The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) published a special issue on July 8 commemorating the 130th anniversary of the first edition, July 8, 1889. In my estimation, the WSJ, along with The New York Times and The Economist are the three absolute best publications. Read them. A lot has changed since 1889, including the price of […]
News
What Happens When Public Transit Becomes Free?…
Have you heard that in Tallinn, Estonia, public transportation is free for residents? Not only has it been free since 2013, but it also works great. According to The Economist, “The buses are on time, the trams are shiny and new, and passengers usually get a seat.” And that’s not all. Far from draining city […]
In Case You Haven’t Heard…
Our population is getting older and doing so at a quicker pace than was projected in the past. For the first time in U.S. history there are more people over the age of 65 than under the age of 5. Here in Vermont this has led to a recent downgrade in our sterling AAA bond […]
Where You Stand Depends on Where You Sit…
I am talking about the rules that China does and doesn’t play by. China has developed an alternative to Western style democratic capitalism. Call it authoritarian capitalism if you will. China does not feel that it has to adapt and accept the standards from the West. It is developing its own viable, and it thinks, […]
What Should We Be Doing Now?…
There is a general level of unease in the stock market today. Investors are not panicking but everyone is wondering, how long can this stock market rally continue? As the chart at the bottom shows, this current Bull Market is the longest in history. A big shoe has got to be about to fall or […]
Can We Find a Cure for Aging?…
According to Joseph Coughlin, an expert on aging and founder of MIT’s AgeLab, there are two simple questions that can determine how well you’ll navigate your later years: “Who’s going to change the light bulb, and how are you going to get an ice cream cone?” These appeared in a recent New Yorker article by […]
The Yield Curve as Recession Predictor…
Economists and policy makers are spending a lot of time talking about the yield curve these days. This bond market metric plots the yields investors receive for different maturity bonds. Because they demand more compensation for holding longer-term debt, the yield curve typically slopes upward to the right (see chart below ). On rare occasions, […]
Is The U.S. Overdue For a Recession?…
I will do my best economist impersonation here and answer – yes and no. The yes part has to do with age. This recovery is nearly ten years old and if we keep going past July, as we almost certainly will, it will be the longest recovery in history. But age alone does not kill […]
Best to Sit for This Ovation…
The Chicago Symphony Orchestra recently concluded the longest labor strike in its prestigious 128 year history. The issue at the heart of the dispute was the future of the pension plan offered to musicians. While pensions have become quite scarce in the private sector, they remain a cornerstone among the nation’s leading orchestras. Earlier this […]
Let’s Look at This Straight in the Eye…
In conversations on Value Investing, references to the 1962 New York Mets have been coming up more often, and that’s not a good thing. The 1962 Mets are beloved for losing a staggering 120 games — a record for the history books that spurred then-manager Casey Stengel to despair, “Can’t anybody here play this game?” […]
5G, Not Just Another Phone Upgrade…
Industry experts expect great things from 5G, the latest generation of wireless technology. To understand why, it helps to know a bit about how cell phones function. Cell phones convert voice and data into electrical signals and then transmit those signals over radio waves to the nearest cell tower. The cell tower then passes the […]
The All China Edition…
I spent the month of March in China, travelling from the deep south to the mid section of Shanghai/Hangzhou/Zhoushan. My economic thoughts are detailed on pages 2 and 3, my reflections on culture and life on page 4. And here is my ‘Lonely Planet Guide’ to the not-miss sights. 1. Wherever you go use the […]
