““Both hyper-pragmatic cost suppression (currently very normal in Beijing) and an intense devotion and care about experience and aesthetics (currently very normal in Bogota) – both of these are virtues. Likewise, willingness to take smart risks is a virtue, and conservatism and careful selection of reasonably guaranteed success are virtues. Rarer virtues are more likely to outperform. In a place and era with a high appetite for risk, the good risks get chewed up quickly, and the opportunities to take smart risks get harder to find and take comfortably. Likewise, conservatism across the board eats itself as safe bets get their prices bid up higher and higher – until they’re guaranteed small losses instead of guaranteed small gains.””
