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Book Bits: 27 April 2024
● The Algebra of Wealth: A Simple Formula for Financial Security Scott Galloway Q&A with author via New York magazine Q: Over the last ten years…
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● The Algebra of Wealth: A Simple Formula for Financial Security
Scott Galloway
Q&A with author via New York magazine
Q: Over the last ten years or so, you had the idea of crypto democratizing finance. Now you have AI democratizing talent, like there’s this hack around wealth and around work.
A: I don’t want to call them get-rich-quick schemes — but the number of people who have made money by buying crypto or buying Nvidia when it was a $10 (now it’s at $800) is small. Even among those few who have managed to do so, a lot give most of it back because they fall under the illusion of thinking it was about skill rather than luck. They double down and start making bigger bets on even riskier assets. The market reminds them in a fairly ugly way that they actually aren’t good. They just got very lucky. I find over the long term, luck is pretty symmetrical. There are people who have made a lot of money in meme stocks; most of them gave it all back because they started conflating luck with talent.
● A Wealth of Well-Being: A Holistic Approach to Behavioral Finance
Meir Statman
Interview with author via Morningstar
Today on the podcast, we welcome back Meir Statman, the behavioral finance expert and author on the connection between financial well-being and life well-being, the role of social comparisons, and more. Meir is the Glenn Klimek Professor of Finance at Santa Clara University. Meir’s latest book is A Wealth of Well-Being: A Holistic Approach to Behavioral Finance. Other books include Behavioral Finance: The Second Generation, What Investors Really Want, and Finance for Normal People. Meir’s research has also been published in the Journal of Finance, the Financial Analyst Journal, the Journal of Portfolio Management, and many other journals. He received his PhD from Columbia University and his BA and MBA from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
● The Road to Freedom: Economics and the Good Society
Joseph E. Stiglitz
Review via The New Yorker
In the early days of the covid-19 pandemic, when there was no vaccine in sight and more than a thousand people who had contracted the virus were dying each day in the United States, Joseph Stiglitz, the economics professor and Nobel laureate, was isolating with his wife at home, on the Upper West Side. Stiglitz, who is now eighty-one, was a high-risk individual, and he followed the government’s guidelines on masking and social distancing scrupulously. Not everyone did, of course, and on the political right there were complaints that the mask mandate, in particular, was an unjustified infringement on individual freedom. Stiglitz strongly disagreed. “I thought it was very clear that this was an example where one person’s freedom is another’s unfreedom,” he told me recently. “Wearing a mask was a very little infringement on one person’s freedom, and not wearing a mask was potentially a large infringement on others.”
It also struck Stiglitz, who had served as chair of the White House Council of Economic Advisers during the Clinton Administration, that the experience of the pandemic could provide an opportunity for a wide-ranging examination of the question of freedom and unfreedom, which he had been thinking about from an economic perspective for many years. The result is a new book, “The Road to Freedom: Economics and the Good Society,” in which he seeks to reclaim the concept of freedom for liberals and progressives. “Freedom is an important value that we do and ought to cherish, but it is more complex and more nuanced than the Right’s invocation,” he writes.
● Balance of Power: Central Banks and the Fate of Democracies
Éric Monnet
Review via The Wall Street Journal
The author’s principal theme is the “insufficient democratic accountability of central banks,” and he is of two minds about it. Yes, he allows, the overbearing central-bank money managers “seem to have become omnipotent.” Something must be done; they must bend to the will of the people’s elected officials. But—simultaneously—they must relinquish none of their frequently abused powers.
On the contrary, Mr. Monnet calls on the central banks of Europe and the U.S. to continue in their buttinsky ways: to guard their respective sovereign bond markets against confidence-sapping price depreciation, to lend a hand with the management of climate change, and to keep the welfare state in funds.
● Escaping the Housing Trap: The Strong Towns Response to the Housing Crisis
Charles L. Marohn Jr. and Daniel Herriges
Summary via publisher (Wiley)
Housing is an investment. Investment prices must go up. Housing is shelter. When the price of shelter goes up, people experience distress. This is the housing trap. It’s time to escape. In Escaping the Housing Trap: The Strong Towns Solution to the Housing Crisis, renowned urbanists Charles (Chuck) Marohn and Daniel Herriges introduce a first-of-its-kind discussion of the tension between housing as a financial product and housing as shelter. This is the key insight that’s been missing from the Housing Crisis Conversation; and the insight that can help cities fight back against the crisis from the bottom-up. This book offers a serious, yet accessible, history of housing policy in the United States and explains how it led us to this point in time: where we face a market that is rigged against people who, only a few decades ago, could have been homeowners or stable, long-term rentals.
● Apocalypse Next: The Economics of Global Catastrophic Risks
Stephen Davies
Summary via publisher (Rowman & Littlefield)
The Covid-19 pandemic was, and remains, a global disaster – claiming countless lives and wreaking economic havoc that still reverberates today. But it could have been worse. Much worse. Author Stephen Davies contends the planet ‘dodged a bullet’ this time around. But he warns this was no black swan event: The conflicts in the Ukraine and the Middle East already threaten global stability. And the next existential threat to mankind could happen much sooner than we think – with the chances of it happening increasing exponentially. Here he analyses the potential catastrophes – from nuclear war and climate change to further pandemics, the misuse of Artificial Intelligence and more – that could jeopardise our planet and its people. In this fascinating and at times frightening work, he examines how we assess these risks – and what we can do about them. But Davies is no Jeremiah. He firmly believes the ingenuity, imagination and innovation of millions of people around the world will ultimately secure mankind’s continued existence.
● Rich World, Poor World: The Struggle to Escape Poverty
Ali A. Allawi
Summary via publisher (Yale U. Press)
A landmark history of the world economic order, exploring how developing countries have fought to escape impoverishment. Over the past two decades, experiments in neoliberal economics have opened up a chasm of inequality between the Global South and the West. Development advice from richer nations has led to social upheaval, political unrest, environmental degradation—and even the creation of a new underclass. Brutal extremes of wealth and poverty are now commonplace. Ali A. Allawi traces the evolution of the world economic order from the late imperial era to the present day. Shedding light on continuing controversies, Allawi shows how the process of development has been hindered at every turn, from poor leadership and lost opportunities to widespread corruption. In doing so, he argues that the current neoliberal consensus is only the most recent of a series of failed policy imperatives.
● The Everything War: Amazon’s Ruthless Quest to Own the World and Remake Corporate Power
Dana Mattioli
Interview with author via WBUR
Was Amazon’s success from innovating retail or cornering the market on e-commerce when the internet was still a fringe part of society? Was it by creeping into every part of our daily lives, from shopping to entertainment to health care? Or was it through the iron-fisted leadership and take-no-prisoners attitude of its founder Jeff Bezos? A new book explores all of those questions and more. It’s called “The Everything War: Amazon’s Ruthless Quest to Own the World and Remake Corporate Power.” Author Dana Mattioli, a reporter for the Wall Street Journal, talks about it with Here & Now’s Scott Tong.
Please note that the links to books above are affiliate links with Amazon.com and James Picerno (a.k.a. The Capital Spectator) earns money if you buy one of the titles listed. Also note that you will not pay extra for a book even though it generates revenue for The Capital Spectator. By purchasing books through this site, you provide support for The Capital Spectator’s free content. Thank you!
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Popular fried chicken chain files Chapter 11 bankruptcy
A stack of legal problems has pushed a popular fast-food restaurant chain to file Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
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The restaurant industry continues navigating through the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic, as many fast-food and fast-casual chains battle financial distress related to reduced foot traffic, as well as inflated food prices and rising interest rates.
Fast-casual Tex-Mex chain Tijuana Flats Restaurants on April 19 filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of Florida, after launching a strategic review in November 2023 seeking answers for turning around the struggling chain.
Related: Bankrupt fast-food chain exits Chapter 11; to expand size 4 times
The company sold the company to a new ownership group, closed 11 of its locations and filed for a bankruptcy reorganization to revitalize its restaurants and reinvigorate the customer experience.
Reorganization, however, is not an option for another restaurant chain, as Foxtrot and Dom’s Kitchen & Market, with 33 locations across the U.S., filed for Chapter 7 liquidation on April 23 after failing to recover from financial distress dating back to the Covid pandemic.
Another restaurant chain, Sticky's, will have a chance to recover from the Covid pandemic's effects through a reorganization plan.
Sticky's to reorganize in Chapter 11
Sticky's Holdings, the parent company of New York-based chicken fingers fast-food chain Sticky's, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on April 25 to reorganize its business after suffering financial distress from reduced traffic following the Covid pandemic, rising commodity prices, and lawsuits.
The debtor listed $5.75 million in assets and $4.67 million in liabilities in its petition. It's largest unsecured creditor is US Foods, owed over $449,000.
Sticky's, which opened in 2012, grew in sales from about $500,000 in 2013 to $22 million in 2023, but the Covid pandemic that significantly affected the restaurant industry starting in 2020 depressed store traffic. Revenue suffered and foot traffic has not returned to pre-pandemic levels, according to a declaration filed by Sticky's CEO Jamie Greer.
Rising inflation caused commodity prices to increase, forcing Sticky's to raise its menu prices, which further stifled traffic to the restaurant chain. As part of its efforts to reduce costs, the company in early 2021 exited its corporate offices on East 33rd Street in New York before its lease expired, according to the declaration.
Related: Luxury appliance retailer files Chapter 7 bankruptcy to liquidate
Legal problems drive restaurant chain to bankruptcy
The debtor's landlord filed a summary judgment on June 22, 2021, to recover the remaining rent and legal fees, which a court granted with a $600,000 award. The debtor has appealed the judgment costing the company more in legal fees.
More legal problems fell on Sticky's as on June 30, 2022, Sticky Fingers Restaurants LLC filed a lawsuit against Sticky's Holdings in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York for alleged trademark infringement violations. The costs and expenses related to the ongoing litigation has imposed significant further financial hardship on the debtor, court papers said.
The debtor on Feb. 23, 2024, entered into an equity financing transaction that converted $2.42 million in convertible notes issued Nov. 9, 2022, and due March 31, 2024. The transaction substantially reduced the debtor's short-term liquidity needs, the declaration said. However, the company's financial headwinds prevented the debtor from continuing operations leading it to file bankruptcy to seek a reorganization.
Sticky's is a chain of chicken fingers and sandwich restaurants that serves fresh, never frozen and antibiotic-free chicken. It offers 18 in-house sauces for its chicken products.
Sticky's currently operates 12 locations, with nine in New York and three in New Jersey. It has closed two locations in New York and one each in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. The company had established a franchise entity to operate potential franchise operations, but none opened.
Related: Veteran fund manager picks favorite stocks for 2024
bankruptcy pandemic covid-19 stocks interest ratesUncategorized
Fannie and Freddie: Single Family Serious Delinquency Rate Decreased, Multi-family Decreased in March
Today, in the Calculated Risk Real Estate Newsletter: Fannie and Freddie: Single Family Serious Delinquency Rate Decreased, Multi-family Decreased in March
Brief excerpt: Single-family serious delinquencies decreased in March, and multi-family serious …
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Brief excerpt:
Single-family serious delinquencies decreased in March, and multi-family serious delinquencies decreased again after the huge surge in January.
...
Freddie Mac reports that the multi-family delinquencies rate declined to 0.34% in March, down from 0.35% in February, and down from 0.44% in January.
This graph shows the Freddie multi-family serious delinquency rate since 2012. Rates were still high in 2012 following the housing bust and financial crisis.
The multi-family rate increased following the pandemic and has increased recently as rent growth has slowed, vacancy rates have increased, and borrowing rates have increased sharply. The rate surged higher in January but declined in February and March - but is still at a high level. This will be something to watch as more apartments come on the market.
Uncategorized
Popular fast-food restaurant chain files Chapter 11 bankruptcy
A stack of legal problems has pushed a popular fast-food restaurant chain to file Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
Share this:
The restaurant industry continues navigating through the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic, as many fast-food and fast-casual chains battle financial distress related to reduced foot traffic, as well as inflated food prices and rising interest rates.
Fast-casual Tex-Mex chain Tijuana Flats Restaurants on April 19 filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of Florida, after launching a strategic review in November 2023 seeking answers for turning around the struggling chain.
Related: Bankrupt fast-food chain exits Chapter 11; to expand size 4 times
The company sold the company to a new ownership group, closed 11 of its locations and filed for a bankruptcy reorganization to revitalize its restaurants and reinvigorate the customer experience.
Reorganization, however, is not an option for another restaurant chain, as Foxtrot and Dom’s Kitchen & Market, with 33 locations across the U.S., filed for Chapter 7 liquidation on April 23 after failing to recover from financial distress dating back to the Covid pandemic.
Another restaurant chain, Sticky's, will have a chance to recover from the Covid pandemic's effects through a reorganization plan.
Sticky's to reorganize in Chapter 11
Sticky's Holdings, the parent company of New York-based chicken fingers fast-food chain Sticky's, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on April 25 to reorganize its business after suffering financial distress from reduced traffic following the Covid pandemic, rising commodity prices, and lawsuits.
The debtor listed $5.75 million in assets and $4.67 million in liabilities in its petition. It's largest unsecured creditor is US Foods, owed over $449,000.
Sticky's, which opened in 2012, grew in sales from about $500,000 in 2013 to $22 million in 2023, but the Covid pandemic that significantly affected the restaurant industry starting in 2020 depressed store traffic. Revenue suffered and foot traffic has not returned to pre-pandemic levels, according to a declaration filed by Sticky's CEO Jamie Greer.
Rising inflation caused commodity prices to increase, forcing Sticky's to raise its menu prices, which further stifled traffic to the restaurant chain. As part of its efforts to reduce costs, the company in early 2021 exited its corporate offices on East 33rd Street in New York before its lease expired, according to the declaration.
Related: Luxury appliance retailer files Chapter 7 bankruptcy to liquidate
Legal problems drive restaurant chain to bankruptcy
The debtor's landlord filed a summary judgment on June 22, 2021, to recover the remaining rent and legal fees, which a court granted with a $600,000 award. The debtor has appealed the judgment costing the company more in legal fees.
More legal problems fell on Sticky's as on June 30, 2022, Sticky Fingers Restaurants LLC filed a lawsuit against Sticky's Holdings in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York for alleged trademark infringement violations. The costs and expenses related to the ongoing litigation has imposed significant further financial hardship on the debtor, court papers said.
The debtor on Feb. 23, 2024, entered into an equity financing transaction that converted $2.42 million in convertible notes issued Nov. 9, 2022, and due March 31, 2024. The transaction substantially reduced the debtor's short-term liquidity needs, the declaration said. However, the company's financial headwinds prevented the debtor from continuing operations leading it to file bankruptcy to seek a reorganization.
Sticky's is a chain of chicken fingers and sandwich restaurants that serves fresh, never frozen and antibiotic-free chicken. It offers 18 in-house sauces for its chicken products.
Sticky's currently operates 12 locations, with nine in New York and three in New Jersey. It has closed two locations in New York and one each in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. The company had established a franchise entity to operate potential franchise operations, but none opened.
Related: Veteran fund manager picks favorite stocks for 2024
bankruptcy pandemic covid-19 stocks interest rates
Popular fast-food restaurant chain files Chapter 11 bankruptcy
Popular fast-food chain files Chapter 11 bankruptcy facing lawsuits
Cashless Society: WEF Boasts That 98% Of Central Banks Are Adopting CBDCs
The Biotech Startup Contraction Continues… And That’s A Good Thing
Popular fast-food chain files Chapter 11 bankruptcy; faces lawsuits
Popular fried chicken chain files Chapter 11 bankruptcy
U.S. growth slowdown, with inflation spike, raises early stagflation risks
Why Are There So Many Americans That Can’t Find A Job Even Though They Are Desperate To Be Hired?
Buyers are struggling to compete in the white-hot Cincinnati market
Fannie and Freddie: Single Family Serious Delinquency Rate Decreased, Multi-family Decreased in March
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