--- description: Civil war in Central African Rep., using pricing to police water use, what's worse than Ebola, and BIll Gates has advice for Thomas Piketty. title: These Are Today's Best Ideas image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [Ideas](/section/ideas/) ## Ideas Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Innovation](/tag/innovation/) ## Innovation Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Five Best Ideas of the Day: October 17 by [The Aspen Institute](/author/the-aspen-institute/) ## The Aspen Institute Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Oct 17, 2014 4:00 PM CUT by [The Aspen Institute](/author/the-aspen-institute/) ## The Aspen Institute Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Oct 17, 2014 4:00 PM CUT **1\.** [**Bill Gates has some notes for Thomas Piketty: Tackle income inequality by taxing consumption, not capital.**](http://www.gatesnotes.com/Books/Why-Inequality-Matters-Capital-in-21st-Century-Review "undefined") By Bill Gates in Gates Notes **2\.** [**Thousands have died as Central African Republic slides toward civil war, but media coverage is scant. Is there an empathy gap?**](http://www.cjr.org/behind%5Fthe%5Fnews/western%5Fmedia%5Fstop%5Fignoring%5Fth.php "undefined") By Jared Malsin in the Columbia Journalism Review **3\.** [**Europe’s apprentice model isn’t a perfect fit for U.S. manufacturing, but it could change the way we train a new generation of blue-collar workers.**](http://weeklywonk.newamerica.net/articles/the-euro-apprentice/ "undefined") By Tamar Jacoby in the New America Foundation Weekly Wonk **4\.** [**Ebola may be gruesome but it’s not the biggest threat to Africa.**](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/ebola/11167158/Ebola-may-be-gruesome-but-its-not-the-biggest-threat-to-Africa.html "undefined") By Fraser Nelson in the Guardian **5\.** [**In dry California, regulators are using an innovative pricing scheme to push conservation.**](http://www.marketplace.org/topics/sustainability/dry-california-using-price-police-water-use "undefined") By Sarah Gardner at Marketplace  [_The Aspen Institute_](http://www.aspeninstitute.org/ "undefined") _is an educational and policy studies organization based in Washington, D.C._ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3516940/five-best-ideas-of-the-day-october-17/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3516940/five-best-ideas-of-the-day-october-17/"},"headline":"Five Best Ideas of the Day: October 17","datePublished":"2014-10-17T16:00:16.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:07:22.324Z","description":"Civil war in Central African Rep., using pricing to police water use, what's worse than Ebola, and BIll Gates has advice for Thomas Piketty.","url":"https://time.com/3516940/five-best-ideas-of-the-day-october-17/","keywords":["Innovation","California","europe","Bill Gates","Water","Conservation","central african republic","Hunger","Malaria","HIV","Aids","Manufacturing","ebola"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"The Aspen Institute","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/the-aspen-institute/"}],"articleSection":"Ideas","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/ideas/","name":"Ideas"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/innovation/","name":"Innovation"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3516940/five-best-ideas-of-the-day-october-17/","name":"Five Best Ideas of the Day: October 17"}}]}] ```