False economy What’s in it for me? Understand what makes the

Politicians and banks use bad writing to 
make money and push forward harmful 
policies.

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You might be thinking that correct usage of a 
few words can’t make much difference in the 
grand scheme of things, but as recent events 
show, bad writing can cost billions.
The recent recession that began in 2007 is a 
perfect example of how much damage bad 
writing can cause.
According to the journalist and Financial Times 
editor Gillian Tett, banks write the details of their 
subprime loan packages in complicated and 
impenetrable language so that customers and 
regulators won’t understand it. Just try reading 
the fine print of a Collateralized Debt Obligation 
(CDO) or a Structured Investment Vehicle (SIV).
If customers don’t know exactly what they’re 
buying, they won’t have any ground to stand on 
if things go wrong. And if the people in charge of 
creating and enforcing regulations don’t 
understand what’s going on, it makes it pretty 
difficult for them to get in the way of the bank’s 
money-making schemes.
In other words, it can be argued that bad writing 
brought the global financial system to its knees, 
causing thousands of people to lose their homes 
and life savings.
Former political speechwriter Barton Swaim has 
admitted that politicians also seek out 
meaningless language. In this case, it’s often to 
distance themselves or buy time before taking 
any real stance on an issue.
But there are worse things going on behind the 
bad writing in politics. In the controversy 
surrounding 
climate 
change, 
political 
organizations intentionally employ misleading 
language to undermine the efforts of those trying 
to help the environment.
According to the Texas Republicans, “‘climate 
change’ is a political agenda which attempts to 
control every aspect of our lives.”
Since 2009, Republicans have also been using 
misleading language to block the Affordable 
Care Act and turn people against it. They once 
famously claimed it called for “death panels” to 
kill senior citizens.
But the English language can be used for good 
as well. Today, it’s more important than ever that 
we use it to fight for the truth.
Elon Musk
What’s in it for me? Learn what drove Elon Musk 
to the pinnacle of success.
There are only a few businesspeople in the 
world as well known and admired as Elon Musk. 
His successes in a range of areas – from electric 
cars to space travel – have established him as a 
household name.
But what is it that makes Elon Musk so special? 
These blinks lay bare his interests and passions 
– the forces that drove him to become the man 
he is today. They outline Musk’s unique passion: 
the desire to save mankind from destruction. It’s 
this goal that fueled his work on solar power, 
electric cars and space exploration, and, 
ultimately, led to his prodigious success.
In these blinks, you’ll learn

Why Musk married, divorced, remarried 
and then divorced his second wife;

How fornicating mice kick-started Elon 
Musk’s mission to Mars; and

How Elon Musk made electric cars really 
cool.