What I wrote last week
Business
The latest memo from Howard Marks, just like his previous, doesn’t disappoint. He mentioned all the common senses in his memo which a lot of analysts and investors don’t seem to remember, myself included.
An informative interview by Patrick on an expert in the food industry
Neil struck it again with a sensible post on Apple’s share buyback
Visa’s new study on worldwide contactless payments after Covid
Bill Gates: America’s Top Farmland Owner
Second Measure looked at retention rate for different cohorts of Disney+ subscribers. I have quite a few questions here. How much of the bundle base came from the 3-year subscriptions sold at D23? Does the Prime Video include Prime Subscription which automatically includes Video?
Technology
You will soon be able to unlock your BMW with an iPhone in your pocket
Apple’s M1 chip can help you train models faster
DuckDuckGo is hovering around 100 million users/a day now
What I found interesting
What it’s like to go through a dramatic career change
If you are a left-wing protester, you’re 3x more likely to be forcefully confronted by the police in the US. My guess is that except from the aggressive looters, left-wing protesters are peaceful and give an impression to the police that they can use force against the protesters. Right-wing protesters appear more aggressive and intimidating. Plus, I wonder if the results are skewed because there are more states with the GOP-controlled local authorities than those with Dems-controlled authorities.
Dire Wolves Were Not Really Wolves
European Union gave citizens the “right to repair“
This video clip is about how much Swedes trust their government and believe that their high taxes are in their benefits through free healthcare, education, great infrastructure and a great living standard. It can’t be more different from the US. Here, every time social benefits are mentioned, a lot of people can’t call them “socialists” or “communists” fast enough. It’s super fascinating to see people increasingly pay more taxes (as %) compared to billionaires and are convinced that a little bit of saving on taxes every month is worth having a low living standard and paying a lot of money for everything else. There is a natural and inherent distrust in the government that is the root of so many problems around here
Trump’s coup attempt of 2020-21, like other failed coup attempts, is a warning for those who care about the rule of law and a lesson for those who do not. His pre-fascism revealed a possibility for American politics. For a coup to work in 2024, the breakers will require something that Trump never quite had: an angry minority, organized for nationwide violence, ready to add intimidation to an election. Four years of amplifying a big lie just might get them this. To claim that the other side stole an election is to promise to steal one yourself. It is also to claim that the other side deserves to be punished.
When that violence comes, the breakers will have to react. If they embrace it, they become the fascist faction. The Republican Party will be divided, at least for a time. One can of course imagine a dismal reunification: A breaker candidate loses a narrow presidential election in November 2024 and cries fraud, the Republicans win both houses of Congress and rioters in the street, educated by four years of the big lie, demand what they see as justice. Would the gamers stand on principle if those were the circumstances of Jan. 6, 2025?
Source: The New York Times
Minh Quang Duong 