This was originally posted on September 22, 2020 on my old blog and is ever so slightly updated. Exxon et al. are on track for a bailout that will make the financial rescue of ‘08 look like handing a lollypop to a child.Oil companies – no matter what you think of them – create an […]
Continue ReadingTwo Characteristics of Money
This is the first of a couple of posts which will be directly related. What is money anyway? Money by itself is fundamentally useless as a true asset. Its value is the result of a societal construct. An asset is something that has value to the holder, and the funny thing with money is that […]
Continue ReadingOne-sided currencies and banking
In the modern banking system money is created through lending. For every dollar in existence there is a corresponding amount owed.[1] By and large, in the commercial banking system S≠I, no money is transferred from savers to investors. One way to describe this phenomenon is that banks print money out of thin air. That may […]
Continue ReadingSocial Media
Social Media The Anti-Social side of Social Media On the surface social media seems to be an extension of how we socialized pre-internet. Even the name itself leads us to think in that direction. We used to get together on birthdays, holidays etc. and take each other’s temperature on various issues. Going on-line seems just […]
Continue ReadingOn EROEI
This was written in July of 2011 Energy Return On Energy Invested and its variations is a metric frequently used to look at our efficiency in harvesting energy with respect to the energy input.As an aside, regarding fossil fuels in day to day use we talk about energy production when strictly speaking we don’t produce […]
Continue ReadingLooking at cash from April 2015
This post was written in 2015 but I decided to dust it off – most of it is relevant today. As fixed income returns have been compressing, it has become harder and harder for banks for find investments which have no capital charge under Basel III and have a positive enough yield to cover the […]
Continue ReadingLandlord & Tenants – a little history
Covid in many locations has hit the pause button on evictions and foreclosures but even before that the experience of enforcing a contract – you can stay in my property but in return you need to pay me rent – has not been straightforward. From an asset owner’s point of view foreclosures and evictions it […]
Continue ReadingCurrency, Carry and Entropy
Things ain’t what they used to be or How currencies are not stores of value. One of the standard attributes that money is claimed to have is that it acts as a store of value. “Store of value” tells you that it is the current holder’s intent to keep the currency for a while before […]
Continue ReadingExamining the Crypt in Crypto
Crypto currency appears to be a new development and a step beyond traditional banking as we know it. However, when you take a closer look it will be clear that this is not the case. In fact, crypto currency is in a way a full circle back to the day of gold and silver coins. […]
Continue ReadingGetting Lucky with Trump
The US, as a country, should count its blessings that Trump was the president over the last almost 4 years. As crude and rough as Trump may be, the US has been incredibly lucky. His narcissistic nature, as painful it may be to witness and deal with the consequences of decisions made by him, are exactly […]
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