A friend of mine owns apartments and rents them to college students. Over the decades, he has assembled a large set of properties. He is the manager, too, and has his own team do all the maintenance and repairs. “It’s crazy,” he said. “I can’t find a decent plumber.” He said that he has to
Category: Economics
Andrew Yang and Universal Basic Income
We have a large rainstorm blowing through the area all day. So, it is a great time to simmer an all-day pasta sauce, exercise and read. One book I recently read and enjoyed is Andrew Yang’s The War on Normal People. Here is how the book starts: “I am writing from inside the tech bubble to
Chats with My Barber
The Internet is down at our office building. So, it was a good moment to swing by and see my favorite barber, Mark. Thankfully, there was no wait, and I scooted into the barber’s chair right away. Mark has owned a barber shop at the same place for 30 years. He has an uncanny ability
Taxes
As someone who studied Economics in college, I often am interested in how people behave in groups. Carrots and sticks, incentives and disincentives, and the overall world of “Freakonomics.” I see it regularly in my job. Sectors become “hot” and attract many investors and entrepreneurs. Just as suddenly, they “cool.” People often buy high and
Immigration
A major snowstorm today is shutting down the Northeast. I made it to the gym, grocery store and “packy” just before it really started to come down. I’ll be making some homemade guacamole for snacking and some slowly-cooked Tuscan beans with pancetta and sage for dinner. And, I have time to write about immigration. The
When Will the Tide Turn?
As VC funding decreases, Eric and I are seeing more inbound emails from companies and their advisors. Quite a few are coming from the west coast, where we don’t invest, and quite a few are from people we don’t know. Some emails to me include someone who got our firm’s name wrong and someone who