Richard Fisher’s ‘The Long View’ discusses the role that short-termism plays in society. The book lays out a compelling argument for why people should embrace the long view and ways to do it. Short termism is what the author uses to refer to a bias people have to prioritise short term gains at the expense of the long term.
Fisher discusses the root causes of short-termism, with a focus on capitalism and politics. In the case of capitalism, Fisher refers to quarterly reporting and misaligned personal targets as two contributing factors to the increased reliance of firms on short-term goals. Firms are guided by this three month timeframe to appease investors, sacrificing opportunities to pursue long term objectives such as R&D spending, advertising and patents.
On politics, Fisher addresses one of its biggest flaws: that politicians are reluctant to pursue goals where the benefits are recognised long after the next election. If voters see no short-term benefits in the time politicians have been in office they are often eager to replace them.
Fisher also draws on the role the media has in exacerbating the short-term mindset present among politicians. With the media hell-bent on creating the most shocking stories to attract the highest number of readers, they are more likely to focus on events that have just happened than on future events which are less tangible to imagine.
Further into the book, Fisher explores the mind's perspective of time. As humans, he explains, we are drawn to the present because we are psychologically distant from future events which seem less concrete and harder to picture. It is easy to understand then why politicians feel more ethically motivated to act on present day problems, such as rising unemployment, but less connected to long term challenges such as climate change. The suffering of those now is much more vivid and tangible than the suffering of those in the future.
As well as diagnosing our temporal bias for short-term thinking, Fisher provides ways we can bring our ‘present’ and ‘future’ selves closer together, so we are less psychologically distant from the long view. This includes incorporating ‘perspective thinking’, which in short refers to viewing life in the mindset of a future being.
What is most beneficial about this read is how timely it is. I recently wrote about how the lack of lab space in the Oxford-Cambridge arc is stifling innovation opportunities in the life science sector. By suffocating potential innovation, we are sacrificing benefits that future generations could feel. I suggested opening up areas of the green belt for construction or relaxing restrictions on Grade II buildings to allow existing spaces to be repurposed. While these solutions would allow long term innovation to flourish, politicians looking to please voters are not inclined to pursue policies that could lose them votes. This is a clear example where short term political gains are prioritised over long term benefits.
At the Adam Smith Institute, we commit to establishing policy that brings benefits that will be felt years in the future as well as the present. So I would strongly recommend this book to anyone similarly frustrated by the current state of society and a culture we have established that seeks immediate gratification. It effectively tackles and provides thorough and thought-provoking solutions to a complex and urgent problem.
Pre-order here.