Thursdays are all about longform links on Abnormal Returns. You can check out last week’s linkfest including a look at why billionaires don’t pay much tax on an annual basis.
Quote of the Day
"The two things that kill a company during a bubble are excessive optimism, and the unwillingness to be sufficiently optimistic"
(Byrne Hobart)
Book excerpts
- An excerpt from "The Extended Mind: The Power of Thinking Outside the Brain" by Annie Murphy Paul. (wired.com)
- An excerpt from Michael Easter's "The Comfort Crisis: Embrace Discomfort to Reclaim Your Wild, Happy, Healthy Self, by Michael Easter." (menshealth.com)
- An excerpt from "Glory Days: The Summer of 1984 and the 90 Days That Changed Sports and Culture Forever" by L. Jon Wertheim (theathletic.com)
Markets
- Covid was the nail in the coffin of open outcry trading. (ft.com)
- A big profile of Ken Goldin of Goldin Auctions and the state of the collectibles market. (bloomberg.com)
- Market bubbles don't arise in a vacuum. (future.a16z.com)
Companies
- Airbnb ($ABNB) spends big on a team that cleans up the company's messes. (bloomberg.com)
- The pandemic economy was characterized by companies borrowing more at even lower rates. (ft.com)
- The story of the origin of Southwest Airlines ($LUV). (texasmonthly.com)
Autos
- Software is eating the car. (spectrum.ieee.org)
- Switching to EVs won't save us if development is still car-centric. (marker.medium.com)
Longreads
- America's election official are under assault. (reuters.com)
- Alaska relies on the services of small commercial aircraft. With that comes risk. (propublica.org)
- Sharks have been off the coast of Maine for a long time. Last year saw a fatal attack. (downeast.com)
- There is a difference between content and a classic. (moretothat.com)
