Consider the balance sheet of a typical investment bank. It looks like this All numbers in billions(*) to get a realistic scale. Total assets: $1000 Counter-party liabilities: $800 Debt: $150 Equity: $50 Total liabilities+Equity: $1000 The counter-party liabilities are promises that the bank has made to customers and other banks, etc. essentially money that the [...]

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Sailing is to the bay area what Aspen is to skiing. If you live there, you just gotta do it. And so, since I live in the bay area, I just had to start sailing. Now, the traditional approach to start sailing yachts is to take a basic keelboat certification course. This lasts a couple [...]

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When I was a kid I was always told to finish whatever was on my place. Wasted food never seemed to be a problem. Today I read in the newspaper that people throw away food worth billions annually. I think this reflects a change in attitude. What happens is that something is cooked. The proper [...]

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