Kennon-Green & Co. Global Asset Management, Wealth Management, and Investment Advisory

Coronavirus Vaccine May Never Be Developed

There Will Not Be a Coronavirus Vaccine Before Society Largely Reopens

Over the past few weeks, an interesting, and rather dramatic, development has occurred: A good minority of the population, often those in possession of what they deem to be stable incomes and sufficient savings, or who are otherwise cradled by some sort of safety net so they need not worry about homelessness and destitution, have moved the goalposts of the lockdowns from “flatten the curve to buy time for the hospital system to deal with a dramatic rise in patient loads” to “shelter-in-place until a vaccine is developed so this thing doesn’t spread.” The latter is predicated upon a fundamental misunderstanding that ignores the scientific reality of what we are facing.  Looking at subsequent developments in the pandemic, it’s time to face facts based upon all available presently-known factors.

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Covid-19 coronavirus, virus that causes acute respiratory infections and the common cold, Sars-CoV-2 background with copy space

U.S. COVID-19 Projections Slashed to 100,000 to 200,000 Deaths

Following our recent discussion in the past post on COVID-19, some good news has emerged: In a recent interview, Dr. Anthony Fauci stated that, although there was no way to know for certain and he didn’t want to be held to it given the ever-changing nature of the situation, he now estimates that the death toll from COVID-19 will be in the 100,000 to 200,000 range. This is a dramatic reduction from worst-case scenarios that had thought to be around 2,200,000 only a brief time ago.

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COVID-19 Pandemic vs Economic Shutdown

What Price Should We Pay to Fight COVID-19?

We need to have a hard conversation.  These conversations are not natural, or even comfortable, for a lot of people but at this time, in this moment, it is necessary.  To that end, I am going to be candid and may even offend several of you.  That is not my intention.  Rather, I think it is important for us to be honest about what we are facing, the trade-off calculations that are going to have to be made sooner rather than later, and the political and social ramifications of those decisions.

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Tower Bridge in London

The United Kingdom Exits the European Union

I’ve avoided speaking about the Brexit situation because I ultimately believe that it is not my place to tell British citizens how their country should be run even though I am a stakeholder in their success. While there are what I could consider extraordinarily high probabilities that the decision to leave the European Union will lead to lower GDP, the fact remains that GDP isn’t everything. Money, and the economy, exists to serve a civilization.

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Cecil the Black Maned Lion Killed by Walter Palmer

Financial and Life Lessons We Can Learn from Dr. Walter Palmer’s Cecil the Black Maned Lion Debacle

I’ve been thinking about the story that has captivated the country over the past two days – how, if various news reports are to be believed, Dr. Walter J. Palmer of Eden Prairie, Minnesota, owner of a practice called River Bluff Dental in Bloomington, Minnesota, and two of his guides poached the beloved Cecil the Lion from a national park in Zimbabwe, luring him from the sanctuary where he was protected, injuring him with an arrow before tracking him for two days, shooting him, beheading him, skinning him, and leaving the body behind with plans to mount the trophy in his office.

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Center for Science in the Public Interest

The New York Times Shows What 2,000 Calories Looks Like: The Mental Models of Math Estimation

The average healthy adult should eat roughly 2,000 calories per day to maintain a recommended weight.  In the United States, all else equal, the average male, at 5’8″, should weigh between 140 pounds and 172 pounds.  The average female, at 5’4″, should weigh between 114 pounds and 151 pounds. In study after study, the typical person underestimates…

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Polygamy in the United States

Mail Bag: Do You Think Polygamy Will Be Legalized in the United States?

Mail Bag: Do You Think Polygamy Will Be Legalized in the United States? Over the past few years, I’ve received a lot of questions about the role of polygamy in American society and, in some cases, whether I think it will ever return and whether I think it should be legalized following its restriction in the…

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Kennon-Green & Co. Global Asset Management, Wealth Management, and Investment Advisory