Entrepreneurial Survival

Bad things happen to good startups, and frequently. The worst being having to live through a downturn. Online realestate site Redfin CEO Glenn Kelman writes about how he is getting through it. A lot of it is quite sound advice. My favorites: "Compete with your successor" and "Be a Roman".

Books that correlate with high or low sat's

Interesting analysis, bad tagline. I think a more modest and accurate heading would have been "Books that high/low SAT scorers tend to read". Check out the list here . Could be easily extended to movies, bands, hobbies - hours of fun.

Sculpting with Words

Every now and then you come across a performance, a product, a skill - so sublime that it leaves you with your mouth open in awe and a sinking realization that no matter how much you practice, however much you study for the rest of your life - you will never be quite as good. Steve Nash on hardwood, BB King on the guitar, Roger Federer on the court. This piece by David Foster Wallace is an apt example. In an abstract way stylistically reminiscent of Tom Wolfe (The Electric Cool Aid Acid Test) it captures the spirit, mood, and soul of a luxury cruise. I dont think will be able to step foot on a cruise ship and not look at it with his eyes - full of curiosity, fear, and bewilderment. 5/5 stars.

Finally an explanation ...

... of how these MBSs became worth hundreds of times worth more than the mortgages they were based on. Keep up the good work, Michael Lewis. Article.

Capitalism Defined

Capitalism: The system under which the government provides bailout capital when large rich firms are about to go out of business. Article.

Booming Economy != Rising Stock Market

Shanghai Composite index plunged from 6000 to 2000 in a matter of months - with no fundamental changes in the Chinese economy. Another year, another bubble. Reminds me of this hilarious onion article. I'd be laughing if my emerging market funds were not scuba diving.

Ambient Awareness

... and here we have it, a new term to describe what Facebook news feed and Twitter are creating.

Talking Head Accountability

Historically news anchors have a hard time keeping up with talking heads as they spew out facts and opinions real time. But these days, shows like the Daily Show and Colbert Report can dissect, fact-check, and rip apart these pontificating blowhards. Case in point:

Blogs I follow

A good blog is hard to find - most of them are not worth checking out twice. Here are a couple I find myself going back to periodically - because they have solid information and/or interesting opinions.

* Calculated Risk
* Greg Mankiw
* TechCrunch
* VentureCapital Wire

Now I know why the Wazzup ... ads were playing

Its all about forming habits (in this case - drinking with your buddies). Great NYT article

Faith In The Economy?

Kevin Philips argues that official CPI, GDP, and Unemployment numbers are all fudged. Not a conspiracy, but just a result of desire of governments to report things as being better than they are in reality.

Airports

Its good to be back in asia and experiencing the firsthand the changes that are afoot (sorry, that was bad - I know). The two airports I just passed through - Singapore Changi and Seoul Incheon - were both equally impressive. Seems like while the US is busy spending money on bombs, oil, and health insurance - Asia is plugging away building infrastructure and making money. What will be the competitive profile in twenty years? I will just say that my 401(K) is mostly in emerging markets.

Brooks on Religion

David Brooks has a unexpected and eclectic NYT OpEd on the scientific/religious debate. Key quote:


"In their arguments with Christopher Hitchens and Richard Dawkins, the faithful have been defending the existence of God. That was the easy debate. The real challenge is going to come from people who feel the existence of the sacred, but who think that particular religions are just cultural artifacts built on top of universal human traits. It’s going to come from scientists whose beliefs overlap a bit with Buddhism."

Deploy Cognitive Surplus? Yes please ...

GMO Crops Turning Farmers to Suicide

The high costs and problems associated with planting GMO cotton crops leading thousands of farmers to suicide in India. Quite alarming - I hope the Indian government takes a long hard look at the business practices of Monsanto. This wont do anything to improve the image of GMO crops ...

Update: Vanity Fair has an overview of Monsanto history and practices.

Professor John Taylor

... aka the raisin. Profile.

Hello, Flocke!

Free Trade and Rust Belt

Free trade only hastens the process - what drives out jobs is costs (union/taxes) and policies. Article.

Ouch!

Prof Jeff Miron's Rational Perspective on the Effects and Policy Implications of Drug Prohibition

Now if we can find a politician who can explain this to the broader population. Not happening in my lifetime for sure. And now studies show that more than 1% of the US population is in prison. Awesome. On the bright side California is one of the few states that has seen a decline in the number of prisoners since 1987.

Americans Switching Religions - And Becoming Unaffiliated As Well.

NYTimes reports on a new Pew Study - the number of unaffiliated/agnostic individuals is rising. You wouldnt know it from the media coverage. (Click the image to expand it)

Lessig for Congress (or President)

Is there anyone better with powerpoint than Prof Lessig? Good material if you are trying to decide between Barack and Hillary. Also, he may be running for congress - encourage him by joining this group . He will bring some sanity and rationality into the political discourse.

Japanese/Koreans - Whats the Relationship?

Jared Diamond argues that the Koreans had a much more active role in shaping Japanese society than they like to admit ...

Infographic: Suicides at Golden Gate

Another well done graphic of suicides at each pole of the golden gate bridge - Edward Tufte would approve.

A Graphic worth a Thousand Words

NYTimes has a fascinating graphic that tells the story of Superbowl XLII concisely and with brilliance. There is no substitute for watching the game, but this serves as handy a summary as a multi-thousand word tome. The only improvement I can suggest is adding two markers for the game changing plays

1) The long 3rd down reception by tight end Boss, and
2) The fabulous catch by Tyree where he caught the ball with a hand and his helmet while Rodney Harrison wrestled him in the air

(Click through to view the full image)

Bernanke's Mountain

Timely article from NYTMag about how fed chairman Ben Bernanke's handling the incoming (or underway) recession.

Be Not Afraid

Here is one campaign I can get behind - stop being afraid on my behalf. The fear of terrorism is way overblown and is making the economy inefficient (just take a look at our airports). Lets stop focusing on the very unlikely attack scenarios and instead work on making local government and security better. And lets support politicians who espouse non-interventionist foreign policies.

Traffic Simulation

I always wanted to do a project like this - would be hours of fun while driving to Tahoe.

US Today Compared to the Ottoman Empire

Niall Ferguson makes the case that the current US indebtedness is moving cash flows to Asia, and is an indicator of decline of the empire.