weekend notes

Anecdote: “My great grandfather and his family lived in the desert, in tents,” said the Emirati, a young man, soft spoken, with a quiet confidence, a calm. “My grandfather had no formal education, but he was curious, adventurous, interested in other cultures and traveled to many places, taught himself English.” Six of us ate dinner, sharing our life stories. “He brought many of the largest foreign

Hope all goes well… “When I was a child, it was my greatest dream to someday own a used bicycle and ride it through my village,” said the Pakistani, whisking me through Abu Dhabi. “I was no higher than a common animal you see.” As he spoke, the fingers of his right hand drew together into the shape of a lotus, that gently opened as he completed each thought. “I knew only Pashto. Now English, with

Hope all goes well… Dusted off an anecdote from 2014 about finding strength in humility (see below). Off to UAE. Back next Sunday with full wknd notes. All the very best, E Week-in-Review: Mon: Milei prevails in runoff to win Argentina’s presidential election, Moody’s revises Italy’s outlook to stable over wknd, US 20yr bond auction goes well, Pro-China parties failed to choose a unifying candidat

Anecdote: “A bitcoin ETF is going to get approved this year, perhaps early next,” said the Chairman. “The talking heads focus on how it’ll impact price, and I get that, but it’s a big deal for different reasons,” he continued. “It’ll be a major step toward bringing digital assets into the established regulatory regime. That process had started, then stalled.” I’d called for our regular exchange of

Hope all goes well… “No money, no honey,” said my Grab (Uber copycat) driver, racing to the Singapore Fintech Festival. I’d asked why he was day-trading Chinese stocks from the large Huawei phone stuck to his dashboard. “You say beautiful woman in the US – in Singapore, Malaysia, we say honey, understand?” I nodded, wishing he’d keep his eyes on the road. “To get money you must risk. Don’t p

Hope all goes well… “I stay low key and get them to underestimate me,” said Liv. Mara and I were in Salt Lake City on Veteran’s Day for the 2023 Men’s Collegiate Club Nationals. Liv plays goalie for West Point. Which typically leaves her as the only woman in a pool of 6-foot 4-inch men. “They see me at 5-foot 4-inches, and can’t help themselves,” she said, her first game of the tournament against

“Specialized knowledge that involves creativity, strategy, and complex human interactions is less likely to be commoditized because these areas are more challenging for AI to replicate,” answered GPT-4. “Humans with such expertise may find their skills in higher demand.” Couldn’t agree more. I had asked the AI whether specialized knowledge would be commoditized due to advances in AI. Obviously, th

Hope all goes well… “President Biden Issues Executive Order on Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Artificial Intelligence,” announced the White House homepage in large, bold font [here]. It’s a rather weak name for such an important order, probably the product of a committee, or some first-year McKinsey consultant. So, I asked GPT-4 for a new name, perhaps biblical, playing on the theme of Eve and the

Anecdote: The Chrysler Building sparkled in the distance, a magnificent Art Deco skyscraper, completed in 1930, the Great Depression unfolding. They paid $2.5mm for the land back then, the value of money erodes through time. Most things do. Chrysler is now Stellantis, a conglomerate, the world’s 4th largest automaker. Its market cap is $57bln. I was standing high in the GM Building, on the corner