The Monday Read

Situation normal, still busy

How is your February going? Mine remains… eventful.

Still, at least we have a few more links this week than we did last week 🙂

Here are this week’s links:

  1. Probably not: Is the era of artificial speech translation upon us?
  2. I’ve been panicking for a while now: Time to Panic
  3. Carpe the diem: There’s Only One Thing To Do With Today: Seize It
  4. Challenge yourself, prevent rot: Increasing the Difficulty
  5. Let me count the ways: Different Kinds of Stupid
  6. Broken links: Once hailed as unhackable, blockchains are now getting hacked
  7. I wish they’d just let this go and focus on batteries and charging points already: Japan aims to build unmanned hydrogen charging stations by 2020
  8. Some spring reading: Top Money Books Millionaires Read
  9. Pretty pleasant, I imagine: What’s being FIREd like?
  10. Good. Hopefully it will put some pressure on the government: Youth strike for climate change movement reaches Japan
  11. Security theatre coming to a station near you: Gov’t to conduct body scanning experiment at subway station in Tokyo
  12. We’ll see how this plays out: What Else Matters?
  13. The latest Buffett letter to shareholders
  14. Good. We’ll see changes when more companies lose out due to climate change than profit by causing it: Insurance not enough to offset financial risks of climate change, analysts say
  15. Beware of ‘investment opportunities’: Leopalace21 scandal highlights the risk tenants face in Japan compared to building owners
  16. Well, this settles that: How to Invest a Lump Sum

Not bad! What do you think? Anything good in there?

5 Responses

  1. Hi! I am planning to invest to stock market here in Japan. Can you recommend a foreigner friendly broker here in Japan? I’ve checked rakuten’s website but I had difficulty understanding their website due to language. I can understand Nihongo but I’m not yet an expert in reading.

    1. Hi Lara

      I’m afraid I’m not aware of any domestic brokers with English-language support.

      However, once you figure out which 3-4 buttons you need, the online brokers here aren’t too bad 🙂

      Join the forum on the site if you have detailed questions.

  2. In #9, I like this: (kind of a pay-it-forward POV?)

    “I also look at raising my kid as volunteering. I’m a strong believer that instilling solid values in young people during their formative years is one of the most worthwhile activities there is. Imagine the ripple effect of even one life well lived. One life can touch many thousands of others.”

    The few charts in #12 makes me think back to a long study done by Bain (that I think I saw here first). China is going to be a markedly different place come 2030 and later (and I think Taiwan has the lowest birthrate in asia). But the choice of countries seems skewed to show the US vs countries that will show declines, and since there are still other places where the bars would show an increasing population and workforce.

    1. I also think #12 is interesting in part because small changes in policies (mostly regarding immigration but also for employment) can have an outsize impact on those demographic figures. If Japan were yet a little bit more open to immigration its demographic projection could look like the US’s since there are large populations in Asia that would move here. I also understand there is reluctance to face the cultural changes that would mean. Another way to look at this is to consider the experience of London and Tokyo over the last 20 years. Both are attractive capital cities and (potentially) regional financial centers near large continents which don’t have the same standards for rule of law. London has been more open to immigration and property prices have soared in the past 20 years. Tokyo has fumbled a bit on the policy front, is easier on short-term than long-term immigration and has much less real estate appreciation (and probably better affordability for the local population).