If you've not read it, you might enjoy the new book The Lords of Easy Money about the Fed, the beginning of QE and the lone dissenter who was vilified for it (the president of the Kansas City Fed). I've just started but it's good so far.
Looking forward to the crypto macro post on emerging blockchain use cases! Particularly interested in ecommerce ones (if any).
Have to recommend Singapore for its sheer economic and political stability. Extremely safe with low crime, relatively low taxes, diversified food and energy supply (when Malaysia stopped supplying chickens we simply replaced them with Thailand and now MY is crying for our business). Also no left/right wing drama, it was never even a concept here. Singapore really is one of the best places to build wealth/a career if you don't mind the tropical climate.
It is an interesting place to say the least. The tax situation on capital gains is unbeatable. Cheap flights to a lot of places in the world on Singapore Airlines. Great train system. But there is a lot of control on social behavior and it made the city feel a little soulless to me. It might sound odd but I remember the lack of authentic graffiti in the city was rubbing me the wrong way. The only graffiti present felt like they were government projects and not the work of an actual citizen wanting to make public art. But then again, maybe graffiti isn't a good thing. In my city probably 85% of the graffiti is gang signs or just people writing their names, and the other 15% is actual art.
I really did enjoy Singapore when I visited though. For a city-state with a lot of wealth present, the cost of living was much lower than I expected. Compared to similar places like Monaco or Lichtenstein; Singapore was extremely affordable. Definitely appealing as a plausible place to ride out the shifting geo-political sands underfoot.
Haha +1 on soulless, everyone gets baked into a “pressure cooker” society from young and works so hard, so there’s less creativity here. But we are also competent at work, many friends in MNCs tell me their Western/European/even other Asian counterparts are just good at office politics and nothing else of substance. If only we could be a little less stressed!
No army tho. Also, no gaming authority (you win too much and they may not pay). Petty theft is more a problem than the violence, always liked that part. They love gringos who love cigars!
I would pick Costa Rica as well; it seems the most "realistic". I do wonder if Switzerland, which would be my second choice, will be able to withstand the turmoil in Europe that seems to be coming.
It also seems like one of the undercurrents of your writing is to ensure that we are as little affected by some of these macro systems as possible. Becoming technologically savvy enough to avoid some of the drawbacks of living in a high tax rate country seems challenging for me personally, but I think you've really pushed me to think about what this can realistically look like and take some realistic steps towards that goal. I finally started reading "The Sovereign Individual" and it seems like this is what they were talking about. Not only jurisdiction shopping but using technology to beat the current system.
If you've not read it, you might enjoy the new book The Lords of Easy Money about the Fed, the beginning of QE and the lone dissenter who was vilified for it (the president of the Kansas City Fed). I've just started but it's good so far.
Thanks for the rec. Have not heard of it but it sounds like something I'd like. Will see if I can grab a copy
Looking forward to the crypto macro post on emerging blockchain use cases! Particularly interested in ecommerce ones (if any).
Have to recommend Singapore for its sheer economic and political stability. Extremely safe with low crime, relatively low taxes, diversified food and energy supply (when Malaysia stopped supplying chickens we simply replaced them with Thailand and now MY is crying for our business). Also no left/right wing drama, it was never even a concept here. Singapore really is one of the best places to build wealth/a career if you don't mind the tropical climate.
It is an interesting place to say the least. The tax situation on capital gains is unbeatable. Cheap flights to a lot of places in the world on Singapore Airlines. Great train system. But there is a lot of control on social behavior and it made the city feel a little soulless to me. It might sound odd but I remember the lack of authentic graffiti in the city was rubbing me the wrong way. The only graffiti present felt like they were government projects and not the work of an actual citizen wanting to make public art. But then again, maybe graffiti isn't a good thing. In my city probably 85% of the graffiti is gang signs or just people writing their names, and the other 15% is actual art.
I really did enjoy Singapore when I visited though. For a city-state with a lot of wealth present, the cost of living was much lower than I expected. Compared to similar places like Monaco or Lichtenstein; Singapore was extremely affordable. Definitely appealing as a plausible place to ride out the shifting geo-political sands underfoot.
Haha +1 on soulless, everyone gets baked into a “pressure cooker” society from young and works so hard, so there’s less creativity here. But we are also competent at work, many friends in MNCs tell me their Western/European/even other Asian counterparts are just good at office politics and nothing else of substance. If only we could be a little less stressed!
Costa Rica. Big culture of homesteading with lots of potential to be off the grid and self sustaining.
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Thank you!! Big fan of the content man keep it up.
Not to mention the place is absolutely stunning with natural beauty. Seems to be a decent bit safer than some of it's neighboring countries as well.
No army tho. Also, no gaming authority (you win too much and they may not pay). Petty theft is more a problem than the violence, always liked that part. They love gringos who love cigars!
I would pick Costa Rica as well; it seems the most "realistic". I do wonder if Switzerland, which would be my second choice, will be able to withstand the turmoil in Europe that seems to be coming.
It also seems like one of the undercurrents of your writing is to ensure that we are as little affected by some of these macro systems as possible. Becoming technologically savvy enough to avoid some of the drawbacks of living in a high tax rate country seems challenging for me personally, but I think you've really pushed me to think about what this can realistically look like and take some realistic steps towards that goal. I finally started reading "The Sovereign Individual" and it seems like this is what they were talking about. Not only jurisdiction shopping but using technology to beat the current system.