The Wooden Nickel
The Wooden Nickel is a collection of roughly a handful of recent topics that have caught our attention. Here you’ll find current, open-ended thoughts. We wish to use this piece as a way to think out loud in public rather than formal proclamations or projections. A...
Geopolitical Challenges and Statecraft
For this week’s geopolitical look, we examine the conflicts shaping the trajectory of the 21st century. The first is the US-China rivalry, which is quickly coalescing around the sovereignty of Taiwan. The second is the struggle for authority in global institutions as...
Buying the Narrative
Company valuation is one of the more recent iterations of the ancient human tradition of storytelling. Like all traditional narrative forms, it pits a protagonist (company managers) against a problem (how to generate profits) and details how they overcome the...
Weekly Market Update
Global Market News Global equities make gains Global equities made gains this week, bringing markets their best monthly performance since 2020 as they try to rebound. The S&P 500 and Dow Jones advanced 4.26% and 2.97% respectively, while the Nasdaq rose 4.70%....
The Day After & the Era of Transformation
As the world struggles with the looming prospect of a widespread economic slowdown, we begin our look at the Day After with an analysis of how the EU is preparing itself for a recession. From there, we look at the dynamics of the food shortage shaping politics in the...
Weekly Market Update
Global Market News Global equities rise Global equities were higher on the week. The S&P 500 and Dow Jones advanced 2.55% and 1.95% respectively, while the Nasdaq rose 3.33%. The yield on the US 10-year Treasury dropped several basis points to 2.75% while the...
Geopolitical Challenges and Statecraft
The Global South has long been a battleground for global power competition. While US economic and political influence in the Global South has waned in recent years, Russia and China have stepped up their investments in the region and it’s paying off. The first article...
Mess with the Bull(whip) and Get the Horns
Investors are getting a front-row seat to Supply Chain 101 during and in the aftermath of the global pandemic. Interconnectedness seems to always be unveiled amid crisis, whether that is financial contagion such as the Asian Financial Crisis or global operations, as...
Canceling the Noise; Not by Bread Alone Part XIII
Whether we talk about Herodotus, Thucydides, Montesquieu, or Gibbon, the fundamental element is that history illuminates human conditions. If we take it a step further, we discover that history is not the unpeeling of the past but the breathing in of the living...
Canceling the Noise; Not by Bread Alone Part XII
The mark of a true statesman (really, of any leader) is magnanimity combined with moderation, justice, courage, foresight, prudence, a genuine concern for the public good, and temperance. Which of these features should be part of our institutions (government,...
