With this issue I've finished up my first 12 months as full-time editor of PUBLIC UTILITIES FORTNIGHTLY. During that time, I've tried to adhere to few simple rules. If I'm lucky, I'm batting four out of five:
s Trust ideas, not facts
s Welcome different views
s Don't shy from difficult subjects
s Make it easy to read
s Take a day off now and then.
Someone once said that an editor's job is twofold: "Simplify and exaggerate." That advice may sound peculiar, but one could do worse. Attention spans are short (em and justifiably so, given the demands on our time. Every article should say something, and what it does say should appear obvious immediately, in the first few lines. If in doubt, read it out loud. Of course, Mark Twain drew an exception for the music of Gustav Mahler, but my feeling is that the written word is never "better than it sounds."
Capacity As Commodity?
Capacity is fleeting, but money is firm. That idea ranks as one of the most interesting I've come across in my 12-month stint: That in a pure commodity market, one can employ financial instruments to overcome uncertainty in supply and demand. In other words, you can trade money easier than you can trade energy.