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When Was I Radicalized? (Boeing edition)
When Was I Radicalized? (Boeing edition) Dick Fuld never saw a courtroom, much less a jail cell. When was I radicalized? When Dick Fuld walked away scot-free from Lehman with half a billion dollars in cash comp and stock sales during his tenure. I thought of Dick Fuld today when I saw this picture and […]
Yeah, It’s Still Water
Yeah, It’s Still Water Back in April, I wrote This Is Water. There are these two young fish swimming along and they happen to meet an older fish swimming the other way, who nods at them and says “Morning, boys. How’s the water?” And the two young fish swim on for a bit, and then eventually […]
Fiat World
Fiat World That’s a still photo from the Netflix documentary “Behind the Curve”, a really good movie about the Flat Earth movement. I’ll come back to this in a minute. But first … I was going to save this email for the Mailbag, but couldn’t resist using it now. Hey There Ben You and […]
All Along the Watchtower
All Along the Watchtower ‘There must be some way out of here’Said the joker to the thief‘There’s too much confusion, I can’t get no reliefBusinessmen, they drink my winePlowmen dig my earthNone of them along the line know what any of it is worth’ ‘No reason to get excited’, the thief he kindly spoke‘ There […]
Foundation and Empire
Foundation and Empire Thomas Cole, “The Consummation of Empire” (1836) Every vice of the Empire has been repeated in the Foundation. Inertia! Our ruling class knows one law; no change. Despotism! They know one rule; force. Maldistribution! They know one desire; to hold what is theirs. That quote is the narrative crux of Isaac Asimov’s […]
Reflections on Late-Stage Inflation
Reflections on Late-Stage Inflation Without a doubt, we are in a period of late-stage inflation. But how long can it last? A few days ago I noted that “inflation expectations” were the same or nearly the same for every period from seven years through thirty. Actually, the thirty-year expectation was slightly less than the 10-year […]
Pecking Order
Pecking Order Out of all the animals we keep on our “farm”, chickens are the only ones that bring me no joy. Chickens are, by nature, brutal and cruel. They will torture the weak to death with their pecks, not because they have to, but because they can. It’s the way their brains are hard-wired, […]
Anthem!
Anthem! Ash: You still don’t understand what you’re dealing with, do you? Perfect organism. Its structural perfection is matched only by its hostility. Lambert: You admire it. Ash: I admire its purity. A survivor … unclouded by conscience, remorse, or delusions of morality. Parker: Look, I am … I’ve heard enough of this, and I’m […]
My Passion is Puppetry
My Passion is Puppetry Campaign Company Launch Date “Flo” Progressive Insurance 2008 “Rhetorical Question” “Happier Than A … ” “Did You Know?” “It’s What You Do” GEICO 2009 2012 2013 2014 “Mayhem” Allstate 2010 “University of Farmers” Farmers Insurance 2010 “Magic Jingle” State Farm 2011 2011 “That’s Not How It Works” Esurance 2014 “Chicken […]
The Narrative Fix Is In
The Narrative Fix Is In On August 2, 2012 Mario Draghi gave the most disastrous ECB press conference of all time. The market anticipation was enormous leading up to the event, as this was the moment where the ECB would unveil the Outright Monetary Transactions (OMT) program — a new, ultimate weapon to be deployed […]
The Silver Age of the Central Banker
The Silver Age of the Central Banker We all sing along But the notes are wrong – Matt & Kim, “Get It” (2015) The strong do what they will, and the weak suffer what they must. – Thucydides, “History of the Peloponnesian War” (c. 400 BC) Xerxes: Come Leonidas, let us reason together. It would […]
Rewardless Risk
Rewardless Risk Faramir: Then farewell! But if I should return, think better of me. Denethor: That depends on the manner of your return. – J.R.R. Tolkien “The Lord of the Rings” (1954) I’m going full-nerd with the “Lord of the Rings” introduction to today’s Epsilon Theory note, but I think this scene — where Denethor, the […]
You Can Either Surf, or You Can Fight
You Can Either Surf, or You Can Fight Kilgore: Smell that? You smell that? Lance: What? Kilgore: Napalm, son. Nothing else in the world smells like that. – “Apocalypse Now” (1979) Hello, hello, hello, how low? [x3] – Nirvana, “Smells Like Teen Spirit” (1991) Outside the bus the smell of sulfur hit Bond with sickening force. It was a […]
