The New Prudence

A piece by Barbara Ehrenreich in yesterday's New York Times cautions against wishful or most-optimistic-case thinking when it comes to navigating through crises. Like the clear-eyed view of brutal facts championed by Jim Collins in Good to Great, Ehrenreich makes the case that everything costs money, the money has to come from somewhere, somebody has to pay, and cash spent on one thing incurs opportunity costs elsewhere. The sooner governing boards of institutions, not to mention the United States Congress, embraces this notion, the better for everyone.