Investment Lessons

How Not to Invest in the Bond Market
https://www.wsj.com/finance/investing/long-term-bond-funds-how-not-to-invest-in-the-bond-market-22ca937f
Investors poured billions into long-term U.S. government funds last year. Right on cue, the market tanked—again. 
 
The Headache at the End of the Costco Gold Rush
https://www.wsj.com/finance/investing/selling-costco-gold-bars-f14e966f
Selling gold bars takes more time and money than stocks, bonds or crypto.

Discount Window Lending

A Century-Old Lending Lifeline for Troubled Banks Has a Major Flaw. The Fed Wants to Fix It.
https://www.wsj.com/finance/regulation/federal-reserve-discount-window-banks-e59d6dbf
Borrowing from the discount window carries a stigma officials hope to reduce.

Tech and Society - Interesting Items

Is the Internet the Enemy of Progress?
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/19/opinion/internet-culture.html
 
Thoughts on modernity’s monoculture mistake.
https://quillette.com/2024/04/11/beware-cultural-drift/

The Politics of Trade and Globalization

Biden embraced Trump’s tariffs. It might be his undoing.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/04/12/biden-trump-tariffs-economy-inflation/

Voters may have railed against globalization in the past. But they also got used to the low prices.

 

The terrible lesson Biden learned from Trump on trade

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/04/18/biden-trump-tariffs-steel-aluminum-protectionism-china/

President Biden’s proposed tariffs on steel and aluminum will hurt manufacturing workers.

 

As globalization unwinds, the world is still growing more unequal

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/04/19/globalization-inequality-imf-world-bank-washington-consensus-economy/

 

The Global Turn Away from Free-Market Policies Worries Economists

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/17/business/economy/industrial-policies-global-economy.html

More countries are embracing measures meant to encourage their own security and independence, a trend that some say could slow global growth.

 

The world needs reminding — governments are not good at picking winners

https://www.ft.com/content/73bf746c-4449-4de8-aa07-0e623bfa5aba

To break the vicious protectionist cycle, we need new rules of the game. 

The Resurgent Dollar

Dancing to the dollar's beat

https://www.reuters.com/business/take-five/global-markets-themes-graphic-2024-04-19/

 

They Bet Against the Dollar. Now They’re Paying the Price.

https://www.wsj.com/finance/currencies/us-economy-currency-market-yen-c620e359

A booming U.S. economy is wreaking havoc in currency markets.

 

Indonesia Ramps Up Steps to Shield Economy from Strong Dollar

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/indonesian-finance-chief-aims-shield-203140447.html

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-04-18/indonesian-finance-chief-aims-to-shield-economy-from-dollar-rise

Lousy Drivers

Why are American roads so dangerous?

https://www.ft.com/content/9c936d97-5088-4edd-a8bd-628f7c7bba31

Bad driving is probably playing a bigger role in the fatality rate than larger cars and longer journeys.