<story><title>Devouring the Heart of Portugal</title><url>https://www.damninteresting.com/devouring-the-heart-of-portugal/</url></story><parent_chain></parent_chain><comment><author>spicyusername</author><text>Wow, what an interesting story. Very well told and provides a window into life in the 1920s.&lt;p&gt;One thought that came to mind while reading it is how easy it is to do the wrong thing, and how hard it is to prove or stop people from doing the the wrong thing. There&amp;#x27;s such an asymmetry.&lt;p&gt;Following the rules necessarily puts constraints and friction on your ability to act. Ignoring the rules allows you to move more nimbly.&lt;p&gt;It seems like in almost all of these cases the criminals only fail because they don&amp;#x27;t stop, which gives authorities enough chances to finally catch them.&lt;p&gt;Makes you wonder how many criminals stop at the first success and never get caught.</text></comment>
<story><title>Devouring the Heart of Portugal</title><url>https://www.damninteresting.com/devouring-the-heart-of-portugal/</url></story><parent_chain></parent_chain><comment><author>forinti</author><text>I love books about fraud and The Man Who Stole Portugal by Murray Bloom is one of my favourites.&lt;p&gt;This is also a story about how Artur Alves dos Reis sparked growth by injecting money into the Portuguese economy.</text></comment>