A wonderfully captivating and truly depressing book - it is clear why this is a literary great. John Steinbeck describes the journey of the Joad family from Oklahoma to California during the dust bowl of the great depression. Despair drips heavily off every page and Steinbeck captures the emotions skillfully. One technique was the naïve … More The Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
A short book review from an investing classic. I enjoyed the turn of the century historical context, the booms and busts of the time and the different character of the investment management industry. For example, when Livermore was on holiday in Palm Beach Florida, he had to go into the physical trading houses to see … More Reminiscences of a Stock Operator by Edwin Lefèvre
It was great to read a history book and learn about the importance of electricity as a transformative technology through the ages. It is amazing that electricity was pretty much non-existent before the 1880s but it became widely used in the US by the 1930s, which just shows how quickly a revolutionary technology can spread … More The Empires of Light by Jill Jonnes
Great to contrast bitcoin’s humble beginnings on a cypherpunk mailing list vs. the institutionally investable $1tn network today. Or perhaps we can contrast the collaborative atmosphere of the early contributors vs. the tribal warfare waged on twitter today. While many things have changed, many have not. Bitcoin scaling, transaction fees, privacy and numerous other topics … More The Book of Satoshi
Really enjoyed this Grant Williams podcast with Chris Cole. In fact, all Grant’s interviews in this series are worth listening to (more than once). There’s a lot of info I didn’t fully understand in this interview. Options and derivatives aren’t my strong point, but the interaction between these variables, volatility, monetary policy, macro and market … More Chris Cole on derivatives, volatility, market structure and regime change
TLDR: The foundations of social trust are being tested. Our unsound monetary system with its negative consequences is a driver of this trust deficit. Communities that adopt sound money assets take a proactive step towards trustworthy relationships and away from the insidious consequences of unsound money. Youtube summary video: Trust – there’s simply not enough … More Sound Money Monthly: (ed.4) Where can we place our trust?
Excellent book where Marko Papic outlines his geopolitical investment framework. An educational and enjoyable read with plenty of examples. Three elements that really struck me; nihilism, constraints and the multipolar vision. Nietzschean Nihilism Marko is a powerfully nihilistic analyst. It makes his research incisive, differentiated, entertaining and valuable. Something to strive towards as an analyst. … More Book Review: The Nihilism, Constraints and Multipolar vision for Geopolitical Alpha
More credit is not the panacea for debt! That is the message from Garet Garrett’s 1932 book, the Bubble that Broke the World. The overuse of debt was a critical cause of the Great Depression (I detailed the other causes here and here). America was a funder of WW1 before entering the war and extended … More The Bubble that Broke the World
The 1920s-1930s and 1960s-1970s are two periods with remarked monetary disorder, similar to today. After reading Rothbard’s America’s Great Depression, I read French economist Jacques Rueff’s “the monetary sin of the west” to gain a few insights on the 60’s. The world was meant to be on a gold standard during both the 20s and … More The Monetary Sin of the West
Although painful, the solution to the 2020 economic recession is simple - uncover our problems, let prices adjust and reallocate capital towards productive usages. The quicker we adjust, the shorter the recession and the sooner we create a sustainable economic foundation for future prosperity. This approach is the polar opposite to the current interventionist and … More Inflationary Intervention Triggers Depression Risks
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