Disqus - Latest Comments for investoralist

Re: The 23 Best Countries for Work-Life Balance (We Are Number 23) - Derek Thompson - Business - The Atlantic

Dana Chen — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 12:32:00 -0000

Some of these data are pretty misleading! Take the Netherlands for example, female full-time employment rate after child birth is one of the lowest in the OECD, more on par with Spain than Sweden (and I don't think 10 hours of supermarket check-out work or part-time mail delivery really counts as fulfilling work for any educated adult female). The system of high salaries and low number of hours worked is sustained by still high salaries for a relatively non-competitive labour market, very high household debts (in the form of mortgages but not credit cards), and vis-a-vis the UK, reasonable cost of living. Whether this sustainable in the long term (since the government doles out a hefty sum every year to refund interest on mortgages for most households) will affect the affordability of housing, and this can very well push people to work more, or better yet, move from 1-income to 2-income households, in order to pay their bills.

Short answer: a lot of those supposed good work-life societies are living in a bit of an illusion. Long-term affordability of their current lifestyles is not a certainty.

Re: Angela Calling Update

Dana Chen — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 06:40:00 -0000

And the question that lingers is whether the precedence will also extend to other basket cases in the region.

Re: Japanese expectations out of whack with reality, but is part-time work ethos the way to go?

Dana Chen — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 16:15:48 -0000

Haha, thanks Chuck, much appreciated! Support like that keeps me going!

Re: The mess that is the Dutch political battlefield

Dana Chen — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 13:21:03 -0000

Chuck, Thanks for not giving up on it!

Re: Does Ayn Rand Miss the Social Point of Morality?

Dana Chen — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 08:32:01 -0000

Have you read http://www.newcriterion.com...

Re: Viewsflow.com - Understanding The Financial World | Visit viewsflow.com

Dana Chen — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 07:54:44 -0000

Hi there,

Most of our analysis on topics are based on individuals' Twitter activities. So to claim your identity, you need to log in through your Twitter account, which verifies you are whom you claim to be on Twitter.

Re: One hundred pictures of India in 2009

Dana Chen — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 15:53:48 -0000

Chuck, thanks for the message, much appreciated. Would love to hear more comments and feedback from you.

Re: It’s not always what it seems

Dana Chen — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 04:59:47 -0000

I live here, I can't help myself!

Re: How far should we go in climate proofing inhospitable lands?

Dana Chen — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 11:26:26 -0000

Hi there,

Thank you for the comment. I would agree that governments have a huge part to play in terms of aiding or rejecting these subsidized efforts. For every land filling project that takes place in low sea areas, there's probably a Three Gorges getting flooded somewhere, paid for by the government.

Although in democratic communities in the west, I wonder if the gov't merely carries out the popular wishes of the public. Afterall, if you live in a country in the Netherlands - where should nature had its way, would be halfway underwater centuries ago, what would you do as a community/political system? You would attempt to tame nature, almost at all cost, should you not want to let your land/clan/race disappear.

Re: July 13 Personal Finance Readings

Dana Chen — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 11:07:34 -0000

Glad to be of help :)

Re: The market is not efficient

Dana Chen — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 15:34:09 -0000

I think the thing is that, people generally believe in a weak version of the efficient market theory, without which, few investors would invest in the stock market.

So in a way, traders are theoretically in the market to make it more efficient. But when they collude, or rely on private information to trade, then we get the opposite result.

Re: Are Charisma and Conscientiousness Mutually Exclusive in a Leader?

Dana Chen — Wed, 27 May 2009 17:48:48 -0000

Daniel,

Interesting site, thanks for sharing. I think flexibility is a requisite in the business environment. But the question is one of style, versus one of flexibility - which can be exhibited by a leader that is visionary but lacks the patience for details and planning, as well as someone who is focused on execution and delivery.

Thanks for dropping by, great to have you here.

Re: The Darfur Conflict: Less About Race, More About Land and the Environment

Dana Chen — Sat, 23 May 2009 10:52:29 -0000

Mariam,

Thank you for your insights, they are much appreciated.

Re: The Darfur Conflict: Less About Race, More About Land and the Environment

Dana Chen — Wed, 20 May 2009 17:29:15 -0000

Environmental degradation and over-population doesn't help either.

Re: Is the Era of Rising Real Estate Prices Over?

Dana Chen — Mon, 18 May 2009 18:14:11 -0000

Bret,

Indeed, the stagnation of wages for middle-America can partially explain how people desperately looked outside of real income increases to accumulate wealth. Thus the first tech bubble, and since then, the real estate housing speculation. And of course, add the debts that people had become increasingly reliant upon to fund their lifestyles, we are in this mess today.

You say that you're expecting more housing cycles in California, really? I am skeptical as to whether people will return to housing as an outlet from speculative activities going forward.

Thanks for stopping by, really great to have you here.

Re: Build the Product, Then Get Feedback

Dana Chen — Sun, 17 May 2009 11:32:27 -0000

Whitney,

Thank you for the comment and for following.

I think the feedback loop only works when the product or service itself is solid enough to elicit meaningful conversations. Without a clear vision and ownership of the end product, you end up with well-intentioned noises but little results. Have you checked out Cambrian House? Execution partially contributed to their ultimate failure, but I wonder if the idea itself was also highly flawed.

Re: how America loves entrepreneurs

Dana Chen — Tue, 12 May 2009 16:19:35 -0000

Interesting, as I've just come across an Atlantic article that talked about the forgiving attitude of Americans towards bankruptcy. But reading your account, and given all these hurdles placed in front of entrepreneurs, particularly the issue of health care, I am surprised that any go for it at all.

http://www.theatlantic.com/...

Re: Why You Cannot Transpose Lifestyles and Social Systems

Dana Chen — Wed, 06 May 2009 17:36:04 -0000

Hi Fraser,

Thank you for dropping by. I agree, hand over a list of objectives, and we'll find a way to get on the top of that list :)

And really? Buying a stranger a beer is considered gay in Canada? I had no idea. Why haven't I met those "gay" Europeans, which bars do they frequent, do you know?

Re: Is the Era of Rising Real Estate Prices Over?

Dana Chen — Wed, 06 May 2009 12:08:31 -0000

Gaurav,

Thanks for the comment. I think similar to what we talked about last week with instilling self-esteem into my generation which subsequently turned a lot into affirmation-seeking narcissists, a similar case of good intentions turned sour happened here.

I have actually thought of the issue of immigration in the US. In recent years, the flow has steadied considerably. Or should I say, the flow of legal immigrants that actually have the money to upgrade into home vacated by baby-boomers have leveled off, if dropped. The current fiasco enfolded precisely because the educated and potentially well-off immigrants that had money could not access the dwellings. Yet the legislation passed by the governments mainly resulted in the poor, many Latinos and blacks hooked on programs and loans they cannot afford.

Here's the article cited in the blog, scroll to mid to bottom of the page, to see difference between the Canadian and the American immigration programs.

Re: Battling it Out During Tough Times: MBAs vs. Entrepreneurs

Dana Chen — Wed, 06 May 2009 03:08:05 -0000

Skydaemon,

I think the point of the study was to find out if there is any consistency to entrepreneurial success. There are consistently successful entrepreneurs, just as there are consistently successful managers. The point is to see which one comes up with what kind of products, and how they deal with setbacks and value relationships in the process.

They are indeed bred for different things. Perhaps that's why large companies that cannot grow internally acquire outside start-ups so often. I like your point that as the world becomes more oriented towards startups, MBAs decline in importance. And you are right, startup founders are rarely good executors of operations once it reaches a certain size.

Re: Battling it Out During Tough Times: MBAs vs. Entrepreneurs

Dana Chen — Wed, 06 May 2009 03:03:37 -0000

Manshu,

Probably quite linear way of thinking and (according to this study), most likely will come up with ideas in an already existing market. It's of course, very broad and generalized, but I do think there is some truth to it. When you are trained to think a certain way, it is hard to go with the flow and see mishaps as opportunities.

Re: Do We Really Want a Paperless World?

Dana Chen — Tue, 05 May 2009 10:56:50 -0000

Gustavo,

I do wonder sometimes if we give content the attention it deserves. As cheap and convenient, interactive and reactive as the digital medium is in facilitating the transfer of information, it is not one that encourages deep reading, and the digestion of long pieces. That's why I think the Kindle is particularly timely. It takes care of the reading of books, but what about medium-length pieces that are too long for mobile/computer reading, but too short to be sold on a piece-meal basis through Kindle or something like it?

Just a thought. Thank you for dropping by.

Re: The Social Construction of Gen Y

Dana Chen — Sat, 02 May 2009 17:16:16 -0000

Shadox,

Being a Gen Y myself, and hearing from others on the piece, advice dished out does not seem to reflect reality on the ground. Thanks for bringing it to our attention.

Re: The Social Construction of Gen Y

Dana Chen — Fri, 01 May 2009 16:08:26 -0000

Gaurav,

I think these things tend to oscillate between two extremes. Perhaps the previous generation reacted against their tough-love upbringings and wanted something different for their children. That realization might have resulted in an over-reaction. But it would be interesting to see if the current child-bearing generation will try something different. Or perhaps the conversation will metamorphose into something else altogether? I'm not sure.

Re: The Social Construction of Gen Y

Dana Chen — Fri, 01 May 2009 16:04:12 -0000

Thanks Shaun. I hope our generation will overcome some aspects of our upbringing, and see through some of the marketing gimmicks. Although I'm sure ingenius marketers will come up with something else - selling authenticity and transparency perhaps? I'm too cynical ...