Melanie’s Reviews > The Great Acceleration: How the World is Getting Faster, Faster > Status Update

Ecological nightmares (CAFOs, drought, pollution, global warming), and some ridiculous suggestions for solutions (like spraying soot into the atmosphere). And increasing taxes, because tax revenue is always spent responsibly.

Chapter 8 is so nuts. Megacities are bad and too congested and full of crime. He doesn't address the downsides of density. Also thinks self-driving cars are the cure to traffic.

Author does not think that hft should be banned or batched or otherwise regulated. But also we want to protect the rest of the economy from flash crashes (sounds like he understands the markets about as well as I do).

In finance, the quest for short-term profits is stifling long-term growth and innovation. Also, algorithms trading with algorithms is most of the market movement these days.

Government is too slow to deal with acceleration, and a lot of his examples involve British politics, so....? Pre-brexit it seems.

Politicians spend all their time reacting to news and not implementing their agendas. Also they have to be young and fit. And hot.

Doesn't think polarization based on news choices is a big risk but this was pre-Trump and pre-covid, so this might prove to be incorrect.

So music and stories are more similar but also more complex. Also, algorithms aren't great at choosing hits (or romantic matches, for example).

"Hollowing out the middle"

Culture is not monolithic, so acceleration isn't always bad all the time.