Thursdays are all about longform links on Abnormal Returns. You can check out last week’s linkfest including a look at what happens when Airbnb rentals take over a neighborhood.
Quote of the Day
"Collectibles don’t generate cash flow like bonds or stocks. They can only make you money through appreciation. Perhaps that doesn’t sound like a big constraint. But it is, because in the long run, assets without cash flows cannot increase in value more than the economy as a whole."
(Alan Cole)
Book excerpts
- An excerpt from "The Great Experiment: Why Diverse Democracies Fall Apart and How They Can Endure" by Yascha Mounk. (wsj.com)
-
An excerpt from "Seek and Hide: The Tangled History of the Right to Privacy," by Amy Gajda.
(wired.com) - An excerpt from “Inspired: Understanding Creativity. A Journey Through Art, Science, and the Soul” by Matt Richtel. (nytimes.com)
- An excerpt from Nick Duerden’s "Exit Stage Left: The Curious Afterlife of Pop Stars." (theguardian.com)
Health
- Viruses might be responsible for more human disease than commonly thought. (nationalgeographic.com)
- The evidence is mounting that infectious agents cause chronic and long-term disease than currently thought. (hardtowrite.com)
Climate
- Why our food system is not ready for climate change. (theguardian.com)
- What's a bigger risk to birds: windmills or climate change? (audubon.org)
Longreads
- Big problems attract talent, attention and capital. (notboring.co)
- Observations about the Russian and Ukrainian armies and why they are so different in practice. (thebulwark.com)
- A lot of people don't understand the 'Birds Aren't Real' conspiracy theory is actually satire. (theguardian.com)
- Americans are increasingly choosing cremation over burial. (washingtonpost.com)
- On the long history, and future of, the vending machine. (theguardian.com)
- How 'My Big Fat Greek Wedding' became an unlikely hit. (theringer.com)
