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[Westside L.A. Guy @WestsideLAGuy]

My 10th year MBA reunion was super humbling.

-Around 10-15% of classmates are making seven figures
-Few had notable exits
-Classmates joked that living in L.A. made me dumb, that I lost the raw ambition I once had

[Offered_w/out @OfferedW]

@Devon_Eriksen_ @gbponz No one is going to mention 'factory defective lawn flamingo?' Come on. That is worth thr price of admission. Thank you for that.

Putting the one on the repertoire. 😁

[Offered_w/out @OfferedW]

@Jimmyjude13 @fejau_inc "We'll make it up on volume" ... the complete the trifecta.

[Offered_w/out @OfferedW]

@johnjdagostino @johnarnold Let's ration capital properly again! Ban all index funds and encourage insider trading. That would be fun. 😆

[Offered_w/out @OfferedW]

@johnjdagostino @johnarnold If prices are supposed to contain information, why should people who know something provide that knowledge to the market? Maybe an argument in the government service, but otherwise, it never made sense to me. And yes, I realize that ship sailed a long time ago.

[Offered_w/out @OfferedW]

@blueprintsmb22 Paid 3.5x sde for a tree biz in Florida a few years ago. About half that size. Boomer retirement. Worked out, but man, it isn't wall street. $900k sde for trees is already optimized. At that multiple, run for the hills. One man's opinion.

[Northantis @Northantis]

@BaldingsWorld We have a joke in Cuba: Communism victorioulsy retreats while Capitalism advances in defeat.

[Offered_w/out @OfferedW]

@SaysSimulation Rebellious teens also say they would be better off without their parents. They have to be reminded of reality from time to time. This is learning process.

[Offered_w/out @OfferedW]

@FrenlyOfficer @AConcernedPare2 I don't believe that doctors generally (those normal people that treat patients) are trying to deceive patients.

The pertinent question is have they been deceived. I do not know the answer, but that is the larger issue that I am struggling with.

[Offered_w/out @OfferedW]

@petergklein Not a scholar, but I imagine this is in part the result of a shrinking of the globe. That is, I would assume a well functioning "natural law" requires a common culture and tradition, and the inability to conceive of it results from ignorance of or lack of agreement on norms.

[Offered_w/out @OfferedW]

@nnzp1730 @tyillc I imagine these are concerns related to lack 9f diligence/poor underwriting. I am no longer in this market, but given the stories from the bk hearings / public lawyer emails, this is almost certainly the concern.

[Offered_w/out @OfferedW]

@Dynastus Yes, it is in California. Unfortunately, it is simple foresight. One must make the choice before there is no choice.

[Offered_w/out @OfferedW]

@gianlucac1bis @INArteCarloDoss And here I am thinking I am smarter than everyone else, but I am only Texas Hedged 🤣. I remember a couple liquidity crises well. Good timing and managable size is the only real answer ... Don't tell Bogle's ghost.

[Offered_w/out @OfferedW]

Is "wealth hoarding" really the issue / the right term here? That seems to imply an issue with the wealthy, rather than government and the system. Who is truly at fault for the disregard of the social contract? @Will_Tanner_1

[Live Monitor @amlivemon]

ProPublica published a report long ago on leaked IRS tax data revealed how little America’s wealthiest families pay in taxes compared to the average citizen, underscoring the reality of two separate political economies in the U.S., one for the rich and one for everyone else. Since the late 1970s, policymakers have tilted regulations, tax codes, and market structures in favor of the wealthy, promising that lower taxes, monopolistic consolidation, and freer financial markets would spur innovation and prosperity for all. Instead, the so-called “social contract” has fueled wealth hoarding, rising inequality, and diminished opportunity for working and middle-class Americans. Pope Francis denounced this contract as naïve and unjust, sparking backlash from elites but resonating with economists like Joseph Ritchie, who recognized that “trickle-down” economics was fundamentally unstable. The U.S. economy to an aircraft with “negative stability,” temporarily aloft but doomed to crash as inequality widens and instability deepens. While some policymakers briefly considered addressing wealth hoarding, the 2017 tax cuts only intensified the problem, handing disproportionate benefits to the wealthiest while worsening deficits and undermining long-term growth.

The consequences of decades of wealth hoarding have been stark. Research shows that economic mobility has collapsed for half of Americans born after 1980, with opportunity increasingly concentrated in wealthier enclaves. RAND Corporation analysts estimate that $50 trillion in potential middle-class income has been siphoned upward since the mid-1970s due to skewed policies. Tax changes, deregulation, and globalization initially boosted growth, but they ultimately hollowed out competition, fueled monopolies, and created an overcapitalized yet underproductive economy. The 2017 tax cuts exacerbated inequality, sending hundreds of billions overseas and redistributing wealth to dynastic fortunes while adding to public debt. The pandemic further widened the gap, billionaire wealth surged by $5 trillion even as working families lost jobs, businesses, and security. Although new billionaires are celebrated for philanthropy and “stakeholder capitalism,” the underlying dynamics, asset inflation, weak productivity growth, stagnant investment, and ballooning private debt, show an economy increasingly reliant on financial engineering rather than real innovation. Productivity has slowed dramatically since the 1970s, as concentrated financial institutions chase speculative profits instead of broad-based investment. Meanwhile, ordinary families shoulder higher debt burdens while the wealthiest accumulate assets, deepening instability. Wealth hoarding by policy design has undermined productivity, worsened inequality, and placed the economy on a dangerous trajectory, one that benefits a narrow elite while threatening long-term prosperity and stability for the nation as a whole.

[Offered_w/out @OfferedW]

@RiskOfRand @Devon_Eriksen_ Your final point being a derivation of Gresham's Law, I believe. No old US coinage exist in the wild bc of it.

"The denominator" in any of these conversations is always implicit and also a wonderful idea to play with.

[Offered_w/out @OfferedW]

@nnzp1730 Yes, but after listening to the software and other tech bros proselytizing their latest idodiocy for so long, isn't if refreshing to read the same from a "manufacturing bro," even if equally more misguided? Fake it until you make it.

[Offered_w/out @OfferedW]

@ProfMJCleveland Margot, it is ten minutes to five. What gives?

In all seriousness, thank you for the work you do. It is truly insightful commentary on a fascinating subject.

[Offered_w/out @OfferedW]

@dklineii @thejustinwelsh I like this one. New to me.

[Offered_w/out @OfferedW]

@LukeGromen @jsblokland Honestly, how is this not obvious? Questions for engagement i guess.

[Offered_w/out @OfferedW]

When I was a child, the US had a war in the Middle East. We watched it on TV. I tried to understand what it meant to the world ... to me.

I don't believe my middle school/early high school children have a clue about what is going on in the Middle East.

Maybe that is on me