How Prepared Are Consumers for a Recession?; Transcripts of the past 29 Berkshire Hathaway annual meetings; Hamas Militants Behind Israel Attack Raised Millions in Crypto; Thoughts on Israel and stupidity
1) A hat tip to my colleague Enrique Abeyta for flagging this fascinating post by Ben Carlson on his A Wealth of Common Sense blog, in which he shows that the U.S. consumer/average American is doing fairly well: How Prepared Are Consumers for a Recession? Here are my favorite charts with accompanying text:
2) Here's a treat for any fellow Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-B)/Warren Buffett/Charlie Munger junkies...
A friend just sent me this link to a PDF of the transcripts of every Berkshire annual meeting all the way back to 1994 – that's 3,429 pages covering 29 years!
Someone would have to be really hard-core to read all of it, but I'm sure this will be a useful tool for finding particular comments on certain topics...
3) Another reason why cryptocurrencies should be banned – here's a Wall Street Journal article on yet another way they're being used for nefarious purposes: Hamas Militants Behind Israel Attack Raised Millions in Crypto. Excerpt:
Hamas's lightning strike on Israel last weekend has raised the question how the group financed the surprise operation. One answer: cryptocurrency.
During the year leading up to the attacks, three militant groups – Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and their Lebanese ally Hezbollah – received large amounts of funds through crypto, according to a review of Israeli government seizure orders and blockchain analytics reports.
4) Speaking of the attack...
My wife and three daughters are Jewish, I'm an active member of Central Synagogue, and I have many friends either in Israel or with children there working or studying, so I have been following the news closely and am deeply upset by the recent terrorist attacks.
I'm actually quite sympathetic to the plight of average Palestinians – who have been screwed by all sides (Israel, Arab states, and their own leaders) for the better part of a century – and I have been openly critical of many actions taken by the Israeli government and its Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, that have inflamed rather than calmed matters in recent years.
But nothing can excuse the horrifying massacre of civilians by the Hamas terrorists.
So I felt total disgust when I read this news about my alma mater: Thirty-one Harvard organizations blame Israel for Hamas attack: 'Entirely responsible' Excerpt:
More than 30 Harvard University student organizations are holding Israel "entirely responsible" for Hamas' mass slaughter – sparking outraged condemnation and calls by a congresswoman for the Ivy League school to denounce the "abhorrent and heinous" support of "evil and terrorism."
In a letter titled "Joint Statement by Harvard Palestine Solidarity Groups on the Situation in Palestine," 31 student organizations – including the Ivy League's affiliate of Amnesty International – condemned Israel, even as its residents are kidnapped and more than 700 have been killed by the terrorist organization.
The groups claim Hamas' attack "did not happen in a vacuum," and the Israeli government has forced Palestinians to live in an "open-air prison for over two decades," according to the letter obtained by the Post.
"We, the undersigned student organizations, hold the Israeli regime entirely responsible for all unfolding violence," the letter reads.
"The apartheid regime is the only one to blame," the groups claim.
Making matters worse, Harvard's new president, Claudine Gay, issued a lame letter on Monday that was widely (and deservedly) slammed, as noted in this article in The Crimson: Harvard Affiliates, Politicians Slam University Leaders Over Late, 'Word Salad' Statement on War in Israel.
President Gay scrambled and issued a stronger statement the next day:
A Statement from President Claudine Gay
October 10, 2023As the events of recent days continue to reverberate, let there be no doubt that I condemn the terrorist atrocities perpetrated by Hamas. Such inhumanity is abhorrent, whatever one's individual views of the origins of longstanding conflicts in the region.
Let me also state, on this matter as on others, that while our students have the right to speak for themselves, no student group – not even 30 student groups – speaks for Harvard University or its leadership.
We will all be well served in such a difficult moment by rhetoric that aims to illuminate and not inflame. And I appeal to all of us in this community of learning to keep this in mind as our conversations continue.
Claudine Gay
President, Harvard University
Here's The Crimson on it: Following National Criticism, Harvard President Gay Condemns Hamas, Distances University from Student Groups.
I don't think Harvard should take any actions against the students behind this letter – they have the right to express their opinions, however despicable and misguided – but as an institution, it needs to look long and hard in a mirror and try to answer the question of how its campus could have become so polluted with hateful thinking like this.
I agree with a friend, who e-mailed me: "As much as the horrific attack over the weekend broke my heart, the response of much of America is breaking my heart even further."
As for private employers, if they discover that anyone they're thinking of hiring holds extremist/dangerous/hateful/racist views, they are entirely within their rights – in fact, I would encourage them – to hold this against the applicant.
That's why I agree with Bill Ackman – one of my closest friends since we met at Harvard in 1986 – who posted this on X:
Some may say that this is a witch hunt, the students' free speech is being stifled, this is excessive, etc... For example, one student posted this:
To which Bill responded:
Bill is entirely correct.
The students should be free to spout their ignorant, hateful viewpoints – but others should also be free to hold it against them. It's an important lesson for young people to learn, especially since these institutions don't appear to be teaching it...
I used to regularly lecture my daughters about my No. 1 Immutable Law of the Universe: "If you are a dumb*ss, there will be consequences" (see the commencement speech I gave about this here). But I don't have to anymore because they're now grown up (ages 27, 24, and 21) and I can't remember the last time one of them did something totally stupid.
However, there are a lot of people – of all ages and from both sides of the political aisle (generally the extremes) – who believe, say, and do stupid things. The best way to cure this is for there to be consequences... so when this happens, it's something to be celebrated.
Best regards,
Whitney
P.S. I welcome your feedback at WTDfeedback@empirefinancialresearch.com.