Monday, June 22, 2020

When The Bubble Bursts

Canada's housing market is in an insatiable, multi-decade upward rise. In When the Bubble Bursts: Surviving the Canadian Real Estate Crash, financial advisor Hilliard MacBeth explains the causes and potential ramifications for investors.

Sunday, June 14, 2020

The End is Always Near

Our society is seemingly on a path where continued improvements (at least in absolute terms, on average) are the norm. It can feel as though this process can go on forever, or at least as long as the span of our lifetimes. But such feelings have occurred before, in different societies, and been very wrong. In The End Is Always Near, Dan Carlin takes us through what went wrong (or almost did) in a number of societies that preceeded ours.

Saturday, June 13, 2020

Moth Smoke

Inequality is high, and as a result the children of the rich and well-connected have opportunities that the rest of the population doesn't. Such is the situation in Pakistan in Moth Smoke, a novel by Mohsin Hamid.

Wednesday, June 3, 2020

The Elephant in the Brain

The main idea of The Elephant in the Brain: Hidden Motives in Everyday Life is that sometimes we're better off not consciously knowing things, so as to deceive both others and ourselves. Our brains evolved in such as a way as to have figured out what's important to know, and perhaps as importantly, what's important not to know!

Tuesday, June 2, 2020

Magellan Arrow Space

Magellan Aerospace's stock price has gotten absolutely obliterated, down 71% from its 2-year high and down almost 60% since February. The company name says it all; who wants to bet on air travel at a time like this? Any manufacturer reliant on Boeing and Airbus that has fixed obligations coming up could be in serious trouble. But sometimes, babies get thrown out with the bathwater, and I believe this to be the case here.