All that Glitters
Weekly Blog #23 “Gold is money. Everything else is credit.” J.P. Morgan Gold and silver are on a tear. Gold has surged to new highs, silver is finally waking up from a long nap, and—almost on cue—the U.S. dollar is sliding. None of this is random, and none of it should be surprising. Precious metals […]
Freddie & Fannie May …
Weekly Blog #22 “Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are neither fish nor fowl. They are private companies with public purposes, and they benefit from an implicit government guarantee.”— Ben Bernanke Few outside the mortgage industry truly understand what FNMA and FHLMC—commonly known as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac—actually do. Fannie Mae was established in 1938 […]
Is Real Estate Still a Good Investment?
Weekly Blog #21 “Buy land. They’re not making it anymore.” Anonymous Long before formal monetary systems existed, land represented wealth, power, and security. Wars were fought over it. Dynasties were built upon it. For most of human history, property ownership was limited to the elite — the landed gentry. As feudalism faded and property rights, […]
Healthcare Dumpster Fire
Weekly Blog #20 Affordability seems to be the word of the day, especially regarding healthcare and, more specifically, insurance premiums. But as with most widely used economic terms, few people understand what’s actually driving the numbers. Here’s the uncomfortable math: In 2025, total U.S. healthcare spending will reach roughly $5.6 trillion, or 19% of GDP—nearly […]
What is Inflation?
Weekly Blog #19 “Inflation is always and everywhere a monetary phenomenon.” Milton Friedman It seems every politician eventually promises to “make life more affordable.” It’s a crowd-pleaser. Who doesn’t want their dollars to stretch further? But how, exactly, do they plan to make that happen? The devil, as always, is in the details. First, let’s […]
Is AI Coming for Your Job?
Weekly Blog #18 “Price is only an issue in the absence of value.” Zig Zigler Every major technological leap has carried predictions of mass unemployment. The steam engine threatened farmers; calculators were expected to make accountants irrelevant; and the internet was forecast to erase retail. Yet with each disruption the labor market adapted. Entire job […]
The 3% Mortgage Mirage
Weekly Blog #17 Nostalgia is memory after a few drinks. Few topics inspire more nostalgia—and delusion—than mortgage rates. Every week, brokers, buyers, and investors ask the same question: “When are we going back to 3%?” The honest answer? We’re not. And that’s a good thing. The 3% mortgage rate wasn’t born of the COVID pandemic—it […]
The Future is Now
Weekly Blog #15 “By 2045, we will reach the singularity—the point at which artificial intelligence surpasses human intelligence.” Ray Kurzweil In 2005, futurist and inventor Ray Kurzweil predicted that humanity would reach the “singularity”—the moment when artificial intelligence overtakes human intellect—by 2045. Two decades later, that forecast no longer sounds like science fiction. It’s increasingly […]
10,000 Hours
Weekly Blog #15 “10,000 hours is the magic number of greatness.” Malcolm Gladwell In his 2008 book Outliers: The Story of Success, Malcolm Gladwell popularized what became known as the “10,000-hour rule.” The premise is simple: to truly become world-class—whether in music, sports, programming, chess, or any other pursuit—one must invest roughly 10,000 hours of […]
Highest and Best Use
Weekly Blog #14 “Price is what you pay. Value is what you get.” Warren Buffett June’s commentary, What’s It Worth?, looked at the many ways real estate can be valued—from comps and replacement cost to cap rates and discounted cash flows. But one critical concept I didn’t cover is the principle of highest and best […]
