Very few people who are connected to the internet will tell you that the rise of the search engine has increased their ignorance of a great many things. After all, before the democratization of the search engine and the world-wide web we couldn’t Google things. We had to open books, if we had the right [...]
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Where Search Went Wrong and How to Fix It
by David Van Bruwaene on September 6, 2012 in Creative, Diversions, Politics & Business
The Hamster Wheel Economy
by David Van Bruwaene on May 21, 2012 in Philosophy, Politics & Business
I have a friend who maintains a Christmas tradition with his brother in which they exchange $20 bills. The money exchange, if recorded as a business transaction, would add $40 to GDP. But they might produce more value by exchanging compliments. During the Great Depression, I’ve read, some socially concerned business owners with large bank [...]
Common Confusions
by David Van Bruwaene on January 18, 2012 in Politics & Business
Conflating universal suffrage with democracy. Thinking that GDP expansion is essentially positively correlated with increases in the production, trade, and consumption of value-adding goods and services. Mistaking the Federal Reserve for a governmental agency. Mistaking the U.S. Chamber of Commerce for a governmental agency.
A long-shot investment idea with an attractive potential upside
by David Van Bruwaene on August 8, 2011 in Politics & Business
I’ve recently discovered BitCoin. It is a monetary system with active exchanges into/from USD, AUD, GAU, INR, CNY, SLL, BGN, PLN, EUR, CLP, and (thankfully) CAD. Today, one BitCoin (BTC) is roughly eight dollars (USD). The market capitalization is $56, 053, 200, assuming each coin is worth eight US dollars. BitCoin has been compared to Bittorent, [...]
Summer reading list (political/historical)
by David Van Bruwaene on June 22, 2011 in Politics & Business
Amartya Sen, The Idea of Justice. Amartya Sen, The Argumentative Indian: Writings on Indian history, culture and identity. Ida Minerva Tarbell, The History of the Standard Oil Company. (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED) Russ Baker, Family of Secrets: The Bush dynasty, America’s invisible government, and the hidden history of the last fifty years. Jeff Sharlet, The Family: The secret [...]