dtcwee: The Value of Nothing

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Healthy, Wealthy, and Wicked

The moralisation of semaglutide weight loss is nothing new. As of writing, these drugs (Wegovy, Ozempic, Mounjaro) still need refinement. They do not yet come in oral form and must be injected. Yet, I am surprised by how short the lag has been between their introduction and the emergence of moralistic concerns. i.e.: They constitute an ' easy way out ' of healthy lifestyle choices. They exemplify, perpetuate, and exacerbate economic inequality. (Post-2020, everything is apparently about economic inequality.) I have good reason to think this tiresome chatter will pass. via GIPHY Why?

Should I Stay or Should I Go

Is ending a financially draining relationship worth the hit to assets? Some tools to price staying vs going. via GIPHY

When I'm 六十四

Is having children to care for you in old age a good strategy? The social contract, particularly in Confucian societies, is that adults are expected to care for their elderly, reciprocating the care received as children. But how well is this expectation played out in fact?

The Ant, the Grasshopper, and the Fool

Why you should want to work. The fable of the 'The Ant and the Grasshopper' is often used to prime the work-shy for shame and deprivation.

Do Pensions Cause Inflation? 📈

It's not the size, it's the growth. As the world ages, it's worth wondering if retiree benefits will increasingly drive inflation through supporting elderly buying power and enabling them to exit the labour supply. Let's plot pension replacement rates , a measure of pension generosity, against 2023 inflation for the G20, the world's largest economies. In short, countries' circumstances and systems are too diverse for a strong relationship between pension generosity and inflation, but let's break it down further.

Staying For the Kids

Will having children make marriages last? Children, it is supposed, so enrich a marriage that it is more likely to endure over time. They bring a unique stimulus, necessitate close teamwork, and foster intimate communication. While some would argue that they could seek such stimuli elsewhere, and others would say that they can do without that sort of personal development, the naysayers are not strong enough to displace a nuclear family ideal that has persisted despite change in the 20th and 21st centuries.