortunately, the civilising force of commercial success means that those still alive have done so.  B.
  • Bear Brook – an investigation of a tragic cold case, revealing important new evidence and techniques. B.
  • Wind of Change – a fun attempt to establish whether a famous song was in fact a CIA ploy. B. 
  • The Coming Storm, BBC Sounds (7 part podcast documentary on the rise of QAnon). A.
  • The Last Days of August – Jon Ronson does another excellent job at sympathetically telling a series of tragic stories, providing a few plot twists and narrative intrigue, without losing sight of the victim. B.
  • 13 Minutes to the Moon – released by the BBC to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the first moon landing, the series focuses on the audio recordings from the Apollo 11 mission. Having done a thorough job of explaining what was being said, and the importance of each intonation from those involved, the uninterrupted playback is truly mesmerizing. A. 
  • End of Days – the siege of Waco told from a British perspective, talking to family members of those who went. C.
  • Uncover – Season 1: Escaping NXIVM – a disturbing account of a women’s efforts to escape a cult. C.
  • Caliphate – an exquisite series that reports on the rise of Islamic State and documents the fall of Mosul. It’s a deeply absorbing production centred around an interview with someone claiming to have joined IS, and provides a perfect balance of background information. A. (Update: In December 2020 the New York Times retracted the series)
  • Atlanta Monster – all the ingredients for a fascinating sequence of plot twists and information about a case I wasn’t familiar with. But I felt it dragged on and I gradually lost interest. B.
  • Slow Burn (Season 2 Clinton) – very well presented featuring interviews with key players in the Monica Lewinsky scandal. I particularly liked the broader focus on the controversy surrounding Clinton prior to him becoming President, and how that laid the ground for his impeachment. This was a historic event that I remember experiencing, but it was enlightening to go deeper. Especially relevant given the #metoo movement. B.
  • This Sounds Serious – a well conceived and executed spoof of the true crime genre. Some daft comedic moments and surprisingly subtle nods to The Day Today. A.
  • The Butterfly Effect – very touching business history emphasising creative destruction and unintended consequences. High recommend. A.
  • Missing Richard Simmons – originally presents itself as having the ingredients of a unique and enjoyable mystery, but sadly turns into a slightly disturbing hounding. C.
  • Undisclosed (Season 2: Joey Watkins) – a classic example of a true crime podcast that investigates a miscarriage of justice, in detail and with impact. B. 
  • S Town – a fascinating and gripping story, but I was somewhat annoyed by the presenter’s self-serving presence. B.
  • Tracks – a radio play that delves into a reasonably interesting conspiracy theory, but ultimately fails to replicate the engagement that comes from a discovery. C.
  • Homecoming – more of a play than a podcast, but one that utilises the medium very nicely. Season 2 was meh. B.
  • Serial Season 1 – a documentary about the death of Hae Min Lee featuring interviews with Adnan Syed, who is in prison for the murder. But did he do it? This helped build the genre of the developing real time podcast, and bingelistening to this with noise cancelling headphones, on a transatlantic red eye, was super sweet. The theme music still gives me shivers. The original and perhaps still the best. A.

 

And finally:

Classic interview questions

aje on February 27, 2018

  1. If you had to kill someone, who would it be?
  2. What have you been most wrong about?
  3. When have you spent < £100 on something that gave you an immense amount of satisfaction?
  4. What’s the biggest coincidence you’ve ever experienced?
    • A coincidence is “A surprising concurrence of events with no apparent causal connection.”
    • I like this one
    • Another famous one is a man picks ups ringing pay phone, and it’s a lady trying to get hold of him but she dialled his payroll number by mistake. Then again, it can’t be that good an example of coincidence if David Spiegelhalter has 10 other examples of it happening! (see his website)
    • Luck = chance taken personally
    • We may underestimate the likelihood of chance meetings due to hidden networks
  5. Do you sincerely believe in any conspiracy theories?
    • Joscha Bach argues that the main difference between a conspiracy theory and a consensus narrative is that latter tried to unify society, but the former tries to splinter it. Yet both of them “gives meaning to the world by connecting significant dots with confabulation and motivated reasoning, making truth and fiction indistinguishable”. Perhaps he’s right that the internet is making it harder to debunk conspiracy theories.
    • Note that some events can cease to be a conspiracy theory – as Mick Herron said, “It’s not a theory once it’s proved. After that, it’s just a conspiracy” (Slow Horses, p.147)
  6. Is cunning a good trait?
    • “Instead of following an open, clearly understandable line of behaviour, cunning is calculating how other people will react to certain forms of behaviour which are hiding the end game”… “this ability to assess things rapidly and then to act in a way that is not immediately readable/ understandable by the people around us in order to get an advantage that some people will doubtless feel is an unfair advantage” (Tim Parkes, translator of Machiavelli who, incidentally, was always truthful towards his wife)
  7. Tell that story, the time you did the wrong thing because you were scared. (link)
  8. When were you at your happiest?
  9. Tell me about the time you met the right person at the wrong time. (It doesn’t need to be romantic).
  10. Do you have a favourite joke?
  11. Imagine your funeral, and your family and friends have had a few drinks and are thinking of you. They want to make an idiosyncratic gesture to your memory. What would they do? What should they do?

Writing reviews

aje on February 19, 2018

“Reviewers come in numerous categories. One group, often the most gushing in their praise, show few signs of actually having read the book. A second group absorb enough of the introduction and of passages relating to their own specialty to pass resounding judgments. A third group, in a distinct minority, follow careful reading with balanced comments. And then there’s the Worshipful Company of Whingers, Carpers and Nit-Pickers, whose sole aim in life it to find fault.”

Davies, N., (2006) Europe East & West, Jonathan Cape

Performance Review

aje on December 12, 2016

The underlying problem is that all performance reviews (especially corporate ones) tend to be costly and arbitrary. Deloitte have a new approach that intends to simplify the process by asking 4 questions:

  1. Given what I know of this person’s performance, and if it were my money, I would award this person the highest possible compensation increase and bonus (five point scale)
  2. Given what I know of this person’s performance, I would always want him or her on my team (five point scale)
  3. This person is at risk for low performance (yes/no)
  4. This person is ready for promotion today (yes/no)

I like the idea but not the questions chosen (they are too hierarchical). Mine would be something along the following lines:

  1. Does this person excel at their job?
    • For example, is there documented evidence of other people attempting to learn from them?
  2. Is this person a pleasure to work with?
    • For example, would other colleagues look forward to making a transatlantic trip with them?

I recently became aware of the concept of a Personal Boardroom. I think it is a good way to recognise whether you have an effective support network, and to identify why your career may be stalling. The idea is that you should have people in your life – with whom you are in regular contact – that perform each of the following roles:

Screen Shot 2015-03-25 at 18.37.00 Screen Shot 2015-03-25 at 18.36.47 Screen Shot 2015-03-25 at 18.36.54

Country Competitiveness Dashboard

aje on October 11, 2016

I am an Affiliate Faculty Member of the Microeconomics of Competitiveness program at Harvard Business School, and a big fan of Michael Porter – his work consistently reminds me of the importance of bringing clarity to management practice.

I also like his inclination for frameworks rather than models. If your goal is to interpret and assess, as opposed to measure and predict, a framework is a critical analytical tool. One that I especially like is his explanation for what determines competitiveness. For example, consider the following slide (which I believe originates from here).

screen-shot-2016-09-29-at-13-03-20

I’ve given this framework a lot of thought, but I don’t think it fits as neatly into the Diamond model as is often claimed. For example in this NBER paper Porter (and co-authors) present an enlarged version:

screen-shot-2016-10-12-at-13-49-00

This clearly shows that the Diamond model is intended to be a more detailed view of the “Quality of the National Business Environment” segment. But consider something like nutrient rich soil, or a large natural harbour. One might think that constitutes an endowment. But it is also a relevant “Factor input condition”. Indeed what’s the difference between the “Supporting and Related industries” and “State of Cluster Development”? I suspect this is why Figure 3 above has dropped endowments and clusters, and renamed it a “Foundational Competitiveness Index”. I think this is a shame, because the “What Determines Competitiveness” slide is clearer, and more coherent, than the FCI.

I think Porter’s attempt to force fit the Diamond model into the Competitiveness index creates an opportunity to take the “What Determines Competitiveness” slide in a new direction. Indeed I think it complements nicely the “Growth is Like an iPhone” analogy:

In my attempts to merge the three level analogy with a template that my students can use in class, and with all appropriate nods to Prof. Porter, this is the “Country Competitiveness Dashboard“:

Rather than viewing the Diamond model as a subset of the “Business environment”, I see it more as a strategic tool that cuts across the whole Country Competitiveness Dashboard. In other words step 1 is to populate the dashboard, and ensure that you are covering all bases. Step 2 is to conduct a Diamond analysis – which is better suited at the cluster level than the national level anyway.

The endowments above are rooted in economic growth theory, but I am always struck at how important they seem to be when reading geopolitical accounts. The list below shows some of the typical go to areas when trying to understand the starting position of a country.

I think it’s important to understand competitiveness but it looks toward the supply side of the economy, which is much more important for long term growth than either monetary or fiscal policy. Two recent articles on the rise of new supply side thinking include:

Some broader indices include:

Here is my application of some of these concepts to Belarus:

 

Finally, it is well worth reading Paul Krugman’s, Competitiveness – a dangerous obsession (Foreign Affairs, March/April 1994). When treated as a mercantilist trade “strategy”, or the conflation of corporate planning with national level decision making, attention to competitiveness can lead us down the wrong path. But when competitiveness is wedded to our understanding of economic growth, and the conditions required for entrepreneurship to flourish, the competitiveness framework is immensely beneficial.
Alumni

Having attended the MOC programme in 2013 and 2015, I then utilised some of the concepts on a special programme for a small private business school in Sofia, in 2016 and 2018. Little did I know that two other graduates from the MOC programme were running the full course through the University of Sofia during this period. And in 2021 Kiril Perkov and Assen Vassilev became Prime Minister and Finance Minister respectively. This is a great example of the clear links between classroom knowledge and policy leadership.

Management reading list

aje on September 28, 2016

Here are a few recommendations for managers.

  1. Sowell, T., 1987, A Conflict of Visions, William Morrow
    • Sowell makes a distinction between a constrained (i.e. human nature is stable and based on self-interest) or unconstrained (human nature is good or has the potential to be good) “vision”. He argues that most political beliefs fit into one of these categories, and that people’s judgements are often determined by their existing vision.
  2. Schwartz, Peter. (1997) The Art of the Long View: Planning for Future in an Uncertain World, John Wiley & Sons
    • The pioneer of scenario planning provides a user guide to their construction and use, and demonstrates their relevance for any decision making under uncertainty.
  3. Postrel, V., 1999, The Future and Its Enemies, Free Press
    • Postrel challenges the conventional wisdom that modern society isn’t delivering, and that we need to take coordinated action to change this trend. Instead, she articulates the case for competition and decentralised decision making, and identifies a “dynamism” world view that permits amazing innovation.
  4. Koch, Charles, G., 2007, The Science of Success, Wiley – especially SoS excerpts
    • This book outlines the concept of “Market-Based Management”, the framework that Koch credits as driving the incredible success of the American conglomerate Koch Industries. It attempts to apply the institutions of a free society and market economy within a firm, and provides an excellent case study on alternatives to hierarchical command structures.
  5. Burlingham, Bo, 2005, Small Giants, Penguin
    • A fascinating collection of case studies of companies that chose to be great rather that big. Most of them may be unfamiliar, but they are all inspirational for their pursuit of excellence as they define it.
  6. Cowen, T., 2009, Create Your Own Economy, Dutton
    • This is an eclectic look at how the internet has affected the way we engage with information. We have more choice, and more ability to cultivate our own consumption that ever before. This caters to people with autistic tendencies, and Cowen not only allows us to understand this condition, but also encourage our inner neural diversity.
  7. Deutsch, D., 2011, The Beginning of Infinity, Penguin – in particular “Optimism” (Chapter 9)
    • In a deep, mind bending work Deutsch argues that the enlightenment was built on the search for good explanations (which is different to attempts to test theories), and claims that a rediscovery of this effort will create the beginning of infinity. He touches upon his expertise as a Physicist to explain famous paradoxes and make a convincing argument in favour of the multiverse.
  8. Ridley, M., 2011, The Rational Optimist, Harper
    • Trade and specialisation have meant that things have never been better, and things will continue to be better provided we remain rational and optimistic.
  9. Poundstone, W., 2011, Priceless, Oneworld – especially the chapters on Prospect Theory and Ultimatum Games
    • Entertaining and accessible overview of behavioural economics and its impact on decision making.
  10. Ries, Eric, 2011, The Lean Startup, Penguin – especially the chapter on batches
    • The classic guide to creating a new organisation under conditions of uncertainty, including practical advice on strategy.
  11. Gleick, J., 2012, The Information, Fourth Estate
    • A somewhat daunting but wholly engrossing history of information, explaining critical innovations such as drum banging, Enigma, through to the internet.
  12. Fisman, R. and Sullivan, T., 2013, The Org: The Underlying Logic of the Office, Twelve – in particular “What Management is Good For” (Chapter 5)
    • A highly readable explanation for why organisations exist, and a defense of the important role they play in coordinating economic activity.
    • Also see “Why Managers Still Matter“, Foss, N.J., and Klein, P.G., MIT Sloan Management Review, September 2014.
  13. Leighton, W.A., and Lopez, E.J., 2014, Madmen, Intellectuals and Academic Scribblers, Stanford – especially the chapter on Public Choice theory
    • A scholarly level and yet enjoyable look at how ideas shape the world around us, with excellent examples of times when they can overcome vested interests. The authors identify policy entrepreneurs as key change agents and show how social change occurs.
  14. Skarbek, D., 2014, The Social Order of the Underworld, Oxford University Press
    • One of the very best attempts to study how governance emerges without government. Skarbek presents his academic work on how prisons are organised, cutting across all of the social sciences. He draws upon fascinating fieldwork to explain the role of gangs and destroys many myths about why they form and the functions they serve. This is one of the best contemporary examples of the applicability of economic theory to broad social issues and will change how you think about how people associate.
  15. Nelson, R., 1977, The Moon and the Ghetto, WW Norton & Co
    • A joint-Godfather of organisational studies, Nelson explores why incredible technical tasks (such as sending someone to the moon) are easier to solve than many mundane social tasks (such an ending poverty). He surveys different ways in which rational analysis has been applied (the “policy analysis” perspective, where the chief executive makes decisions; the “organization” perspective, which looks at institutional structure; and the “science and technology” perspective, which focuses on how R&D resources are allocated), and finds them mutually useful but incomplete. The focus is more on how to solve public policy questions rather than a clear tool kit on how to do so (i.e. the intended audience is social scientists rather than policymakers) but is relevant to anyone seeking to better understand complex problem solving in an organisational context.
  16. Weiner, E., 2016, The Geography of Genius, Simon and Schuster – in particular his advice to his daughter
    • A tender travel book that combines affectionate tales of interesting journeys, with a sharp identification of what causes certain locations, at certain points in history, to give rise to outrageous spells of creativity.

Business One Pagers

aje on September 23, 2016

Sometimes I read a book and it leaves a big impression on me, but I worry that it will be transient. I already utilise “One Pagers” for recording brief thoughts on interesting books or articles, but thought I could create a template that focuses on business implications.

Although teachers like myself often think that providing a list of excellent resources is sufficient to aid someone’s learning, genuine learning needs to be reflective. Therefore my advice is to read the book and then write a Business One Pager.

The basic format is as follows:

  • Key information: (i.e. title of the book, name of the company, industry, era, etc)
  • Situation analysis/context
  • Key challenges faced
  • Legal and regulatory context
  • Sources of value creation
  • Successes
  • Failures
  • Lessons I can implement

Of course, this is incomplete and should be treated as a work in progress. But I hope you find it helpful.

Resources

The Krupnik Medal

aje on May 29, 2016

As an educator it’s a real priviledge to have the opportunity to engage with so many ambitious and intelligent students. My colleagues that teach on PhD programmes tend to have lists of their former students (I even appear on one!) but working in a business school means that I don’t produce future academics. I do, however, look on with pride when I see the achievements of former students in their professional careers.

A Krupnik Medal (🏅) is my way of saying “well done!”

Krupnik Medal holders:

To nominate someone, or reconnect, email me!