Everybody should read How To Lie With Statistics (or a similar math-based critical thinking book). The inflation reports of 2022 have been near weaponized by people on all sides of the political spectrum, and just being able to think critically is essential. One lesson you can get from the book or elsewhere is how to … Continue reading How To Lie With Statistics (2022 Inflation Edition)
Tag: economics
Is It Supply? Or Demand? Or Both?
In 2020 it was toilet paper. The store shelves were bare, clearly it was in demand, but it was also in short supply - and the explanations were swirling. Now (in 2022) it’s oil, housing, job openings, and seemingly a million other things. Which is it? The supply? The demand? Or both? It can be … Continue reading Is It Supply? Or Demand? Or Both?
Podcast Of The Week: Investing And Acquiring Like The Best
Acquired has joined my podcast stream in the past few months. They do deep dives into businesses and their back story. Some recent favorites have been on the history of the NBA and Epic Games. These discussions go deep, so not for everyone (but if you’re analytical, go now). They recently featured Patrick O’Shaughnessy to … Continue reading Podcast Of The Week: Investing And Acquiring Like The Best
Being Uncertain And Confident
James Osborne shared a thoughtful comment about uncertainty and the future I wanted to highlight. It’s a reminder that our professional responsibilities include accepting an unknown future without making our value seem value-less. It’s a magic trick, not in the deceptive sense, but in the management of perceptions sense. We don’t want to unconfidently say … Continue reading Being Uncertain And Confident
Podcast Of The Week: Toilet Paper Shortages! 3 Fascinating Podcasts About Supply Chains
I’ve got a fascination with supply chains and how stuff actually gets made. Here are three entry points to help think through how COVID-19 is messing with how the world makes stuff (and therefore how we all buy stuff!) at three different levels. We’ll start with novice, move to tell-me-more, and end on excited-nerd level. … Continue reading Podcast Of The Week: Toilet Paper Shortages! 3 Fascinating Podcasts About Supply Chains
Podcast Of The Week: Optimistic And Realistic Coronavirus Conversations
Coronavirus and negativity don’t have the patent on being infectious, positivity and good old-fashioned pragmatism can actually spread too. Two podcasts this week - one for the optimists or those in desperate need of one, and one for the pragmatists who want to hear how two great thinkers are processing all of this information and … Continue reading Podcast Of The Week: Optimistic And Realistic Coronavirus Conversations
Podcast Of The Week: Tyler Cowen Interviews Reid Hoffman
Hearing Cowen talk to Hoffman is less of an interview and more of a study method. It's like he approaches him as a queryable database he can just search through. Religion (he's a "mystical atheist"), partnering referral questions (what's this person's greatest weakness and greatest challenge?), and games (the relationship between strategy, tactics, and uncovering … Continue reading Podcast Of The Week: Tyler Cowen Interviews Reid Hoffman
Podcast of the Week: Continual Transformation
Political bias will probably keep a lot of people at arm's length from anything with Charles Koch's name on it. However, with his brother's passing this week, we should look beyond the headlines and at the business acumen that helped build one of the largest private companies in America. In 2018 Marc Andreessen sat down … Continue reading Podcast of the Week: Continual Transformation
Podcast of the Week: Does it Make Sense, Why, and Can We Know the Odds – a Conversation with Jesse Livermore
This one is definitely for the finance crowd, but the first twenty-ish minutes are fair game for anyone. His "intuitive, analytical, statistical" approach to problem-solving alone is worth the time. Listen to Patrick O’Shaughnessy talk to Jesse Livermore on Invest Like the Best ep. 136.
Podcast of the Week: Russ Roberts and Tyler Cowen Talk Life, Science, and a Little Economics
I probably have learned more from these two people than I've learned from most of the classes I've taken in my life combined. And, to think they give so much of their work away for free. Hearing them talk to each other is a masterclass in and of itself. They cover scientism, admitting our biases, … Continue reading Podcast of the Week: Russ Roberts and Tyler Cowen Talk Life, Science, and a Little Economics