
Why Do We Have “Sister Cities”? - bpolania
http://priceonomics.com/why-do-we-have-sister-cities/
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herendin
Perhaps I missed it, but the article does not seem to mention the obvious
personal incentive for public officials: an exchange of free vacations. That
seems naive.

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coffeevradar
I don't think "invective" means what you think it means.

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herendin
Fixed. Thanks. Maybe autocorrect was trying to tell me something.

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romanhn
I'm curious if this idea has been explored in large organizations as a way of
building understanding (read: breaking silos) between various
departments/groups/teams.

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thinkingkong
How does priceonomics keep cranking out these articles while maintaining an
otherwise boring product? Its impressive and simultaneously confusing.

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cperciva
You mean the blog isn't their product?

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gmanis
The blog is their marketing tool for their crawling service I believe.

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Natsu
That's the story I remember reading about it on HN, as well.

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ekianjo
The rationale of "Peace" seems a little weak to explain why there are so many
sister cities between France and the UK, since there has been no direct
conflict between the two countries for a long while now - and certainly it
would not explain why the number has increased after WWII where France and the
UK were clear allies (the UK even hosting Degaulle's call to resist).

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dkbrk
From Yes, Minister Season Three, Episode Two, "The Challenge":

> Sir Humphrey: [talking about nuclear fallout shelters] Well, you have the
> weapons; you must have the shelters.

> Hacker: I sometimes wonder why we need the weapons.

> Sir Humphrey: Minister! You're not a unilateralist?

> Hacker: I sometimes wonder, you know.

> Sir Humphrey: Well, then, you must resign from the government!

> Hacker: Ah, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. I'm not that unilateralist! Anyway,
> the Americans will always protect us from the Russians, won't they?

> Sir Humphrey: Russians? Who's talking about the Russians?

> Hacker: Well, the independent deterrent.

> Sir Humphrey: It's to protect us against the French!

> Hacker: The French?! But that's astounding!

> Sir Humphrey: Why?

> Hacker: Well they're our allies, our partners.

> Sir Humphrey: Well, they are now, but they've been our enemies for the most
> of the past 900 years. If they've got the bomb, we must have the bomb!

> Hacker: If it's for the French, of course, that's different. Makes a lot of
> sense.

> Sir Humphrey: Yes. Can't trust the Frogs.

> Hacker: You can say that again!

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Ras_
Between westeners at worst no more than curiosities, but they are a good
platform to start business in the East, where previous contacts and trust
building is more important.

