Virtualization, Forklifts, Microphones, Shipping Containers, Video Conferencing, Stethoscopes... - (recommended) - Who wins and loses due to COVID virtualization of the economy. Extending globalization shifts, virtualization has similar winners and losers. Breaks down by both smart/dumb and poor/rich country. Nice naming and framing. Made me think of Mary and Spencer (world class symbol smarts and "1" like talents) vs. Izzy the generalist... and led me to thinking of "Influence" being her possible skill. Makes ivy league relevant, and also makes me think she needs to get more "coverage" of classic lit, world history, etc.
Passat Wheels - the difference is in the wheels! Who would have thought that 1" of wheel could make a car look low end vs. high end. Amazing example of status baked into arbitrary nothing.
Central Banks have Become Irrelevant - Russell Napier warns that investors should prepare for inflation rates of 4% and more by next year. Makes the case for financial repression (keep rates down artificially while inflation rises) as the likely way to reduce debt levels. Was done successfully after WW II. Could be a major inflection point. Made me think that we are potentially at a political/economic shift, even a religious/values shift. Shift from bootstrap/independent to Virtue and Justice being the central lens. Sets up an AOC kind of new leader who could turn that 4 view into a 3 view. At the same time, pour money and jobs on people (as covid has shown works) while using govt loan guarantees as a mechanism to get money out (helps banks with free profit, helps people/schools, is effectively hidden from the "debt"/on-balance-sheet problems). Feels like a win/win, 1950's boom time is possible. Coincides with UBI and decentralization (suburbs and far flung lowering housing costs). Might be the beginning of a pendulum swing. Very contrarian. Interesting: remember, money can only be CREATED by banks... this provides a mechanism for that (unlike monetary policy actions)
Crazy Japanese Typewriters - Katakana looks normal, but Kanji, whoa.
New Ford Bronco - I think they might have nailed this. Kind of #want.
Concrete Power Screed - Think I #want
Amazon Sees Like a State. - this guys writing is colorful but all over the place. But this makes a case that Amazon is able to pull off what the soviets were not, solving the "calculation problem" of communism. Clever quote:
"We have reached a weird point in history where we can say that true communism has never been tried, because they didn’t have enough RAM."
Interesting take on Biden - Democrats view on marijuana legalization...
African American Boomers/Silent Gen oppose it.
If your assumption is that Biden is generally aligned policy-wise with African American Boomers/Silent Gen then everything makes sense. Whether it’s marijuana, M4A, or illegal immigration policy.
