What we’re reading (4/2)
“The New Magic Number For Retirement Is $1.46 Million. Here’s What It Tells Us.” (Wall Street Journal). “It would take $1.46 million to retire comfortably, according to a recent survey of 4,588 adults released Tuesday by financial-services company Northwestern Mutual. That is up from $1.27 million a year ago. And over $1 million more than the average survey participant’s nest egg.”
“Cognitive Dissonance” (Cliff Asness, AQR). “Here are a few things I would’ve thought were hard for investors to believe simultaneously. I would’ve been wrong…”
“Regulators Force Another Microsoft Split” (DealBook). “Microsoft is separating Teams, its popular video and chat app, from its Office software suite in markets around the world, broadening a split that began in the European Union last fall. It appears to be the latest effort by the software giant to head off investigations by global antitrust enforcers as regulators examine the power of Big Tech.”
“Why Is There So Much Lead In American Food?” (Vox). “In 2024, one of the most potent neurotoxins known to humanity persists all over the world as a public health threat. For the second time in six months, lead contamination in food products has put public health authorities on high alert in the wealthiest nation in the world. Last fall, contaminated cinnamon-applesauce pouches caused dozens of lead poisoning cases across the US, eventually prompting recalls in November. And in March, the federal government announced that some ground cinnamon products also contained slightly elevated levels of lead and advised customers not to buy them.”
“LA’s Luxury House Sales Plummet 70 PERCENT In The First Year Since Its Hated ‘Mansion Tax’ Was Brought In As Millionaires Chose To Live Outside The City In Beverly Hills, Malibu And Santa Monica Instead” (Daily Mail). “LA's Housing Department has generated $215 million from the tax over the past year - a disappointing sum compared with the $900 million it was predicted to raise. The city has defended the policy as something which will take time to gain traction, saying income from the tax snowballed toward the end of the first year.”
