Japan’s risk aversion is famous: There’s the devotion to saving in accounts yielding close to zero rather than spending or investing in stocks. There are the perennial poor rankings in global surveys on entrepreneurialism. There is the fact that relatively few Japanese students choose to study abroad compared to those in other nations. Several years […]
News & Insights
The 2-Minute Thought: Becoming Fluent. . . in Flemish, Vietnamese, or Another Language
It’s a long journey to learn a foreign language. You go from hearing speech as a stream of unintelligible sound to eventually being able to identify distinct units of meaning. You start to use those units in your own speech, but find yourself bumping up against new limitations even as your expressive power grows. Children […]
The 2-Minute Thought: Could Japan Be East Asia’s Future Power?
George Friedman, who founded the well-known geopolitical strategy firm Stratfor and now runs a group called Geopolitical Futures, recently wrote that one of his most controversial calls is that Japan will rise as East Asia’s leading power by 2040. It certainly is a contrarian forecast. How could Japan, with massive government debt and an aging, […]
Here’s Where All The Anger Comes From…
Well, not exactly all of America’s anger but certainly some of it. The chart below shows that for those born in 1940 there was a 90% chance on average that you would end up with a higher standard of living than your parents. But for those born in 1980, the chance is down to only […]
One Atlanta Falcon Super Bowl Winning T-Shirt Please, Extra Large…
I was in Costco just a day after the Super Bowl and there was a whole table of New England Patriot Super Bowl winning T-shirts. These had obviously been produced some weeks in advance. There must have been an equal number of Atlanta Falcon T-shirts somewhere. So where do all the Falcon T-shirts end up? […]
A Tale of Two Train Systems…
On January 1st of this year, the New York subway opened its long-awaited Second Avenue line with much fanfare. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo was on hand, people cheered, and, as The New Yorker’s Nick Paumgarten wrote in a recent piece, the mood on the train that day was positively “giddy.” The reason for the […]
In Spreadsheets We Trust…
I have to admit to not paying much attention to Bitcoin. I assumed the cyber-currency’s gyrating value and somewhat shady reputation would eventually lead to its demise. But despite recent speed bumps (see below), this digital currency refuses to die. Today, the outstanding value of Bitcoin currency is approximately $16 billion. It remains particularly popular […]
The 2-Minute Thought: Is Any Human Endeavor Getting Less Competitive? Investment Is No Exception
In 1969, Harvard accepted 20% of about 6700 applicants. It wasn’t easy to get in then, but it sure beat what it’s like now. In 2015, there were 37,307 applicants to Harvard, and the acceptance rate was 5%. Harvard’s director of admissions said there were far more qualified candidates than the university could take. Over […]
The 2-Minute Thought: Is Retirement Bad For Your Health?
A 2010 study done by three researchers at the University of Zurich found that retiring early could increase the chances of serious health issues and premature death. Specifically, it estimated that each year of early retirement was associated with a 1.8 month decrease in lifespan, and it highlighted a higher incidence of cardiovascular disorder – […]
The 2-Minute Thought: The Clouds Part for Value Investors
The dozen or so year-end letters to investors I’ve read so far suggest that the clouds finally are parting for value investors. There is a positive tone in the letters that contrasts sharply with early 2016. Value investors buy undervalued out-of-favor securities based on careful fundamental research. An important part of that practice is being […]
The 2-Minute Thought: Unraveling how we see immigration
Attitudes on immigration are complex. With recent news flow so focused on politically charged atmospheres around the world, it is easy to believe that the globe has turned against immigration. But attitudes within regions are variegated. And large swaths around the world support immigration more than they oppose it. A 2015 Gallup World Poll done […]
Make America Great Again…
I assume this means jobs. So exactly where are the jobs of the future going to be in America? The Economist took a stab at this in their “The World in 2017” edition late last year. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics produces a survey every two years looking at current jobs and where the […]
