sometimes cavalier attitude. Perhaps things just seem worse in print ie. email and I truly feel for those who find it more difficult to prepare for what is certain to be more volatile times. My intention has always been to call for objectivity and I felt that at times this site tended to sway from that and I wanted to bring things back to the scientific method approach of things because in the end I think all people are served better by it. At times my comments can be rash and it’s only to raise awareness and to ‘call out’ people who have written inflammatory posts trying to spark fear. As with Chris, I too an am optimist and I truly, truly hope we all come out for the better.
Reuben, you are a welcome poster to my posts, anytime! Your comments are well thought through and I don’t take them as an attack in any way and this is exactly the kind of debate I was looking to foster. You are quite right that I tend to think of things in dollars rather than relative purchasing power, and my only defence is that 99% of people probably do the same 
… that being said, you are quite right and that is something I intend to change with a refocus of my portfolio to represent some longer term assets like commodities, gold etc… I think what I’m striving for is a more balanced approach. During my hedge fund career, everything was short term including good bonuses and I guess that’s where I get my ‘dollar’ view on things but as I now am at a different stage, my portfolio should reflect such changes and a component will definitely go towards not only principal protection and growth but protection against inflation. Hopefully with more good debates like this, we will dilute the other inflammatory, fear mongering posts and replace it with more objective fact finding debates. You only need to read the left hand margin summary of posts to see that this has not yet happened.
xflies
i very much appreciate your posts i have learned a lot about objectivity in the markets and support your efforts to further the dialog( i hate debates as i have no need to be right) i have never in my life owned or traded a stock i have been in real estate for over thirty years. i have found that to be very rewarding. the idea of providing something of value for others whether it be a piece of land or a home. i guess that is why i never "played" the markets. i just went ahead and rehabbed properties and made a little money by adding value to something.
i know you are a good person and are interested in sharing your knowledge of markets. i am sure you really care about the community where you live and support many worthwhile causes. i am also sure that you invest responsibly in companies which are committed to sustainability and doing no harm to the environment. from reading most of the posts on this site i kinda get that most are really concerned about the "commons" and a win/win economic system. that is why i spend so much time on this site. the info in the crash course and the dialog of the people here has provided a real sense of community around the idea that maybe the mememememe paradigm has been an abject failure. for the majority of people on the planet.
anyway i guess i am just rambling but i just want youi to know i appreciate you being here and if you have some extra
i am on the board of directors of a non profit that does charitable work in india ,ghana argentina and the dominican republic.
we sure could use the help , just in case you have some money to spare
om shanti
joe
My brother is a contractor and we’ve always talked about doing sometihng for other less fortunate countries by helping to build schools or shelter. I will definitely keep your charity in mind and thanks for the kind words.
looks like a great org.
i administer our program in india when i am there for 6 months.
i firmly believe that virtually every, environmental, economic, social, energy etc. problem on the planet today can be traced to over population.
i was happy to see that village life is committed to educating girls because in countries where the girls are educated the birth rate is 2 or less and where they are not it is 6+ when women are empowered thru education the entire picture changes.
thank you for turning me onto them. how did you hear about them?
Village Life was founded by a good friend, an MD, that I have known since I was six years old. He invited me to be on the early board of directors because of my area of expertise; I am a urban/economic geographer (finally completing my PhD), with interests in developmental disparities. I am an individual with the perspective that academics have the responsibilty to be activists…employing their expertise to better peoples lives in a manner that empowers them. The org is based out of Cincinnati, OH and has partnerships, not only with the villages we serve, but also many colleges and departments at the University of Cincinnati.
Excuse my terrible grammar
My english was just terrible