The Monday Read

Winter Edition

I got the oil heater out today so winter has officially started. How are things where you live?

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This week’s books

I’m really enjoying The Ministry for the Future, by Kim Stanley Robinson. It’s near-future SF/ecological what-if looking at how the climate crisis might play out. Really thought-provoking and interesting. Probably one of the books of the year for me.

Also reading the second novella in the Stephen King series: Gwendy’s Magic Feather. Enjoyable bite-sized fiction.

This week’s links

  1. Review of Quit Like a Millionaire, which is also available in Japanese as part of the FIRE boom here.
  2. I would like to see global carbon taxes, perhaps replacing consumption or income taxes: Harford on a Carbon Tax
  3. This is something I will need to think about at some point: How to create your own dividends
  4. Interview with Barry Eisler about self-defence, Japan, and writing (YouTube): A Novel Approach To Violence w Barry Eisler
  5. Wonderful photos from Sean. There are so many walks I want to do around Japan: Nakasendō/Kiso-ji: Nagiso to Nakatsugawa
  6. More foreign investment in Japan following this? Suga or Suga-free, Japan’s corporate governance reforms are not for turning
  7. Whither inflation? Lack of price increase sign of stagnant Japan economy
  8. This seems very optimistic: Kishidanomics: Investing in Japan’s green, digital future
  9. Interesting interview from July (podcast): Joe Bauernfreund: why Japan is an active investor’s dream market
  10. This is good, but I’d rather see people on electric bicycles than in heavy EVs (which are better than ICE vehicles): Japan to double EV subsidies to match U.S. and Europe
  11. I didn’t really know this: Japan Radically Increased Immigration—and No One Protested
  12. Heh, this article was published just in time: Japan Is Nearing A Mega Breakout And It’s Still Cheap: Here Are Some Ways To Play It
  13. I’ve seen this a lot in my work: Experts From A World That No Longer Exists
  14. If I can remain mentally and physically competent until the end I will be very grateful: A growing number living alone in their 90s: How do they spend their time and money?
  15. Not to mention all the health and environmental damage: Going Big and Fast on Renewables Would Save Trillions in Energy Costs
  16. My version of this in Japan is 3m/4m/5m a year: What your retirement could look like
  17. The production values on this Mr Beast version of Squid Game -more people have watched it too! (YouTube): $456,000 Squid Game In Real Life!
  18. I seem to have missed this latest correction too: Weekend reading: First they came for the growth stocks?
  19. This is a good listen (podcast): Be Financially Sufficient Today and Live Better Than A Billionaire with Andrew Hallam
  20. As is this (podcast): Naval Ravikant on Rogan
  21. Really well written: No more side quests

What do you think? Anything good in there?

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9 Responses

  1. As well as the useful links, I do enjoy your tiny book reviews (currently reading the Dragon’s Banker). At the end of the year, perhaps consider a “best books of 2021” round-up?

  2. I listened to Ministry for the Future. Some interesting ideas, but as a novel kinda lacked drama or believability for me. The beginning was awesome and horrifying though on what climate change really means in the very near future.

    1. It’s very bitty/jumps around a lot, but it has a lot of meat in terms of specific policies and possible events that I found interesting.

      Admittedly I was reading it less as a novel and more of a kind of climate catastrophe primer…

  3. #13 really hits home. It is so hard to get my daughter to believe that I do know anything that is currently useful.

    #7: What? I find this article to be either disingenuous or less than overly simplistic. Can there ever be a “correct” answer to questions about any economy? Also, the Japanese economy started stagnating around 1992-3, that is almost 3 decades of relatively small changes to prices of consumer goods. I think the man does not do any shopping. Prices have increased in the last 30 years, jumping slightly each time the sales tax was increased (often so that the final price including the tax could be an even number).

    Salaries vs prices are a chicken and egg situation. Salaries kept low do not encourage people to buy higher priced goods. If you don’t have the discretionary income, you will watch every yen. And what about the increase in the number of people in the lowest income brackets (increase of single parents, especially single mothers)? If salaries and prices have remained the same, how could this have happened? (rhetorical question)

  4. We have the oil heater out for a month now and live way more south 🤣 talking about no inflation just found this page, Japanese guy nicely documents there how Japanese inflation really works (I noticed that long time ago on chocolate bars) https://neage.jp/

    1. Sendai is actually pretty warm (due to the ocean) considering where it is.

      That website is great! Thanks 🙂

      I’m going to add it to next week’s Monday Read.

    2. Am I missing something on that website–it’s all packaged foodstuffs?

      Most/all of our food comes from either the produce section, or fish and meats.

  5. Party foul on 11 🙂 That’s from 2020 and I believe much of the immigration has been undone with covid restrictions. Not sure if the agricultural industry is suffering but the tech industry is really suffering.