dtcwee: The Value of Nothing

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.

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.

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.

Invaders don't win. Defenders lose. If we're fretting about our own Golden Age falling to usurpers, let us remember that barbarians don't operate in a vacuum. The Khwarazmian (Persian) Empire was corrupt and rife with elite infighting before the Mongols arrived. 

It’s claimed that Australia’s stagnant productivity is due to a lack of business investment . That's an easy argument: if companies aren’t investing in better technology and equipment, workers can’t become more efficient .  In fact, business investment has paced the overall economy for decades . The real issue isn't lack of investment, but where that investment is going, and what's driving the rest of the economy.

 A user asked r/geography, " Why is the modern Mediterranean so poor compared to the historical one? " The simple answer (not mine, unfortunately): "The world got bigger."

Think the public service is bloated or that small business is the backbone of Australia? Look here.

Can testaments be created that outlast heirs? The Native American practice of looking forward seven generations sounds noble but is essentially vague. Still, it seeds the idea for an investment math exercise that could provide not just for seven generations, but the generations beyond. (Fund Manager Conference Call)

Same again tomorrow. One thing I like to tell myself during bear markets: On any given trading day, three quarters of a percent of the U.S. market turns over .

I'm travelling from Tokyo to Singapore and I don't want to lug a laptop with me. I want a full desktop through my Android phone. So I'm going to: Provision a Debian Linux VM  - (Google Cloud Compute Engine VM Instance) Install Remote Desktop  - (Chrome Remote Desktop on PC and Android) Move the VM from Tokyo to Singapore References The article ' Launch Ubuntu Desktop on Google Cloud ' was very helpful, as was this  old article from Google . However their descriptions of the Google Cloud interface are slightly out of date. Furthermore, Debian (without sound support) was easier to set up, with fewer issues, and is cheaper than Ubuntu Pro (i.e. free). Wanna do this with me? Let's go! UPDATE: It cost about AUD$9 to faff about setting up (2 days) and use the VM in Singapore (1 full day), or it would have, had I not been using Free Trial credits. Free compute!