I'm reading The Economy of Cities by Jane Jacobs right now. One of the main theses of the book is that small "inefficient" enterprises are actually the engines of economic grown. Large efficient organizations often lead to stagnation.
It's interesting how this intersects with Tao's point, about the social benefits.
Maybe I'm misunderstanding here, but it sounds like he's claiming they invented "interfaces". The Go interfaces seem like the same thing as a Haskell typeclass which predates them by a long shot. Either way a great invention that should be in more languages.
From the New York Times article, "The amount McKinsey is paying is substantially more than it earned from opioid-related work with Purdue or Johnson & Johnson, Endo International and Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals, its other opioid-maker clients, a person involved in the settlement negotiations said"
To me, "a cost of doing business" implies that they're making more money than it costs them. Here at least, that doesn't seem to be the case. So while this may not have been sufficient for retribution, I think it's easy to make the case that this will be a pretty good deterrent.
Consulting companies will start to realize that they can be liable for the advice the give.
What do you think an appropriate penalty is? When I first read this headline I was worried the fine would be just a slap on the wrist. I was glad to see it was more substantial.
Personally, I think a fine like this is just if it causes consulting firms to think about the consequences of their actions and do the right thing in the future. Making firms responsible for damages they cause would be best. Making it it clearly unprofitable is a good step.
From the New York Times article, "The amount McKinsey is paying is substantially more than it earned from opioid-related work with Purdue or Johnson & Johnson, Endo International and Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals, its other opioid-maker clients, a person involved in the settlement negotiations said"
I suspect return policies are often used to justify unnecessary purchases. How many times have you bought something online you didn't actually want, but then didn't return it because it was too much of a hassle?
I'm only interpreting here (not judging). But I think s/he means you're spending a lot of time justifying the position that expediency is what's important, which is ironic.