What we’re reading (3/20)
“When Headlines Worry You, Bank On Investment Principles” (Dimensional Fund Advisors). “Nobel laureate Merton Miller famously used to say, ‘Diversification is your buddy.’ Thanks to financial innovations over the last century in the form of mutual funds, and later ETFs, most investors can access broadly diversified investment strategies at very low costs. While not all risks—including a systemic risk such as an economic recession—can be diversified away […], diversification is still an incredibly effective tool for reducing many risks investors face. In particular, diversification can reduce the potential pain caused by the poor performance of a single company, industry, or country”
“Federal Reserve Faces Tough Decision On Rate Increase” (Wall Street Journal). “The Fed has tried over the past year to telegraph its rate moves to avoid surprises and minimize volatility. Until now, it hasn’t confronted an abrupt and fluid crisis on the eve of a policy meeting. On Monday, investors anticipated the Fed would likely proceed with a rate rise, with interest-rate futures markets at midday implying a roughly three-in-four chance of a quarter-point increase, according to CME Group.”
“Google Was Beloved As An Employer For Years. Then It Laid Off Thousands By Email” (CNN Business). “Google (GOOGL), which for years ranked as the top company to work for in the United States, laid off thousands of workers by e-mail. And not just any employees: Decades-long veterans of the company, at least one employee on health leave, and even an employee in labor with her second child were all cut, with little explanation. Employees were left scrambling to determine who had been let go and those affected had no opportunity to say goodbye to colleagues or pack up their desks, former workers told CNN.”
“Can We Slow This All Down, Please?” (New York Times). “Over the past week, an observation by Matt Klein, a financial journalist, has gotten passed around quite a bit. ‘This was more a case of a ‘bank-run by idiots’ rather than a ‘bank run by idiots,’’ he wrote, referring to the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank. But why choose? Everyone involved in this looks terrible.”
“America’s New Class War” (UnHerd). “Taken together, then, we can see that affluent, college-educated voters and the donors in both parties are skewing American politics to the Left on social issues and to the Right on economics. This has left a substantial part of the American public unrepresented in our two-party system.”
