Category: Trends & News

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Why Puerto Rico should be on your radar

In the year 1841, people across countless sleepy villages in Ireland were participating in the most advanced census that had ever been conducted in European history. The whole of Ireland was still under the control of the United Kingdom at that point, and parliament had passed the “Population Act” the year prior to

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Five important stories we’re paying attention to

Last week we started a new feature in Notes from the Field– a Friday roll-up of bizarre, often overlooked stories that my team and I think are worth following with great interest. Based on the positive feedback we received from last week’s article, we thought we’d continue the trend. So here are a

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The 10th Circle of Hell

On the evening of March 25 in the year 1300, Italian poet Dante Alighieri stepped through the gates of Hell, passing beneath an overhead inscription that read “Abandon all hope, ye who enter here.” Dante summoned all of his courage and proceeded, plunging deeper into the despair of hell. This is the ‘Inferno’

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What the exodus from these states teaches us

Every week in Notes, we highlight the most important things happening around the world that can impact your wealth and your freedom. But there are so many more things happening than we’re able to cover in these pages. So, we’re trying something new today. Once a week, we’re planning to share a collection

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One thing Congress gets right: funding their own pensions

Turns out Congressmen make a lot of money… A study found that while the average American’s net worth increased 3.7% per year between 2004-2012, members of Congress averaged 15.4% annual gains. That high level of pay means half the members of Congress are millionaires today… and continue to collect their $174,000 annual salary.

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Could one weekend in Lithuania really replace college?

Here’s an economics lesson you won’t get in college. What happened to college tuition costs after the federal government started handing out student loan aid in 1965? For a typical loan, you need collateral… i.e. the bank takes your house if you don’t pay the mortgage. But with government-backed student loans, no collateral

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Even Warren Buffett gets it: They’re coming for your money

By the year 1380, the Hundred Years’ War between England and France had already been raging for decades. And the war wasn’t going very well for England. France had managed to recapture most of the territories they had lost early in the war; meanwhile French naval fleets were ravaging the coastline of southern

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Why the Barrick deal could mean the mega melt up is here for gold

In 1986, Peter Munk bought a gold mine in northeastern Nevada for $62 million. The mine was only producing 40,000 ounces of gold a year back then (around $16 million annually) … and the sellers believed the land held 600,000 ounces easily minable gold. But those estimates were woefully short. By 1992, the

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Billionaire investor’s take on America’s socialist fever

Howard Marks is one of the smartest, wealthiest investors in the world. As founder of Oaktree Capital, Marks manages around $120 billion. And his track record ranks him among the greatest investors in history. So it’s probably no surprise that Marks is deeply concerned about “the rising tide of anti-capitalism,” and dedicated one

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America’s Socialist Revolution has officially begun

On October 31, 1517, an obscure German theology professor put the finishing touches on a paper he had written about the current state of the Catholic Church, and sent it off to Archbishop Albert of Brandenberg for review. The professor’s letter was polite and professional, with a formal tone that one might find

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How 1984 turned into an instruction manual

“Sometimes [two and two are four], Winston. Sometimes they are five. Sometimes they are three. Sometimes they are all of them at once. You must try harder. It is not easy to become sane.” One of the key themes from George Orwell’s dystopic novel 1984 is that the Party can do and say

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Some clear thinking about Amazon’s ‘shocking’ tax incentives

Amazon made big headlines yesterday when it announced it was walking away from its plan to build a new headquarters in New York City. The company was under intense pressure from the media and politicians who were angered that New York City’s local government was giving away too many tax incentives, purportedly worth

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World’s largest pension fund loses $136 billion

Things keep getting worse for pensions… If you’ve read Notes recently, you know the pension fund crisis is one of our major themes. Simply put, these giant pools of capital responsible for paying out retirement benefits to workers are BROKE. According to the World Economic Forum, pension funds around the world are short

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Could you handle losing half of your life savings in a few weeks?

The market’s last hope is faltering… By July of last year, just three stocks (Amazon, Netflix and Microsoft) were responsible for 71% of the S&P 500’s returns. Through the third quarter, tech stocks were responsible for 95% of the S&P’s gains. Amazon alone was responsible for about one-third of the index’s move. And

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