Worthy Insights / Opinion Pieces / Advice
Bloomberg Businessweek – Could Ocean’s 8 Actually Work? – James Tarmy 6/5
- “Why stealing giant diamonds is a terrible, no good, very bad idea.”
FT – Trump is trading on the protectionist mood – Rana Foroohar 6/10
- “When even centrists are circling the wagons, we know we have entered a different world.”
FT – Forecasters have an awful record in predicting energy markets – Nick Butler 6/14
- “Wider uncertainty increases appeal of large, low-cost power projects.”
WSJ – The Stock-Market Price Can Be Wrong. Very Wrong. – Jason Zweig 6/15
- “Researchers have caught investors in the act of wildly – and unnecessarily – overpaying for a stock.”
WSJ – Venezuela’s Long Road to Ruin – Mary Anastasia O’Grady 6/10
- “Few countries have provided such a perfect example of socialist policies in practice.”
Markets / Economy
NYT – Power Companies’ Mistakes Can Cost Billions. Who Should Pay? – Ivan Penn 6/14
- “Utilities say they must be shielded from liability or the electric grid will suffer. Critics say that puts the burden on ratepayers, not investors.”
Real Estate
WSJ – Daily Shot: Bianco Research – Value of US Real Estate relative to GDP 6/15
WSJ – Daily Shot: John Burns RE Consulting – Burns Home Value Index 6/15
WSJ – Daily Shot: John Burns RE Consulting – Burns Intrinsic Home Value Index 6/15
Energy
WSJ – Global Investment in Wind and Solar Energy Is Outshining Fossil Fuels – Russell Gold 6/11
Finance
WSJ – Daily Shot: MagnifyMoney – Auto Loan Rates vs. Fed Funds Rate 6/15
WSJ – Daily Shot: MagnifyMoney – Student Loan Rates vs. Fed Funds Rate 6/15
Fishing
Construction
NYT – Piece by Piece, a Factory-Made Answer for a Housing Squeeze – Conor Dougherty 6/7
- “The global construction industry is a $10 trillion behemoth whose structures determine where people live, how they get to work and what cities look like. It is also one of the world’s least efficient businesses. The construction productivity rate — how much building workers do for each hour of labor they put in — has been flat since 1945, according to the McKinsey Global Institute. Over that period, sectors like agriculture, manufacturing and retail saw their productivity rates surge by as much as 1,500%. In other words, while the rest of the economy has been supercharged by machines, computers and robots, construction companies are about as efficient as they were in World War II.”
WSJ – Historic Rise in Lumber Costs Ripples Through Economy – Ryan Dezember 6/5
Education
WSJ – Judges Wouldn’t Consider Forgiving Crippling Student Loans – Until Now – Katy Stech Ferek 6/14
- “For decades, college debt was immune from the bankruptcy process. Judges are actively seeking ways to help debtors.”
Africa
Britain
FT – Average-sized English homes too pricey for average earners – Judith Evans 6/15
China
- “Xiao Jianhua (Tomorrow Group company) said to be detained in Shanghai a year after being seized in Hong Kong.”
Nikkei Asian Review – How Beijing is winning control of the South China Sea – Simon Roughneen 6/13
- “Erratic US policy and fraying alliances give China a free hand.”
- “What China is winning is de facto control of nearly the entire South China Sea, including all activities and resources in it, despite the other surrounding Southeast Asian states’ respective legal rights and entitlements under international law.” – Jay Batongbacal, director of the University of the Philippines Institute for Maritime Affairs and Law of the Sea
- “At stake is the huge commercial and military leverage that comes with controlling one of the world’s most important shipping lanes, through which up to $5 trillion worth of trade passes each year.”
Europe
- “The country’s economic output is smaller now than it was in 2004, and employment policies are skewed to protecting jobs, not creating them. The number of Italians registered as living abroad rose 60% from 2006 to 2017, to almost 5 million. Among those who stay, it’s common for unemployed young people to live with their parents instead of starting their own families, which is one reason the country has one of the world’s lowest birthrates.”
South America
Other Interesting Links
Tax Foundation – How High Are Beer Taxes in Your State? – Katherine Loughead 5/24
