Month

“I remember imagining what I would’ve said to the police if he’d done something to me, and how it would’ve seemed I was to blame,” said Mara, my wife. “I woke up in a fraternity, still in my bra and underwear.” She’d never told me the story, but the Kavanaugh hearing brought it out. “I’d been at a party. The football team’s quarterback was cute, we kissed. I drank too much. He did too. And it was hot, so we stripped

Hope all goes well… “I was trying to preserve the institutional credibility of two institutions,” said Jeff Flake, the Arizona Republican. “One, the Supreme Court is the lone institution where most Americans still have some faith. And then the US Senate as an institution – we’re coming apart at the seams,” continued the Senator, having managed to buy a week for the FBI to investigate the Kavanaugh allegations.

“Trump represents authenticity,” said the Australian investor, reflecting. “Childish, self-centered, misogynistic, money-focused, bullying, full of shit – but authentically so,” he continued. As an American abroad, you discover most discussions weave their way back to The Donald, what his presidency says about the state of our union, our world, humanity. Nearly every foreigner I meet is appalled. But intrigued, perpl

Hope all goes well… “I’m not like the investors you’re meeting here in Sydney,” he said. “I live 40km inland, to the west. My friends and neighbors feel left behind, the elderly struggle to keep the heat on in winter. It’s a different world.” Australia has a new prime minister, its 5th in 5yrs — Scott Morrison is the socially conservative architect of Australia’s hardline anti-asylum seeker policies. “My peers

Hope all goes well… “Just keep swimming, just keep swimming,” said Olivia, my 15yr old, ready to roll. I’d asked what she thinks about during morning laps. “That’s what Dory tells herself, in Finding Nemo,” she explained. I remembered watching that movie with her, years ago, they fly so fast. Another summer gone, back to school. We pulled up to the pool, 5am darkness, cool pre-dawn energy. “What doesn’t kill you make

“I’m fortunate to live in a time where the political system allows my kind of work,” said the Physicist. “Historically, it’s not always so.” Below us particles raced around CERN’s 27km subterranean track, held in precise formation, accelerating toward collision, obliteration, observation. We discussed magic, mysteries, the sublime wonder all around. “It’s incredible that we’ve been able to learn so much about nature,

Hope all goes well… For the last three weeks Lindsay Politi has authored Weekend Notes, exploring the topic of inflation. She wrapped it up today (see below). I’ll be back next Sunday. All the best, E Week-in-Review (expressed in YoY terms): Mon: China Caixin PMI manu -0.2 to 50.6 (14mth low), China official PMI manu +0.1 to 51.3, Indonesia rupiah 20yr low, Turkey central bank to “adjust monetary stance” in Sept (hin

Hope all goes well… Lindsay Politi, who joined One River to manage a fund focused on opportunities in inflation markets, is authoring Weekend Notes during my late-summer hiatus. She came from Tudor and previously built/ran a $10bln TIPS business for Wellington. For the next two weeks, she’ll share her thoughts and ideas on inflation as well as conversations she has had with institutional investors, managers, and endo