What caught my eye this week.
I was delighted to hear from Monevator reader Elizabeth Wong a few months ago, when she sent me a copy of her new short story and said it might be of interest to people around here.
It was! The Landless is a thought provoking tale that takes many of the themes we discuss in these Weekend Readings and the comments to their dark conclusion.
I didn’t have a way to share the full story then, but I do now.
Here’s a slice of the extract published by Wasafiri:
She told Poppy, ‘If you say “refugee”, I think of someone who fled their country because of war, and it’s not their fault. And if you say “migrant”, I think of someone who has moved for better opportunities. But these people are neither refugees nor migrants. They are just … landless.’
Poppy tried to argue. ‘Surely these words are two sides of the same coin. Surely these people are refugees as well, escaping places that are now too hot to live in. People like her aunt and cousins who used to live in Malaysia, but left when the country got too hot, and the Chinese and Indian minorities persecuted for not being Muslim — are they not refugees? Surely the price of land is too expensive, hoarded by a few landowners —.’
Louise cut her off. ‘My family took out a multi-generational sixty-year mortgage to buy our chalet. The debt was finally paid off last year. That is why I got to come to Monte Carlo this season. I am here not because of privilege. This is several lifetimes of hard work — my father, my mother, my grandfather, working into their eighties with two jobs. Why should the price of land be lower? Our family has sacrificed so much.’ Louise took a breath. Poppy made a small sound, a signal to add to the conversation but Louise ignored it. ‘And it’s not like the landless are homeless. The government has built the new villages for them to live in.’
‘But the new villages … ’ Poppy read a report, she had seen the documentaries, it was like living in hell. The heat, the dust —
‘The new villages have water, food, jobs, shelter. And it was their choice to come. If they don’t like it, then they can go back to their own country.’
For the rest of May you can read Wong’s The Landless in its entirety.
Enjoy, and have a great weekend.
From Monevator
Safe withdrawal rates: how to spot if your portfolio is headed for trouble – Monevator [Members]
How do home ownership and mortgages affect your portfolio? – Monevator
From the archive-ator: Why you shouldn’t track your investment returns – Monevator
News
The FT no longer allows access to articles reached via search. Paywalled articles noted.
BoE cuts rates, surprise split vote sends pound, yields higher – Reuters
FCA consults on steps to simplify mortgage rules – FCA
Average water bills likely to hit £2,000 by 2050, says Ofwat – Guardian
Trade war creating ‘unprecedented uncertainty’, warns shipping boss – T.I.M.
Women wins £30,000 compensation for being compared to Darth Vader – Guardian
Elon Musk’s SpaceX gets its own company town in Texas – The Verge
Another UK firm taken out: DoorDash buys Deliveroo for $3.9bn – Semafor
WeightWatchers files for bankruptcy as people turn to weight loss drugs – T.I.M.
Real interest rates by country in 2025 [Infographic] – Visual Capitalist
Old art is strangling new art… – Infinite Scroll
…in the age of Surefire Mediocrity – The Garden of Forking Paths
Products and services
Have annuity rates reached their peak? – Which
Virgin Money Regular Saver 6.5% review – Be Clever With Your Cash
One-of-a-kind ‘Delayed Start’ mortgage launched in the UK – Guardian
Get up to £1,500 cashback when you transfer your cash and/or investments through this link. Terms apply – Charles Stanley
Nationwide lowers mortgage rates again, others follow suit – This Is Money
Six of the biggest Lifetime ISA myths debunked – Which
Get up to £4,000 when you transfer your ISA to InvestEngine our link. (Minimum deposit of £100, other T&Cs apply. Capital at risk) – InvestEngine
Secure a cash ISA bonus before it’s too late – This Is Money
How your age affects the cost of car insurance – Which
Homes for sale with stunning views, in pictures – Guardian
Comment and opinion
The value of a second opinion – Oblivious Investor
How much exposure to US stocks is too much? [Paywall] – FT
Borrowing from your future can cost you everything – Of Dollars and Data
Wealth, wellness, and well-being – The Conversation
How to save when buying a home – Which
Wear a seatbelt – Safal Niveshak
UK inflation: they are not cooking the books – Simple Living in Somerset
Following the crowd into popular funds is a bad idea – Morningstar
The gold dilemma isn’t going anywhere – Abnormal Returns
Bye bye Buffett mini-special
Warren Buffett, 94, stepping down as CEO of Berkshire Hathaway – BBC
Buffett caps a career built on humility – Bloomberg via Advisor Perspectives
Warren Buffett’s bet of the century – FT
Lessons from Buffett – Market Sentiment
There will never be another Warren Buffett – The Washington Post
Jamie Dimon says Warren Buffett represents the good in American capitalism – Fortune
Warren Buffett’s final brushstrokes – The Rational Walk
Just a day’s worth of Buffett’s quips and insights – Ted Merz [h/t Abnormal Returns]
Naughty corner: Active antics
The top 40 UK dividend stocks – UK Dividend Investor
Google is toast in the AI search era – Polymath Investor
The US is not an emerging market… yet – Semafor
Bitcoin crosses $100,000 for the first time since February – The Block
Kindle book bargains
Liar’s Poker by Michael Lewis – £0.99 on Kindle
The Price of Money by Rob Dix – £0.99 on Kindle
The Great Crashes: Lessons from Global Meltdowns by Linda Yueh – £0.99 on Kindle
Failed State: Why Britain Doesn’t Work by Sam Freedman – £0.99 on Kindle
Or pick up one of the all-time great investing classics – Monevator shop
Environmental factors
Huge North Sea wind farm scrapped due to rising costs – Independent
Sadiq Khan to announce plans to build on greenfield land – Guardian
Wind theft: the mysterious effect plaguing wind farms – BBC
It’s okay to notice when wind and solar fail – Breakthrough Journal
Robot overlord roundup
The life-or-death case for self-driving cars – Vox
McKinsey report on the $7 trillion bill to scale data centres – McKinsey
The AI arms race in hiring is a huge mess for everyone [Paywall] – FT
Why large language models are so hard to understand – Quanta
The AI jobs crisis is here now – Blood in the Machine
Trump meme-coining it mini-special
Trump set to raise millions from crypto and meme coins this month – CNBC
Trump family’s net worth has increased by $2.9bn through crypto in six months – CBS
58 wallets made over $10m each from Trump’s meme coin. 764,000 have lost money – CNBC
Not at the dinner table
Ken Rogoff: Our Dollar, Your Problem – Semafor
Globalisation did not hollow out the American middle-class – Noahpinion
The ‘100% tarriff’ on foreign films proposal doesn’t make much sense – Time
MAGA’s war on science – Paul Krugman
Trump’s mob-like shakedown of Paramount via the FCC – Mother Jones
The great deliverable of Trump’s first 100 days? Revenge – Semafor
Off our beat
Harrison Ford and the origin of Western civilisation – The Honest Broker
On the death of daydreaming – After Babel
Everything not forbidden is compulsory – Dror Poleg
Why men shouldn’t fear middle-age [Podcast] – Khe Hy via YouTube
When you take care of today, tomorrow takes care of itself – Ian Cassel
And finally…
“So smile when you read a headline that says ‘Investors lose as market falls.’ Edit it in your mind to ‘Disinvestors lose as market falls — but investors gain.’ Though writers often forget this truism, there is a buyer for every seller and what hurts one necessarily helps the other.”
– Warren Buffett, The Essays of Warren Buffett
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