Videos Of The Week
Videos Of The Week
An Update From Neil Howe On The Fourth Turning & A Rare Interview From Charlie Munger
This week I watched a bunch of interesting videos, but I wanted to talk about a couple that are outside of my usual topics. The first is a conversation between Hedgeye founder and CEO, Keith McCullough, and demographer Neil Howe. I still haven’t gotten around to reading his new book, The Fourth Turning Is Here, but it’s next up on my reading list. The second is an interview of Charlie Munger, Berkshire Hathaway’s Vice Chairman.
Real Conversations w/ Neil Howe
This was an interesting video because you see signs of the Fourth Turning going on all around. They discuss the generational divide that continues to widen, America’s role and potential future, and a variety of other topics. One of the things I found interesting was their discussion of how different generations view the economy. This is a bit of an oversimplification, but they broke it down this way: if you are old and have assets, you probably think the economy is doing fine. If you are young, your attitude on the economy is probably far more pessimistic. It’s not surprising when you look at rents, incomes, and other factors, but I think the next decade is set up to be a turbulent one. Just from personal experience, I remember being able to get a burger and a soda for less than $10 when I was a kid two decades ago, and now it costs $15 (or more) for one drink at a bar. Just one anecdote, but I don’t think the generational divide fixes itself without some major changes. As far as investments go, they do discuss different asset classes with a long term view. Longer term bonds will probably struggle with inflation being a problem, while commodities like gold and oil will outperform in their view.
Real Conversations w/ Neil Howe
Acquired Interview w/ Charlie Munger
This one was really interesting because Charlie Munger’s main public appearance is usually the Berkshire Hathaway shareholder’s meeting, which only occurs once a year. It’s always interesting to listen to successful investors, but you don’t get many opportunities to listen to an investor that turns 100 on January 1st. That’s a lot of time to follow markets, investments, and learn from experience. They discuss Costco, Berkshire Hathaway and its recent investments in Japan, and a variety of other financial topics. I don’t want to spoil too much but it’s definitely worth a listen, especially since there aren’t a ton of opportunities to listen to interviews of someone like Munger.