Author, Investor, Speaker, Mentor
In the past, I’ve extolled the virtues of the miserly safety net, especially when it comes to housing. It just occurred to me that it might be possible to expand this net to cover all the essentials of life. When I think about the essentials of life in the United States, it boils down to … Continue reading The Miserly Safety Net: Another Modest Proposal
The popular belief is that entrepreneurs are “hungry” because they come from modest backgrounds. Here in America, we love a great “rags to riches” story. Of course, it should be noted that America’s two richest men, Bill Gates (son of a wealthy attorney) and Warren Buffett (son of a stockbroker/Congressman) don’t exactly provide validation for … Continue reading Wealth and Entrepreneurship (why the rich get richer and why we should help the poor)
I’ve seen a lot written lately about the mental impact of poverty. The trigger was probably this article, which originally began as a long comment on Gawker: http://bit.ly/Ixkjkg The author shares her experiences living in poverty, and the psychological struggles she faces. The key passage is probably this one: “It does not matter what will … Continue reading Hope Enables The Better Angels Of Our Nature
I preface this post with the admission that I have always been a child of privilege. I come from a family of well-educated Chinese immigrants; my mother is the only member of her generation on either her or my father’s side of the family that didn’t earn a Ph.D. (she only has a measly Masters, … Continue reading Searching for Equality in a Winner-take-Most World
I really enjoyed this recent rant that appeared in the MIT Entrepreneurship Review, “The Unexotic Underclass”: http://bit.ly/11oslgw The editorialist, C.Z. Nnaemeka writes eloquently and movingly about Silicon Valley entrepreneurs’ tendency to focus on a target market that resembles that of a Hollywood sitcom: Young, white, and improbably blessed with money and free time. “Those who … Continue reading A Tale Of Two Americas (and a failure of imagination)
If you’re born into the poorest quintile, and don’t get a college degree, you have a 32% chance of making it into the middle class or above (top 3 quintiles). That rises to 62% if you get a college degree. Getting a college degree doubles your chance of having a successful life (if having a … Continue reading Education Is Destiny: Educated Poor Do As Well As The Lazy Rich
(image credit: darkmatter)Being a cheap-ass bastard, I’ve never understood conspicuous consumption. But what would you expect from someone who graduated from HBS, then bought a Toyota Corolla Value Edition (no power windows, no power locks, no trunk light, no hubcaps)? According to the latest research, however, conspicuous consumption is more common among the poor. And … Continue reading Wealth, Race, and Conspicuous Consumption
In the spirit of Scott Adams, who uses his blog to offer simple solutions to the world’s most intractable problems, I’d like to offer my thoughts on solving the problems of poverty and the welfare state. On the one hand, it seems wrong for so many to live in squalor during a time of such … Continue reading A Modest Proposal to Solve Poverty: The Miserly Welfare State