Chatting with my family last week while I was visiting Sydney made me realise how difficult it is to sum up what money is, it’s brief history, and how it dramatically changed in the last 50 years. So here’s my… Continue Reading
(Goodreads・Amazon) An extremely thorough and diligent study on the effects of monopoly capitalism on human labour. I’m blown away by the depth and rigour that Braverman goes to in this exploration. He is truly a clear writer and sound thinker.… Continue Reading
(Goodreads・Amazon) Not a recommended read. This lengthy book by Friedman feels more like multiple opinion pieces rather than accurate research. The crux of the book is about letting markets operate with minimum government intervention. He argues that this will reduce… Continue Reading
(Goodreads・Amazon) I struggled 30% of the way through this before giving up and coming to terms with the fact that it wasn’t going to get any better. The content is great, it’s just that the author is an economist, not… Continue Reading
One of the big misconceptions about Japan is the idea of collectivism. I’m going to say straight out that Japan is not the collectivist society that Westerns think. Rather it is an inaccurate label that has been applied to a… Continue Reading
I’ll tell you what my first thought is when I see other Westerners in Japan: “Where’s my wallet?” Yeah, Japan made me a racist, but here’s why it makes sense. Disclaimer: Let me call out that I have not worked… Continue Reading
Debt is a big scary word that has lots of bad connotations. But this is largely because we fear what we don’t understand. In this amazing video by billionaire investor Ray Dalio, he explains in extremely simple terms what debt… Continue Reading
You know that recessions are bad and depressions are worse, but I bet you didn’t know why. To be honest, I don’t think many people do. Why does GDP always have to go up? Before reading on, I really encourage… Continue Reading
Capitalism is a system that operates in a clear and repeatable manner. Any industry that gets fed into the capitalist machine will be affected in these ways: The labour process The most important impact of capitalist production is on the… Continue Reading
The other week I went out for a hike up this mountain (active volcano to be exact 🤷♂️). The ascent to the summit was a 3-hour, 1000 vertical-metre climb with ladders, bridges, and plenty of boulders. After the first hour… Continue Reading
Let me preface this with the fact that the history of capitalism is extremely vague and complicated. This attempt to summarize it is focused on getting the general idea down, rather than the specifics (which are debated). Pre-1800s For centuries… Continue Reading
Having an understanding of capitalism is the most important thing in today’s world. It shapes everything from business to pop-culture. This article serves as a very brief introduction to the essence of capitalism and how it works. So let’s do… Continue Reading
(Goodreads・Amazon) Notes Merchant capitalism – was the beginning of capitalism where merchants created corporations to split the risk of ship voyages to the indies to get spices to be sold in Europe. Wealth was created by exploiting a difference in cost… Continue Reading
My good friend Brian sent me this interesting read on how to design a meaningful life for yourself. It takes learnings from the book Principles by Ray Dalio, and in my opinion humbly extrapolates on top of them, adding ideas… Continue Reading
Goodreads | Amazon One of the most influential books that I’ve read. The Art of Learning is a beautifully simple book written with clarity. Not being an author by profession, Josh Waitzkin doesn’t try fluff his writing up. He gets… Continue Reading
Goodreads | Amazon It took me over four months to read this book. With that being said, it’s still a decent book. Wright sets out to demonstrate that the core tenants of Buddhist Philosophy are a truer perception of reality.… Continue Reading
For the last two months I’ve been in Tokyo eating ramen every day. Forgetting about sodium problems, one thing I can say for sure is when it comes to Tokyo I know good ramen. I previously did a post on… Continue Reading
Goodreads | Amazon This book is a classic. Jane Jacobs completed a massive feat for humanity; she ruthlessly observed, documented, and critiqued modern urban living from the street up. Despite being a journalist, she has become the most influential figure… Continue Reading
Goodreads | Amazon Gladwell is the master of well written, average quality books. I don’t say this to be rude, rather sincere. He is an amazing writer, with a real talent for collecting and telling compelling stories related to a… Continue Reading
I’ve recently been thinking about efficiency and what it means for human happiness. At my apartment block there is a man who sorts the recycling. He separates PET bottles, glass bottles, and cans, putting the rest in the burnable trash.… Continue Reading