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New York Times: Charles Blow Takedown letter to editor

The New York Times

 As I watched last week as protesters took to the streets in big cities, what struck me was the vast and growing divide between America’s rural and urban populations and their politics and sensibilities. One look at county maps of this year’s election results and you see what looks like a handful of blueberries sprinkled on an endless spread of red sauce (between the blue coasts). And yet, it is likely that the final result will be that Hillary Clinton won the popular vote, although Donald Trump won the electoral vote and therefore the election. Part of the reason for this is that, as a census report noted last year: “U.S. cities are home to 62.7 percent of the U.S. population but comprise just 3.5 percent of land area.”

Etc Charles Blow New York Times

Letter comment selection

Quote “Charles, there is this little thing called social media, you should check it out sometime. It’s allowed the average person to communicate directly with one another and share THEIR ideas without the pompous, narrow viewed opinions of some Liberal elite.

For decades you and yours were able to get away with controlling the narrative by virtue of having the only relevant soapboxes in town. Fast forward to today and you see a completely different landscape for information sharing, one in which ideas are exchanged at the speed of light free of media controlled bias.

Trump won the election because when people compared the dialogue that they were having with one another to your Liberal prism, they realized that they were no longer being represented.

Trump for ALL his flaws recognized and exploited this to great effect.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/14/opinion/trumps-rural-white-america.html

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‘It’s time to hold physical cash,’ says one of Britain’s most senior fund managers

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It may be time to money under the mattress. High profile fund managers explain how to prepare for a ‘systemic event’

Ian Spreadbury, who invests more than £4bn of investors’ money across a handful of bond funds for Fidelity, including the flagship Moneybuilder Income fund, is concerned that a “systemic event” could rock markets, possibly similar in magnitude to the financial crisis of 2008, which began in Britain with a run on Northern Rock.

“Systemic risk is in the system and as an investor you have to be aware of that,” he told Telegraph Money.

The best strategy to deal with this, he said, was for investors to spread their money widely into different assets, including gold and silver, as well as cash in savings accounts. But he went further, suggesting it was wise to hold some “physical cash”, an unusual suggestion from a mainstream fund manager.

His concern is that global debt – particularly mortgage debt – has been pumped up to record levels, made possible by exceptionally low interest rates that could soon end, and he is unsure how well banks could cope with the shocks that may await.

He pointed out that a saver was covered only up to £85,000 per bank under the Financial Services Compensation Scheme – which is effectively unfunded – and that the Government has said it will not rescue banks in future, hence his suggestion that some money should be held in physical cash.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/investing/11686199/Its-time-to-hold-physical-cash-says-one-of-Britains-most-senior-fund-managers.html

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VC Firms Rain Down Cash on Tech Startups, Is Bubble Brewing?

business-opportunities

business-opportunities

VC Firms Rain Down Cash on Tech Startups, Is Bubble Brewing?

SAN FRANCISCO — Jan 16, 2015, 6:16 PM ET
By BRANDON BAILEY AP Technology Writer

Cash rained down on startups in 2014, as venture capitalists poured a whopping $48.3 billion into new U.S. companies — levels not seen since before the dot-com bubble burst in 2001. Strong technology IPOs are luring investors chasing the next big return, but with valuations this high, critics suggest some investors may be setting themselves up for a major fall.

“It’s not that many businesses aren’t viable, but the question is, what are you paying for them?” said Mark Cannice, a professor of entrepreneurship at the University of San Francisco.

Venture funding surged more than 60 percent in 2014 from the prior year, most often fueling software and biotechnology companies, according to a new “MoneyTree Report” issued by PricewaterhouseCoopers and the National Venture Capital Association, based on data from Thomson Reuters. But the money wasn’t spread around to buoy many more companies. A few just got huge piles of cash.

Last year saw a record 47 “mega-deals,” defined as investments of more than $100 million. That’s nearly twice as many as reported in 2013, said Mark McCaffrey of PricewaterhouseCoopers, who leads the accounting and consulting firm’s global software practice.

Uber Technologies, the ride-hailing service disrupting the transportation industry and generating plenty of press, received the top two biggest rounds of investment last year. Each raised $1.2 billion for Uber, and the company’s value is now pegged at $41 billion. Other major deals included $542 million (mostly from Google Inc.) invested in Magic Leap Inc., a secretive startup working on virtual reality technology; $500 million in Vice Media, which operates online news and video channels; and $485 million in SnapChat, the popular messaging service.

https://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory/funding-boom-shows-power-tech-startups-raises-concerns-28263323