Greetings from the University of New Hampshire! Rolling into the weekend, I’m writing to you as I administer a make-up exam for some young scholars who need a second shot at the material. This is something I learned in the Army. No one fails out of an Army training school on the first try. Most people get recycled even at the most challenging courses, like Ranger School (recycled means you get to start a part of the course over). Finance shouldn’t be any different. It’s hard. You might not have to parachute in at night and walk 12 miles to pass, but it’s a different kind of hard. I cap the possible grade at a B- for the make-ups, but if you want it, you can come try to earn it. I don’t believe in curving except in extreme circumstances (where I clearly misjudged the difficulty of the exam). It’s twice the work for me, because I write a whole new test (and grade it), but that is my commitment to my students. I won’t carry you, but I will walk beside you. Or more to the point, sit here and drink coffee while you take another exam.
Speaking of walking, I decided to walk to work on Tuesday this week, and cut through College Woods, which is the most direct route when there isn’t too much snow, and as I crested this little rise that tells me I am almost to the river, I looked down and saw my shadow all stretched out alongside the trees. I thought it was cool so I took a snap with my phone.
I was thinking last night, life has good days and bad days. As long as the good ones outnumber the bad in quantity and quality, I think you can account that your life is pretty good. The bad ones, as long as they aren’t too bad, serve the purpose of reminding us that we should be grateful for the good ones. A walk in the woods is usually the start of a good day. As usual, willing good for all of you, have a great week and I present you with the links!
Read
What: Trae Stephens and Markie Wagner, Choose Good Quests
https://open.substack.com/pub/solana/p/choose-good-quests?r=9tum8&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
Why: This post on Pirate Wires has an extra tech-bro vibe to it because it is written by tech-bros for tech-bros, but I like what they have to say about seeing your life as a quest and choosing to make your life a quest for something enduringly good. They have a clever 2X2, and I have to admit I am a sucker for a clever 2X2.
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What: Zeihan on Global Politics, Update: Iranian Protests Continue
https://zeihan.com/update-iranian-protests-continue/
Why: Nice analysis of the Iranian protests, not by Zeihan. People seem to be getting ahead of themselves in predicting the end of the Iranian theocracy. The author, Michael Nayebi, makes a case that we are not seeing sufficient erosion of the government’s authority among the security forces, among other things. He offers some good pressure points to watch for. I remember watching the hostage crisis when I was a kid, and praying for the safe return of the American diplomats. I hope I see the day when the ayatollahs fall and ordinary Iranians get some freedom.
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What: Marginal Revolution, The FTX Debacle ELI5
https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2022/11/the-ftx-debacle-eli5.html
Why: Tabarrok explains the collapse of FTX. That’s the company that was supposed to be helping people trade crypto currency, like BitCoin. Turns out the owner was scamming everyone. Whodathunkit?
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What: Fast Company, Why BMW just redesigned the humble golf cart
Why: I never seriously thought about getting myself a golf cart, but I live one mile, door to door from my office. I live less than I mile to the grocery store, and less than a mile to my regular Italian restaurant (no guns, just cannoli - see below). I might need a golf cart when the Adventure Van finally dies. It would be able to satisfy 95% of my transportation needs. And a BMW one would be pretty cool. Check out what this one can do.
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Watch
What: Leave the gun Take the cannoli (from the Godfather) (30 sec clip)
Why: When was the last time you watched the Godfather? So there I was, riffing about Bertrand Oligopoly (as one does) trying to explain to the kids about how collusion works, and I made up this scenario where Alex and Greg (real names, fake example), CEOs of two of the largest hospitals in NH, get together once a year to eat an Italian restaurant to make a deal to collude and not compete. A little vino, a little chicken cacciatore, a little we-agree-to-price-MRIs-above-market-price, a little cannoli to seal the deal. And then, into my squirrel brain pops the scene in the Godfather where Clemenza says, “Leave the gun, take the cannoli.” And I jokingly say that to the kids and I ask, “Now what movie is that from?” Most are like, I don’t know, Boomer, but a couple say something like “Back to the Future?” and I just want to fall down. One kid finally says, “Goodfellas?” because she knows I’ve used Goodfellas references in Econ before. I say, “ok, close. It’s the Godfather!” Silence. “You’ve seen the Godfather?” Silence. “You’ve heard of the Godfather?” Silence. “Maybe?” says one of the kids. A little of me dies inside. These kids are going to rule the world someday and no one has shown them the Godfather. How can you rule the world if you don’t know to leave the gun and take the cannoli?
(PS - Warning, there is a bit of violence in this clip. This is your literal “trigger” warning.)
(PPS - you don’t actually have to eat at an Italian restaurant to collude under Bertrand competition. Repeat, simultaneous games and a low discount rate are even better.)
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Listen
What: The Dispatch Podcast, The Desperate Despots Club (33 min)
Why: As noted above, it is too soon to count out the Iranian regime, and certainly too soon to count out Putin, even if he might lose the war in Ukraine (we can only pray). But Iran is now helping to arm Russia, which, as someone who grew up during the Cold War and joined the Army when the Soviet Union still had nukes pointed at the United States, is just mind-boggling. Everything about the war in Ukraine is mind boggling, though, starting with the fact that it (a WWI style invasion) is happening in the year of our Lord 2022. “Hello, Mr. Putin? The early 20th Century called and wants its war back.” This is a great discussion with Frederick Kagan, director of the Critical Threats Project at AEI, who talks about this strange turn of events, with Iran arming Russia, instead of the decades-long relationship where it was the other way around. The leaders of Russia and Iran are actors for chaos. They have a belief that they would be better off in a world full of disorder. Maybe the leaders would be. But their people would suffer (even more than they currently do).
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What: HBR IdeaCast, What We Still Misunderstand About Mentorship and Sponsorship (27 min)
Why: I am a huge fan of Herminia Ibarra’s book Working Identity: Unconventional Strategies for Reinventing Your Career and strongly recommend it if you are interested in thinking about careers - yours, your employees’, etc. Ibarra makes the argument that we should separate mentorship and sponsorship. I have mixed feelings. Yes, if we are talking about formal mentorship programs. But no if we are talking about organic mentoring relationships. First of all, you can’t actually compel sponsorship, so formal sponsorship programs nonsensical. But really, formal mentoring is kind of nonsensical as well, especially since it won’t come with any sponsorship. Mentorship without sponsorship is like cupcakes without frosting. You may as well eat broccoli. Check out the interview - it’s worth a listen.
Thanks for reading and see you next week! If you come across any interesting stories, won't you send them my way? I'd love to hear what you think of these suggestions, and I'd love to get suggestions from you. Feel free to drop me a line at mark.bonica@unh.edu , or you can tweet to me at @mbonica .
If you’re looking for a searchable archive, you can see my draft folder here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1jwGLdjsb1WKtgH_2C-_3VvrYCtqLplFO?usp=sharing
Finally, if you find these links interesting, won’t you tell a friend? They can subscribe here: https://markbonica.substack.com/welcome
See you next week!
Mark
“The meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to give it away.” – Pablo Picaso