Thoughts on Business, Politics, and Life from a Private Investor
In 1928, Irving Fisher published The Money Illusion (seriously, buy it - it's only $7.95), which discussed the human fallacy of thinking about things in the nominal currency of your home country instead of in terms of purchasing power. The concept phrase "money illusion" was coined by legendary investor and economist John Maynard Keynes. The easiest way to think about the money illusion is a phrase Warren Buffett has proclaimed: It isn't how many dollars you have, but how many … [Read more...]
Today, I was sitting at the dining room table, drinking a cup of coffee and wearing my Brooks Brothers pajamas watching the stock market skyrocket when it occurred to me that, given the secret project and some other things going on at the business, I want to build some cash and bond reserves at one of the individual operating companies; maybe put aside money a little at a time, let it build and do something fun with it three or four years from now, like design and build a row of townhouses or … [Read more...]
When I was 16 years old, I was sitting in the hallways of the local high school, waiting for class to begin, discussing the state of the world with Molly. She stopped me and asked a simple, direct question: "Do you believe that the life of an American is more valuable than the life of any other human? Because the answer to that question is going to determine your economic, political, social and moral worldview." As we established in the first essay on the rise of the Chinese … [Read more...]
The Revolution of Satisfied Expectations: "Research conducted by Daniel Kahneman of Princeton University, and by others who have come to approximately the same conclusion, shows that most people judge their well-being not by measuring where they stand but rather based on whether they think their circumstances and income will improve in coming years. For example, in the 1950s, when most American families lived in small houses, owned one car, and few if any family members attended college, … [Read more...]
Most growth asset allocation model portfolios call for exposure to the international asset class. In fact, in the article Factor In Your Income Sources When Seeking Diversification, I explained that one of the ways my own family reduced the risk involved with having such a big part of our net worth invested in private businesses involved in domestic manufacturing was to park almost all of our retirement assets and plans in international stocks, bonds, mutual funds and real estate. What does … [Read more...]
This blog is a way for me to pass along some of the stuff I learn on the journey and the past year has taught me a lot about furniture, furniture buying, and what constitutes quality furniture. Tying that into our usual discussion of economics and finance, I think it provides a lot of valuable [...]
I’ve been thinking a lot about free trade, labor unions, American manufacturing, and free markets for the past few weeks. You know that, on the whole, American manufacturing is still as strong as it was in 1960. We still produce roughly $20 out of every $100 of world goods. The difference? Technology and, to [...]
Though the home renovations have gotten the most headlines due to their nature (constant onslaught of choices and tasks that need to be completed), one of the most important items on the agenda of the six-month project has been to drastically reduce my digital footprint. By the end of the program, I will have one personal presence [...]
This makes me sick. This high school is ranked in top 5% of high schools in the United States. The worst part of the video for me was the part where the kid says, “I was never taught that knowledge”. It’s not somebody else’s job to teach you, it is your job to seek out [...]
This is a great way to start the day … one of the reasons I love writing this blog. Joshua, [In American Households Continue to Deleverage But That Only Tells Part of the Story, you wrote] “The numbers are just figures on a sheet trying to explain human behavior. Study the behavior, what is driving [...]
I'm a private investor who loves architecture, furniture, clothes, history, philosophy, books, cooking, and music as much as I do finance. Continue reading ...
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