The Retreat of Western Liberalism

Populist leaders seem to be gathering strength around the world, with none more famous than the one currently domiciled in the White House. What is going on? In The Retreat of Western Liberalism, journalist and speechwriter Edward Luce attempts to explain it.

Migrant Refugee Smuggler Savior

Smuggling humans across borders is big business. The harder governments make it to cross a given border, the more criminal elements become involved. After all, demand is still present. But the price, the danger, and the requirements all increase. Migrant, Refugee, Smuggler, Savior is all about this industry.

Karsan Value Funds: 2019 Q2 Results

Karsan Value Funds (KVF) is a value-oriented fund, as described here. Due to securities regulations, the fund is not open to the public at this time. Should that change in the future, there will be an announcement on this site.

Bottle of Lies

Bottle of Lies: The Inside Story of the Generic Drug Boom is one of the most shocking books I have ever read. It is a rare book that manages to change how I shop, but how I buy pharma products has completely reversed: no longer will I buy any generics that are made in developing countries like India or China until they commit to fixing their issues.

The Sports Gene

While you can get better at anything by practicing, it's pretty clear that given the same amount of practice, some people will be way better than others at most sports. What accounts for this difference? David Epstein drills down into this question in his fantastic book, The Sports Gene: Inside the Science of Extraordinary Athletic Performance

Alchemy

There are some fields (e.g. physics) where objective facts carry the day. But in fields involving human behaviour, perception is more important than reality. In Alchemy: The Dark Art and Curious Science of Creating Magic in Brands, Business, and Life, marketing executive Rory Sutherland makes a case for why we pay too much attention to logic and not enough to perception when it comes to marketing.

The Art of Thinking Clearly

We think we are pretty rational, but our behaviour indicates otherwise. In The Art of Thinking Clearly, Rolf Dobelli discusses a number of our biases and suggests solutions for staying rational.