News

Most of us are aware of the lack of supply in the current housing market. But just 15 years ago we faced the opposite problem. History can provide a helpful perspective, so let’s go back to the 2000s and look at how we ended up with such an oversupply prior to the Great Recession of […]

It is an unbelievable scenario: you have access to the front-page headline of The Wall Street Journal one day before it is published. You can use this information to trade, and you are provided with funds to do so. It sounds like a surefire way to become rich! Is it legal? Yes, because it isn’t […]

In every election since we’ve been in business, we get questions—anxieties, mostly—about who will win and why it will be disastrous for stocks. Anne summed it up nicely in the title of an article she wrote during the 2020 election cycle, “It’s not just about who sits in the oval office.” This year has been […]

China has a lot to boast about. Since economic reforms were put in place by Deng Xiao Ping in the late 1970s, China has lifted more people out of poverty (800 million) in a shorter time than any country has ever done in history. Visit China today and you will marvel at the futuristic skyscrapers, […]

If you live in Vermont, you’ve likely noticed a growing number of recreational dispensaries appearing throughout the state. Recreational cannabis was legalized in 2018 and retail sales began in 2022. Two years on, how has the rollout been shaping up? It turns out, we are not the only ones wondering. Vermont’s Cannabis Control Board (CCB) […]

Tajikistan is not on everyone’s bucket list. In fact, most people are hard pressed to find the country on a map. But if you are interested in the high mountains of Asia, from the Himalayas to the Karakorum, the Hindu Kush, and the Pamirs, then Tajikistan is a prime destination. The Pamir Mountains, a high […]

This is a meditation on reading — deep, immersive reading, preferably of books, essays, or other thoughtful pieces. Not scrolling on your device. Not scanning for news. Not what might be euphemized as “research,” where your eyes flit here or there as you search for the correct spelling of Albania’s capital, the growth rate of […]

Podcasts have had a big impact on the way Americans spend their time. The New Oxford Dictionary awarded podcast “word of the year” back in 2005, but the medium did not enter many Americans’ consciousness until 2014 when the true-crime podcast Serial was released, reaching a record (at the time) five million downloads. Today, podcasts […]

After an historically fast and furious campaign of interest rate hikes to combat inflation, the Federal Reserve is ready to cut at its meeting this week. Why are cuts coming now, and what do they mean for you and me? The Fed is all about its “dual mandate” of price stability and maximum employment. They […]

Standard economic theory holds that rising demand leads to higher prices and falling demand, lower prices. When supply exactly matches demand, a “clearing” price or fair value is reached. In the real world, however, things do not always work out this way. In some cases, prices fail to adjust to shifting supply and demand because […]

“Everyone’s health generally declines with time, and sooner or later we all die, so the question we all must answer is how to make the most of our finite time on earth.” “. . . if you knew you were going to die tomorrow, you’d spend today one way, and if it was two days […]

In August, I had the pleasure of attending the Summer Olympics in Paris. Over a delightful but very hot week there, a few thoughts popped into my head—observations about the event from someone who spends too much time over-analyzing everything. The commercialization of sports is nothing new, but the resulting proliferation of sponsorships at the […]