What we’re reading (5/11)
“What’s The Best-Performing Asset Type During A Recession?” (Morningstar). “The explanation for bonds’ strength during recessionary periods is twofold. The Federal Reserve often cuts interest rates during such periods, which boosts bond prices. Moreover, investors often retreat to safety, stability, and liquidity in periods of economic insecurity (high-quality bonds and cash) and away from assets they perceive to be higher risk (equities).”
“Tech’s New Business Model: ‘Do More With Less’” (CNBC). “Cost cuts that kicked into gear in late 2022 ramped up in the first quarter and are continuing into the second. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella told staffers Wednesday there will be no salary increases for full-time employees, after the company announced 10,000 job cuts earlier this year.”
“26 Empire State Buildings Could Fit Into New York’s Empty Office Space. That’s a Sign.” (New York Times). “In downtowns from Chicago to Los Angeles, the physical layout of the 20th-century city is clashing with the new economy. Since the 1920s, single-use zoning has divided our cities into separate neighborhoods for home, work and play. Work-from-home and Netflix have made these distinctions irrelevant, but our partitioned urban fabric has yet to catch up.”
“SoftBank Says Goodbye To Alibaba, Hello To More AI Investments” (Wall Street Journal). “One of the world’s most influential tech investors, SoftBank has been in a defensive crouch for over a year, slashing its once profligate spending after many of its investments in startups went sour during the recent tech downturn.”
“The Greek Origins Of Modern Science” (Merchants and Mechanics). “The mathematical fact that we call Pythagoras’ theorem was known to the Babylonians at least 1200 years before Pythagoras was born. Why then do we call it Pythagoras’ theorem? Because facts and theorems are different. The mathematical fact antedates him, but the theorem is his. And herein lies the difference between Greek activities, which we are calling science, and what went before or elsewhere, which we do not call science. The Babylonians observed a mathematical regularity, and compiled or calculated tables of similar regularities. The Greeks…observed this mathematical regularity, and proved geometrically that it holds for all particular cases.”
