My morning train WFH reads:
• Texas Electric Bills Were $28 Billion Higher Under Deregulation Competition in the electricity-supply business promised reliable power at a more affordable cost (Wall Street Journal)
• This Book Is Not About Baseball. But Baseball Teams Swear by It. A psychology book by a Nobel Prize-winning author has become a must-read in front offices. It is changing the sport, bringing us full circle from Moneyball. (New York Times)
• A Look Inside VC Firms Joining The SPAC Rush SPACs have been cropping up at an unprecedented pace. So far this year, more than 160 SPACs have raised over $48 billion in gross proceeds. In comparison, last year — also a record year for SPACs — 248 blank-check companies raised $83 billion. SPAC activity has been so high that some believe SPACs will outpace traditional IPOs. (Crunchbase)
• Will ARK Invest Blow Up? ARK’s Lack of Liquidity May Become Exposed ARK’s illiquid holdings are problematic because if ARK ever faced outflows hedge funds could take predatory short positions in ARK’s illiquid holdings and create a performance death spiral. A review of ARK’s illiquid holdings shows that could be happening. (The Bear Cave)
• Wealthy Asian Families Are Pouring Millions Into Impact Investing I(x) Investments, a firm co-founded by Warren Buffett’s grandson, is among those turning East to put private capital to work addressing issues such as climate change. (Businessweek)
• The Power and the Silence: What Goes on Behind the Boss’s Back Power, true power, is a wonder to behold. It is also, for the powerless, unnerving, chiefly because it calls for self-suppression in quantities equal to power’s immense self-confidence. Survival, I learned then, is not our strongest drive, whatever the evolutionists may say. Our strongest drive is to please the people over us, especially those who have no one over them. (Unbound)
• 10 Breakthrough Technologies 2021 This list marks 20 years since we began compiling an annual selection of the year’s most important technologies. Some, such as mRNA vaccines, are already changing our lives, while others are still a few years off. This list represents a glimpse into our collective future. (MIT Technology Review)
• Why Was The National Polling Environment So Off In 2020? A look at how congressional polls, just like those for president, missed in 2020. (FiveThirtyEight)
• The 25 Greatest Art Heists of All Time Although technology has gotten more sophisticated and the means by which heists are committed have changed, burglaries of the world’s greatest artworks continue to be executed often, effectively adding new and bizarre chapters to the annals of art history in the process. (Arts News)
• Clown Princes: Eddie Murphy and Arsenio Hall on ‘Coming 2 America’ The comic stars and longtime friends talk about their history together and their many, many roles in the original film and the new sequel. (New York Times)
Be sure to check out our Masters in Business interview this weekend with Jean Hynes, incoming CEO of Wellington Management. The firm has over $1 trillion client assets under management. Hynes also runs the $51B Vanguard Healthcare Fund – the country’s largest health care fund.
76% of Voters Back the COVID-19 $1.9 Trillion aid plan, including 60% of Republicans
Source: Morning Consult
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