A collection of greatest hits in recent articles, podcasts, videos, interviews, and general material for your perusing!
(1) Behold The Sudden Stop. Risk of Emerging Markets Collapse
With all eyes on the value of the USD, it should come as no surprise that emerging markets are the most vulnerable to a USD rally, which is likely just beginning. One of the common culprits, Argentina, has been issuing debt way beyond its economy’s capacity once again. Not too surprising for a nation who has defaulted six times in the last century.
As this article explains, as the USD gains in strength capital will flow out of emerging markets and back into the appreciating, stable currency that is also the world reserve currency. It is all about risk management, and transferring capital from emerging markets to the USD is a risk-off move that all investors will seek in an increasingly risky environment.
Of course, where does the capital go after it flows back into the USD? Hmmmm ....
(2) The Third Industrial Revolution: A Radical New Sharing Economy
This HBO presentation has been garnering some hype, and deservedly so. It is time for us younger folks to take the reins and ensure a better future for our descendants. After all, technology is synonymous to human evolution and it is the younger generations that have the best understanding of emerging technologies, and where they can be best applied – consulting with our older, wiser counterparts of course!
It’s no secret that the name of the game (the game, of course, being improving our world and quality of life for all in it) is in creating energy sources that reduce cost, minimize environmental damage, and ultimately, bring more people into our global economy to raise the average quality of life.
It’s all about reducing friction folks, hence the excitement surrounding the developments going on in blockchain (what better way to reduce economic friction than within fiat currencies, credit infrastructure, and all ancillaries of money?) and technology related to robotics, artificial intelligence, and more broadly, autonomous systems that look to optimize efficiency (minimize friction).
I appreciate the fact that Rifkin spends the large portion of his presentation focusing on possible solutions rather than falling into the weeds of only discussing problems. I recommend you watch this presentation in your free time, and as always, take the opinions of others with a grain of salt.
(3) What You Don’t (but Should) Know About Bees
If you had to guess where tomatoes were originally from, you’d likely guess Italy, right? That seems like the logical response. Unfortunately, you’d be wrong. mental note: remember this for HQ Trivia
Tomatoes are originally from the Andes region of Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia, and Chile and were a staple in the diets of the Incas and Aztecs. It was not until the Spanish Conquistadors came to the region and brought back some of these new red vegetables with them that they were introduced to Europeans. Clearly, the Italians took a liking to them. The rest is history. Alloooooora.... *Aziz Ansari voice
I was fascinated to learn that honey bees, like tomatoes, are not indigenous to where most expect. As the article below goes on to describe, honey bees are not native to North America, and Native Americans had never seen honey or wax prior to European settlers crossing the seas with these new flying creatures in boxes.
The Europeans began importing bees over to the New Land in the 1600’s to capitalize on this thriving market for food, medicine, candles, and art all derived from honey. As a honey lover myself (with my morning tea) this was a nifty bit of knowledge to have in tow as I frequent the farmer’s markets to buy local honey wherever I travel; it’s the best natural allergy relief out there for all you allergy sufferers.
(4) Department of Offense
Does it not strike you as peculiar that our government’s War Department is called the Department of Defense? They always talk of defense, yet, our military is the one actively propagating wars throughout the world in the best interests of the United States, for better or worse we are told.
This is always quite the touchy topic, so I will leave it to a U.S. Army Officer to explain his opinion, as he’s much more qualified to explain than myself. Words are powerful.
(5) Seeing vs. reading: the key to creativity
There’s a reason attention spans have been shortening, news reports are restricted to sound bites, and companies that are integral to social media and advertising have been appreciating in value in rapid fashion. Quite simply, we are all visual learners in some form or manner and visual content is more quickly absorbed than its counterparts.
But is this such a good thing? A balanced approach seems a healthy goal to strive for here.
Creativity is increasingly vital of any individual who wishes to be successful in our modern world, and moving forward creativity (independent thought) will only increase in value as robotics and artificial intelligence begin to seep into the workforce.
As the article below describes, he who can alternate between various mental models and various learning methods is better equipped to be creative, and subsequently, be more valuable to any projects or endeavors he participates in. I know you will find the gifs in this article enlightening.
