1960: average home size was 1,289 square ft. and average family size was 3.3. Today's family size is 2.5 yet they seem to require one thousand square feet more to survive in. I'll contribute this "need" to their generous nature of allowing the less fortunate to live in with them. Perhaps I'm mistaken though, and it's simply a need to be farther away from their love one's.
You bring a good point with general family size shrinking, what's the rationale to move to bigger houses. While I do see quite a lot of families downsizing after their children grow up and get married, the wealth gap in general has also gotten worse in the 1960s. And a bigger house is ultimately a status symbol. Plus, there are pockets where foreign investment is propping up the housing market, which is also a sign of overall societal dysfunction, when housing affordability is at its all time low.
I think it's generally wise to be cautious about EM sovereign bonds, despite the nice fat yield you may be receiving. I am not an expert in EM sovereign bonds, but I am increasingly becoming attracted to the whole EM segment and need to do more research to solidify my understanding. May post more in the coming months.
The way I see it for EM sovereign bonds, I would allocate to countries that are experiencing high growth, stable inflation (though it will be most likely higher than that of the US), transparent financial structure and political stability. As a result, I will stay away from countries like Turkey, but I would like to explore EM bonds in India, Vietnam, Indonesia. Are there any particular countries you are looking at?
You make great points I would also stay away from Turkey bonds hahaha. I need to do more research but India and Vietnam seem like a good starting point. Thank you!
digital payments and fintech is evolving rapidly - those stats really highlight the competitive nature of the industry and I expect lots of advances towards a mass adoption of it.
Absolutely, the innovation in this space is rapid and now big banks are rapidly partnering with tech in order to stay relevant long term. Exciting space in terms of how different niche players are building their own solutions and harnessing consumer surplus.
That is a fantastic question Sanuj and I probably might source your question to ideate and write a post down the road. For now, there are 2 reasons that come to my mind immediately
1) Many EM countries (India included) have a larger part of the Gen-Z and Millennial population who typically tend to adopt digital service offerings without much relative hesitation as compared to the older generations. Compared to this, the US population is declining and ageing. Plus, the credit and debit card network is well-established in the US and works "fine" for most people.
2) Banking still is not widely available to a large part of the population in EM countries. The account opening workflows either block people from entering banking platforms or make it cumbersome for people to sign up due to lack of paperwork. So, mobile payment and transaction is a dramatic improvement for EM countries, compared to the US where the perception is that there are already good enough solutions.
You can also check out these 2 sources that go into more details:
Thank you for the detailed explanation Amrita. I understand now. I always had a feeling that the widespread credit card penetration among American citizens had something to do with it.
Maybe people are finally waking up to the fact that entrusting more and more of our lives to Big Tech or Big Government is unhealthy. Maybe watching how Turdeau with the stroke of a pen removed protesting Canadian truckers access to their own money was just a tad too dictatorial. Maybe watching people be debanked for wrongthink is just a little too Orwellian.
Today I saw part of a program about artificial intelligence and the labor market in general.
over the last 150 years, as many as 1,200 jobs have disappeared!! were simply liquidated because they were obviously no longer needed. There have been 200 new ones in the last five years) now, in order to keep your job, or look for a job that will not be eliminated by artificial intelligence in a moment (taking care of the elderly, cleaning offices), probably also writing, writing about books, reviews, etc.... memories like Charlotte , your reviews, artificial intelligence won't take that away )), they finished cleaning, I added writing itself)
p.s. Im sharing cause those numbers were shocking to me..
You are right, it is essential to re-train and up-skill the laborforce so that AI actually turns out to be net positive for mankind. You have a nice weekend too.
yeah exactly , and that's why yes, you're right) so many courses have appeared in recent years and retraining is so important, even after 40) I wrote about it a year ago... somewhere
Yeah, there are a lot of courses, though it is important for employers to enable the workforce, or even universities and colleges for the matter of fact. There is a lot of overlap amongst content in the courses, and honestly I feel people would often feel overwhelmed by the information overdose. Need to build a systematic framework.
true Friend im a good example of it ( i couldn't try from zero.... I tried , i did but it didn't work , you are young, no artificial intelligence replace your work )
Tik Tok, as reliable news source.......
How dumb are Americans ????
Just look at the performance of our current Federal Gov't, to get the answer....
Supposedly, a majority voted them into power......this slow-motion Train Wreck of a
Communist Gov't.
Many of my countrymen are Ignorant and Brainwashed.....Yes, they are !!!!
Sad, but true.
1960: average home size was 1,289 square ft. and average family size was 3.3. Today's family size is 2.5 yet they seem to require one thousand square feet more to survive in. I'll contribute this "need" to their generous nature of allowing the less fortunate to live in with them. Perhaps I'm mistaken though, and it's simply a need to be farther away from their love one's.
You bring a good point with general family size shrinking, what's the rationale to move to bigger houses. While I do see quite a lot of families downsizing after their children grow up and get married, the wealth gap in general has also gotten worse in the 1960s. And a bigger house is ultimately a status symbol. Plus, there are pockets where foreign investment is propping up the housing market, which is also a sign of overall societal dysfunction, when housing affordability is at its all time low.
I’ve been thinking about allocating some of my portfolio to EM sovereign bonds. The default risk scares me a bit
I think it's generally wise to be cautious about EM sovereign bonds, despite the nice fat yield you may be receiving. I am not an expert in EM sovereign bonds, but I am increasingly becoming attracted to the whole EM segment and need to do more research to solidify my understanding. May post more in the coming months.
The way I see it for EM sovereign bonds, I would allocate to countries that are experiencing high growth, stable inflation (though it will be most likely higher than that of the US), transparent financial structure and political stability. As a result, I will stay away from countries like Turkey, but I would like to explore EM bonds in India, Vietnam, Indonesia. Are there any particular countries you are looking at?
You make great points I would also stay away from Turkey bonds hahaha. I need to do more research but India and Vietnam seem like a good starting point. Thank you!
You are welcome, if I do find more actionable information, I will keep you posted.
digital payments and fintech is evolving rapidly - those stats really highlight the competitive nature of the industry and I expect lots of advances towards a mass adoption of it.
it's the next big thing I say...
Absolutely, the innovation in this space is rapid and now big banks are rapidly partnering with tech in order to stay relevant long term. Exciting space in terms of how different niche players are building their own solutions and harnessing consumer surplus.
The slow adoption of digital wallets in the US is surprising. Any idea as to why its growth is slow there?
That is a fantastic question Sanuj and I probably might source your question to ideate and write a post down the road. For now, there are 2 reasons that come to my mind immediately
1) Many EM countries (India included) have a larger part of the Gen-Z and Millennial population who typically tend to adopt digital service offerings without much relative hesitation as compared to the older generations. Compared to this, the US population is declining and ageing. Plus, the credit and debit card network is well-established in the US and works "fine" for most people.
2) Banking still is not widely available to a large part of the population in EM countries. The account opening workflows either block people from entering banking platforms or make it cumbersome for people to sign up due to lack of paperwork. So, mobile payment and transaction is a dramatic improvement for EM countries, compared to the US where the perception is that there are already good enough solutions.
You can also check out these 2 sources that go into more details:
https://www.bain.com/insights/customer-behavior-and-loyalty-in-banking-global-edition-2023/
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/08/29/why-mobile-payments-have-barely-caught-on-in-the-us.html
Thank you for the detailed explanation Amrita. I understand now. I always had a feeling that the widespread credit card penetration among American citizens had something to do with it.
Precisely.
I've got a better explanation.
Maybe people are finally waking up to the fact that entrusting more and more of our lives to Big Tech or Big Government is unhealthy. Maybe watching how Turdeau with the stroke of a pen removed protesting Canadian truckers access to their own money was just a tad too dictatorial. Maybe watching people be debanked for wrongthink is just a little too Orwellian.
Today I saw part of a program about artificial intelligence and the labor market in general.
over the last 150 years, as many as 1,200 jobs have disappeared!! were simply liquidated because they were obviously no longer needed. There have been 200 new ones in the last five years) now, in order to keep your job, or look for a job that will not be eliminated by artificial intelligence in a moment (taking care of the elderly, cleaning offices), probably also writing, writing about books, reviews, etc.... memories like Charlotte , your reviews, artificial intelligence won't take that away )), they finished cleaning, I added writing itself)
p.s. Im sharing cause those numbers were shocking to me..
Have a nice weekend ))
You are right, it is essential to re-train and up-skill the laborforce so that AI actually turns out to be net positive for mankind. You have a nice weekend too.
yeah exactly , and that's why yes, you're right) so many courses have appeared in recent years and retraining is so important, even after 40) I wrote about it a year ago... somewhere
and thank you
Yeah, there are a lot of courses, though it is important for employers to enable the workforce, or even universities and colleges for the matter of fact. There is a lot of overlap amongst content in the courses, and honestly I feel people would often feel overwhelmed by the information overdose. Need to build a systematic framework.
true Friend im a good example of it ( i couldn't try from zero.... I tried , i did but it didn't work , you are young, no artificial intelligence replace your work )
Thank you JR. You too.