Substack Library
GlossaryPost Destructive Leaders
November 17, 2022Countries get off track. It happens. While there are many things that lead a country to get off track—economic crises, extreme income inequality, simmering ethnic hatred—at the end of the day countries are people and people, us, are prone to avarice, xenophobia, delusion and rage and sometimes as a species we select leaders that reflect these unproductive ways of behaving.
Opening Black Boxes
November 17, 2022“For most of its inhabitants, the modern world is full of black boxes, devices whose internal workings remain—to different degrees—a mystery to their users.”—Vaclav Smil.
Author, Arabist, Son, Spy
November 17, 2022If you are new to these essays, welcome. My name is Paul Podolsky and I am an author (Raising a Thief), investor (former Bridgewater Associates), journalist (Wall Street Journal, Dow Jones Newswires, others) and Russia and China specialist. You can read more about me in the “about” section.
Cliff Notes To The Next Chapter
November 17, 2022Readers: If you are new, welcome! You can read about who I am and what I am up to here.
Ego, Self-Doubt, Survival
November 17, 2022I made a bad trade this week, which has led me to reflect on risk taking in general. The interesting thing with managing money is that unlike in other spheres of life— parenting, many forms of work, spirituality—you can keep score and track the quality of your thinking. In the sixteen years I’ve been tracking my investment results, $1 grew to around $3 averaging around 8% per year with low volatility. While more has gone right than wrong, I remember the trades that are wrong more acutely than the ones that were right. I think this is wiring, at least for most people. I don’t recall most of the time I’ve spent behind the wheel of a car, but the few times I’ve been in car crashes I recall quite vividly.
Independence and Integration
November 17, 2022We are wired to believe people in authority are there because they are wise.
Things That Go Bump in the Night
November 17, 2022If you are new to these posts, welcome! Things I Didn’t Learn in School is a mixture of macro/geopolitical essays based on my years as an investor and micro/life story podcasts. You can support our team (yes, it’s a team!) by subscribing, which helps pay for research and the team and also gives you transparency into how I translate these essays into a portfolio. To those of you that already subscribe, thank you and tell me how we can be of more service. Enjoy!
Timing A Turn
November 17, 2022Readers: I am looking for someone to do part-time administrative work, reach out to me if you know someone great. Also, I know we are all deluged with information, so if this helps you cut through the noise (my goal) help me grow this by forwarding it to friends and let me know what topics I can help you by addressing. Enjoy!
The Dictatorship of Reality
November 17, 2022Note to readers: in addition to these posts and the podcast, I write books. Just before I publish a new book, I test it with beta readers. If you are interested in being one, give me a shout. The first book, Raising a Thief, was non-fiction. Book #2 is fiction.
Oz, Tornados and Limits
June 10, 2022If you are new, welcome! The idea behind these posts is to connect big picture macro and little picture micro. Macro is history, technology and the economy. Micro is emotion and personal journey. I’m trying to integrate often siloed worlds. My first book, Raising a Thief, and podcast on Apple Podcasts and Spotify are micro. These posts are macro but it is all one thing—making sense of what is going on around us. Most of this content is free. It takes a team to build this and I thank all my paid subscribers for your support. Enjoy.