Profit from HBD

The ultimate goal of knowing about HBD is being able to profit from it, but unfortunately I don’t have any slam dunk ideas in this area.

I’ve previously written about HBD investing, which is a subset of how to profit from HBD, but of course in order to make money from investing, you either (1) need to have money to invest; or (2) you need to be in a position to profit by investing other people’s money, which is how hedge fund managers become rich. Which is why I strongly recommend getting an MBA from Wharton, which is a ticket to getting a job in a high-paying industry like hedge funds, which is a much better route to getting rich than knowing anything about HBD.

I still adhere to my advice to invest in Australia by buying the EWA ETF.

In a recent blog post, I pointed out that companies like Microsoft and Google prospered because they hired people based on IQ (or proxies for IQ) rather than using the clueless hiring strategies which pervade the vast majority of corporate America. However, the secret of Google is out, and Microsoft is probably no longer the same company it was twenty years ago.

If it were possible to take over a company with decent potential but bad hiring policies, and institute HBD-aware hiring, I think it would be really profitable. But it’s not something you could do openly. And if you are in the position to get people to invest in your corporate takeover ideas, you are probably already rich, no doubt because you were smart enough to get an MBA from Wharton and use it to get a job in the investment banking industry.

Starting a company from scratch using HBD principles sounds good in theory, but it’s easier said than done. Knowing how to hire high-IQ employees doesn’t mean that you have customers or a product to sell to them.

* * *

Some other HBD investing advice:

Other countries you can invest in with ETFs include Japan and Singapore. They both have good high-IQ populations and are also Pacific Rim countries. The Japanese stock market has had a decade of bad performance, so right now might actually be a good time to get in.

You should avoid investing in India which is a low-IQ country that has probably already peaked. Every Indian smart enough to learn how to program in Java is already doing that. The rest of the country is poor and stupid.

Comments

[RandyB]

This is a question, not an answer, that I'm afraid to ask anywhere else. One of the leaders at American Renaissance is Sam Dickson, who's always the last speaker at their conferences. I read a couple of on-line articles about him, and got the impression he makes his money in real estate taking advantage of blacks. Anyone know if this is a fair characterization?

This ties into HS's question in an important way -- where I live (near DC) I think a lot of people make money during the housing bubble exploiting HBD _in_a_negative_way_ by taking advantage of minorities. (And a lot of it was _BY_ minorities as well.) HS is asking for POSITIVE ways to make money off HBD.

[Florida resident]

Dear HalfSigma !
I agree with everything you wrote in this post.
But why such hype about getting (super)rich ?
Your F.r.

[Camlost]

Invest in Goya foods since the Mestizos are multiplying like roaches, and they've gotta eat something...

[tmmm]

Don't you think EWA is too risky as almost 50% of it is financials?

[asdf]

On a personal level the biggest things HBD teach you are:

1) Don't live or send your kids to school with NAMs.

2) Don't invest heavily in education if it's for a second tier or lower credential.

3) Don't marry or get knocked up by a NAM unless they are exceptional.

#1 most people follow anyway, but you occasionally see a young SWPL fuck up and move somewhere vibrant. But #2 and #3 I routinely see SWPLs messing up (mostly young SWPL women with #3). These can really fuck up your life.

For practical advice your stuff on careers is much more interesting. For instance I advice many young people of above average but mediocore intelligence to look into nursing and other solid fields.

[ic]

There are many ideas to get rich. You need IQ to figure out what gonna work for you.

[asdf]

Japan has MAJOR demographic problems.

[HS: NAM immigration is a problem, not declining population (which means more resources per person).]

[Thrasymachus]

HR is the basic commisar position in most organizations. If not headed by a black woman, it is substantially staffed by black women.

[dearieme]

Your "invest in Japan" advice wouldn't have worked very well in 1940.

[Allerious]

However, the secret of Google is out..."

And what would that be? I'm genuinely curious.

"Knowing how to hire high-IQ employees doesn’t mean that you have customers or a product to sell to them."

Nor is it necessarily ideal, depending on what type of business you're running. You don't want over-qualified employees any more than you want under-qualified ones. It's a fine balance that savvy business owners are required to strike.

HBD is simply a tool that employers can and should utilize more often. It should not be misconstrued as a blanket recommendation to hire people high IQ people across the board for every company and every line of work.

Obviously, plenty of retail and service companies are in lines of work that are far better suited to those who occupy the lower ranks of the HBD hierarchy.

[HS: If you are hiring retail employees, I suspect there's a huge benefit to hiring people with an IQ of 100 over people with an IQ of 85.]

[smead jolley]

A friend of mine, not prone to exaggeration, visited Australia a year and a half ago. He said you don't see any whites. As all the travel commercials feature nothing but whites, he was genuinely flabbergasted.

[Just Speculating]

"I pointed out that companies like Microsoft and Google prospered because they hired people based on IQ (or proxies for IQ) rather than using the clueless hiring strategies which pervade the vast majority of corporate America".

This is a good reason for many of us start our own business, which would outcompete some of these corporations as they hire more NAMs and provide shoddy products and services. Besides, it would be a good thing to see a downsizing of Corporate America. After all, our bottom line culture has some dire effects on quality and the morale of this country; let alone they have turned our leaders into fascists who pander to the interests of a few.

[HS: Generally, a monopoly with dumb employees is more profitable than a company with smart employees that has to compete against other companies.]

[Fiddlesticks]

Nokia should have been the classic HBD play especially considering all they spent on R&D, but no...

Australia is susceptible to China's Enron-like accounting and in Japan your holdings could weaken significantly in Yen terms whenever domestic appetite for their monster debt peters out.

[Dan]

Warren Buffett has said that his ideal company is one that can be run by an idiot, because eventually it will be.

There is a way to think quite oppositely about the question: maybe the best company is one that can happily thrive in an idiocracy, where the systems and jobs and actions of every person are so perfectly codified and optimized that it can turn a dullard into someone of very high economic output.

Think for instance of a McDonalds operation, where a couple of low IQ cashiers and line cooks earning fairly little churn out hundreds of inexpensive meals an hour in a way that is profitable for the mothership.

[Matt in RTP]

Well, I think that *most* people act like HBD is true, anyway (I mean, how many black quants are there on Wall Street) even if they don't say it aloud, so it isn't really 'insider' information (and using insider information is the best way to get rich).

Of course, if you are immoral, you can probably cash in on blacks/Latino dysfunction in a myriad of ways: pawn shops, payday loan processing services, accruing slum properties...

Given what you know about status signalling, try to find some way to appeal to the vanity of the wealthy, how can you help them feel like they are distinguishing themselves from those contemptible strivers who *merely* make mid 6 figures and live in (horror of horrors!) Dayton or Rochester or Richmond.

[Just Speculating]

"If you are hiring retail employees, I suspect there's a huge benefit to hiring people with an IQ of 100 over people with an IQ of 85".

I've said this before. NAMs make bad employees because of their inferior intelligence, especially when working at corporate retail. They also have entitlement issues that make everything more expensive for the company. Hire one person with an IQ over 100 who can multitask efficiently, and paying this person a liveable salary makes more sense than hiring a few more NAMs at a low cost, who are ineffective workers because they provide shoddy service and less earnings for the company. If corporations want to cut costs and make more money as they usually do, then this would make a lot more sense.

[jtollison78]

"Knowing how to hire high-IQ employees doesn’t mean that you have customers or a product to sell to them."

Write more code. Produce product. Profit.

Do I remember that you write VB at your day job? Have you considered the startup route? Have you considered some of the new languages? I'm learning coffeescript and clojure now and after a decade of ambivalence, I'm kindof excited about programming again.

[asdf]

HS,

High IQ retirees are still retirees. They don't work.

[Just Speculating]

"Generally, a monopoly with dumb employees is more profitable than a company with smart employees that has to compete against other companies".

I wasn't speaking for the company itself, but for the individual. Corporate America is all about churning and burning out its employees for the sake of profit. Yes, when the corporate kool aid runs out, these dumb employees will eventually realize why this country sucks, because they can't earn a dime to keep up with their standard of living.

[LOL]

"Your "invest in Japan" advice wouldn't have worked very well in 1940."

Congratulations on a spectacularly stupid comment!

Look at the little calendar thingy on your computer. It's not 1940 right now, genius!

[Bostonian]

Since degrees have value largely in their ability to signal IQ, hire high-IQ people without degrees and save money by paying them less. For example, a high school graduate with an 1800 SAT (math+verbal+writing) may be a more productive employee than a BA with a 1500 SAT, but the latter will demand a higher wage because he is a college graduate. If your company is small enough you can probably get away with asking about SAT scores, but larger companies fear "disparate impact" suits.

[Just Speculating]

"There is a way to think quite oppositely about the question: maybe the best company is one that can happily thrive in an idiocracy, where the systems and jobs and actions of every person are so perfectly codified and optimized that it can turn a dullard into someone of very high economic output".

We are in an idiocracy; no surprise when corporate profits are now at a all time high.

[Peter]

You didn't mention any European countries. If that's because Europe has too many Muslims, I hasten to point out that you did suggest Singapore, which at 15% Muslim has a much higher percentage than anywhere in western Europe.

[jtollison78]

"Of course, if you are immoral, you can probably cash in on blacks/Latino dysfunction in a myriad of ways: pawn shops, payday loan processing services, accruing slum properties..."

How is this immoral in our present system. Say one is an outlier in their family and has a number of family members in the middle of the bell curve, maybe a half dozen 1st-2rd degree relatives in the -1/3 to +1/3 SD range. These are the people AA hits the hardest. If griffe is anywhere near correct, AA will collectively take $100k's from them over their lifetime. I don't see taking it back as immoral, provided the money is actually used to benefit those hit by AA and not just as an excuse to make money off of shady businesses.

[Anonymous]

Off topic -

Have you written about Bloomberg's breastfeeding initiative "latch on"?

Seems like he's pushing breastfeeding pretty hard... but why?

What's the real angle here? How does this hurt non-elite whites? Or is it aimed at NAMs somehow?

[CH]

"Seems like he's pushing breastfeeding pretty hard... but why?"

he read those studies purporting to show that breastfeeding raises infant IQs by a few points.

they know, anon, they know. their hypocrisy is revealed bit by bit in all its wretchedness with each passing day.

[BlogRaju]

You should avoid investing in India because they can't keep the lights on.

[Conquistador]

I agree with much of asdf said in regards to HBD on an individual level. How to profit from it in a realistic way would be real estate. Not to flip properties but to live in an area where home prices won't decline but only rise as time goes on. A white suburban community with conservative Republican leadership for example. SWPL is too risky. My own area was wrecked by these people and their need for "diversity" and "economic justice". In other words lots of low rent apartments were built. The city councilman and even the mayor lived in the area so it wasn't even your standard SWPL hypocrisy. They were true believers. The type that would let NAM gangbangers rape their wives without interference for fear of being called racist.

[Conquistador]

@ Anonymous

Breast feeding is something mostly prole whites do no? SWPL find it repulsive. That's for the "breeders" and other riffraff.

[HS: No. Because breast feeding is "natural," and natural is always better, and because the upper classes put more effort into their children, breast feeding is high class. Proles enjoy the convenience of formula.

And by the way, I've proved that the link between breast feeding and higher IQ is completely bogus. It's because smarter women breast feed (for reasons explained above), and they pass on their high-IQ genes to their children.]

[Bill]

"[HS: NAM immigration is a problem, not declining population (which means more resources per person).]"

Japan's main problem is an aging population. The economy is being slowly strangled by pension liabilities, among other things.

[Simo]

In Israel there actually is a profitable supermarket operated by retards in the clinical sense.

http://h2oreuse.blogspot.fi/2011/07/idiocracys-victory_08.html

[E. Rekshun]

@ Matt in RTP: "Of course, if you are immoral, you can probably cash in on blacks/Latino dysfunction in a myriad of ways: pawn shops, payday loan processing services, accruing slum properties..."

Maybe, but then you'd have to deal w/ NAMs in their environment. Can't think of nothing more unpleasant. I've read a few stories about White landlords having a lot of trouble collecting rent checks from their NAM tenants and even being killed in the process.

Remember, avoid stupid people, avoid stupid places.

[MV]

[HS: NAM immigration is a problem, not declining population (which means more resources per person).]

Resources! Japan has no resources except for it's people, an increasingly small percentage of whom are working or studying.

Regarding your HBD-informed investment fund. Do you REALLY think the market buys into PC platitudes?

Hell no. One of your biggest themes is how fast political correctness goes out to door when it comes to where NYC leftists live and send THEIR kids to school. Do you think they take a softer line with their portfolios?

Perhaps you could short all of the companies that Soros is investing in to outsource computer programming, engineering and finance jobs to Africa.

Besides, HBD is only part of puzzle. Hopefully, you didn't decide to short the South African index, to short Botswana (2x GDP/ppl of China) or the Caribbean banking and finance centers.

Conversely, Greek and Argentina are considerably whiter than the U.S. and not great investment targets. All told your HBD-based fund would have a hard time adding any information to the market and you'd probably get clobbered if that were your primary factor.

-MV

[HS: Yes, they DO believe the PC platitudes. India stocks have a high PE ratio, but according to HBD-investing theory, that's a country to avoid. By investing in smart Pacific countries like South Korea, Japan, Singapore, and Australia, and avoiding dumb countries like India, Malyasia, Indonesia, you can make more profit in the long run.]

[jtollison78]

""[HS: NAM immigration is a problem, not declining population (which means more resources per person).]"

Japan's main problem is an aging population. The economy is being slowly strangled by pension liabilities, among other things." Bill

But everyone has to figure out how to deal with this in ways that don't assume infinite growth. The world's population has quintupled in just over a hundred years. Our farmland in the US produces at 6x the rate it would produce without fossil inputs (fossil fuel, fossil water, mined potash/phosphate, nat gas -> nitrogen-fertilizer). These things can't keep going. Japan, of course, if famous for massive

I vote for more robotics+AI, which also assumes new and better energy sources. More generally, we need growth, but it can't continue in the physical dimension, it has be be abstract (such as AI, or exporting human activities to the matrix.)

[jtollison78]

"And by the way, I've proved that the link between breast feeding and higher IQ is completely bogus. It's because smarter women breast feed (for reasons explained above), and they pass on their high-IQ genes to their children." HS

You realize the studies in question are discussing specific gene(FADS2)-fatty acid interactions. It wasn't just a high level search for correlation.

"We confirmed this gene-environment interaction in two birth cohorts, and we ruled out alternative explanations of the finding involving gene-exposure correlation, intrauterine growth, social class, and maternal cognitive ability, "

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17984066?dopt=Abstract

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20644632

The top study is from '10. The bottom is from '07. Wiki claims that another study failed to replicate the effect, but I can't help but wonder who funded those studies and how badly they wanted the conclusion. I also wonder how adding DHA and AA to milk might alter this effect since we're talking about genes related to D6D/D5D activity ( http://www.helenastudy.com/files/Bokor-JLipidRes-2010.pdf ), the enzymes responsible for taking "plant level" fatty acids to a more advanced form, as Sears discussed in The Zone.

[Anonymous]

So, HS, do you think the breastfeeding blitz is aimed at discouraging proles from having children because they don't have time to breastfeed?

[Kiwiguy]

Maybe set up an elite private school which has a certain cognitive cut off (this would indirectly reduce NAM enrolment). You could appeal to SWPL's by saying their 5 year old will be exposed to Mozart, Shakespeare & Socrates!

"Pupils are provided with the finest quality material from many fields and traditions. From day one they are exposed to the giants in their respective fields such as Mozart, Shakespeare, Pythagoras, Socrates, Da Vinci and others. All these greats are skillfully incorporated into the teaching curriculum of Mathematics, English, Science, Music, Art and Literature. The best of past and present are united in equipping our pupils for the life ahead of them.

A dedicated, well-qualified staff committed to these ideals, provides the foundation for this enterprise.

Ficino School offers an education for girls and boys from year 1 to year 8."

http://www.ficino.school.nz/About

[Camlost]

I'd say that Mark Ecko is the ultimate example of making a $$ fortune $$ by founding a company on HBD principles.

[Just Speculating]

"The type that would let NAM gangbangers rape their wives without interference for fear of being called racist".

Come to NYC, where there is a sea of public housing projects infested by NAMs, that surrounds luxury condominiums inhabitated by wealthy SWPLs. Anyone not belonging in these 2 camps will have to pay top dollar just to live in this crowded shithole of a metropolis.

I have nothing against public housing. They are a disaster because they were originally intended for the white working class, but now are exclusively for unproductive NAMs. Mayor Bloomberg and his liberal minions have decided build more of them using taxpayers' dollars just like what he did with McCarren pool. It is likely a tale of 2 cities will take hold on the big apple in the coming years, where the middle class has flee for greener pastures. And things don't look bright as he leaves office opening a hole for the democrats to fill, which means a downgrade in quality of life for all of us.

[jon]

You don't want over-qualified employees any more than you want under-qualified ones.

Explain please? I keep hearing this but besides what seems to be totally bogus "he won't be interested in the job and will be slacking", I've never heard a good and believable rationale.

IQ is proxy for g. Higher g means higher probability of doing better in just about everything. (Less stupid mistakes, fewer accidents, smarter ways of dealing with non-standard situations, etc, etc). Personally, I love hiring overqualified research staff. They simply do better job 90% of the time. Unfortunately, even in this economy, that is an expensive way of raising R&D quality and we can't afford doing it consistently.

[Hoch]

If only the US had Japan's problems. And "dearime," which cities are doing better these days, Hiroshima and Nagasaki or Detroit and East St. Louis? Christ, you are clueless.

[Siv]

Jim Rogers: ‘Myanmar best investment opportunity in the world’

[AKarlin]

Hi H-S, thanks for adding me to your blogroll.

I agree that HBD investing is a good game plan but I don't think it's enough to just go by a high IQ = invest / low IQ = don't formula.

The critical factor here is the *gap* between national IQ and the existing level of economic development. If this gap is big, then growth will be high; if this gap is small, then growth will be small.

That is why Singapore might not be that good of a bet. It has an extremely high IQ but it is already a very, very rich city-state. In other words, it's close to maxed out anyway.

I would also adjust Asian IQ's slightly downwards because for whatever reason they just do not translate into wealth as effectively as do European IQ's.

My two big picks are:

* China. This is the big one. A national IQ of about 103 (PISA 2009) but still only a quarter as rich as the US. Problem is that it's still hard to get into. But it will be gradually opening up and in the long-term its GDP per capita should converge with that of S. Korea and then Japan.

* Russia. Has the development level of Poland but a respectable IQ of 98 (Rinderman) which is higher than a few developed Med countries like Greece. Also has plenty of resources. The big problem is that because natural resources figure so prominently in the economy, especially the traded part, one has to either invest during commodity troughs and/or for the long haul.

* East-Central Europe in general. Countries like Poland are probably more stable but the potential for returns aren't quite as higher however.

* Vietnam. Not as high IQ as China, but on the other hand, far poorer too.

Countries *not* to invest heavily in:

* The other two BRIC's, India and Brazil.

* Mexico.

* For that matter, most of what we think of as the "Third World."

That said, one really has to look at specifics, and avoid over-reliance on HBD. It can improve an investment strategy but it can't be the sole or even the main basis of your strategy. For instance, had you bought into the Japanese stockmarket in the late 1980's, you would be four times poorer today.

[JI]

Uhh, Japan? The demographically-dying country that is too xenophobic to bring in immigrants no matter how high their IQ?

[The Undiscovered Jew]

"Resources! Japan has no resources except for it's people, an increasingly small percentage of whom are working or studying."

An aging first world population is not a barrier to economic growth. South Korea and Switzerland have low fertility rates (1.1 and 1.4-1.5, respectively) but still manage solid GDP growth year-in year-out because they are more thoroughly capitalist than culturally similar states such as Japan and Germany.

And if high fertility rates are needed to sustain economic growth, then why aren't Afghanistan, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, and Honduras more economically vibrant than low fertility European and East Asian nations?

"Besides, HBD is only part of puzzle. Hopefully, you didn't decide to short the South African index, to short Botswana (2x GDP/ppl of China) or the Caribbean banking and finance centers."

HBD is only a population's inherent ability.

Culture is how a population's ability is utilized. Some cultural structures are more optimal for certain population's than others.

E.g., the reason Botswana is wealthy (for now...) by African standards is because the black leadership of Botswana outsourced their countries governance to the Swiss businessmen who run De Beers. Most of the other African nations have the misfortune of being run by fellow Africans instead of Swiss corporations and this explains the difference in outcomes.

"Conversely, Greek and Argentina are considerably whiter than the U.S. and not great investment targets."

Again, the problem with Greece and Argentina is how their countries are culturally organized, not an inherent limitation on their population's abilities. Greek Americans actually make *excellent* businessmen in the US.

"All told your HBD-based fund would have a hard time adding any information to the market and you'd probably get clobbered if that were your primary factor."

An HBD based fund that combined HBD with analysis of cultural and economic environment would be a great success.

[The Undiscovered Jew]

Re breastfeading; Although studies involving breast feeding are dubious because they don't control for parental IQ, I'm betting breastfeeding will be shown to improve IQ even after controlling for parental intelligence because breast milk contains Alpha-GPC.

Alpha-GPC is a form of choline the brain needs to maintain cholinergic receptors. These receptors are closely linked to working memory functionality. Supplementing with Alpha-GPC (or CDP Choline) has been proven to reverse the age related decline in fluid intelligence by regrowing cholinergic receptors.

Also, a high fat and medium protein diet during pregnancy probably increases infant IQ because the brain is made of fat and protein from meat contains amino acids necessary for neurotransmitter synthesis.

[DaveinHackensack]

This is advice (betting on countries with high-IQ populations) is a little too broad and simplistic to be helpful on its own. This may turn out to be a good time to invest in Japan, for example, but the Japanese also had high IQs in 1989, when the Nikkei was over 38k, and it's lost about 75% of its value since: http://finance.yahoo.com/echarts?s=^N225+Interactive#symbol=^n225;range=my;compare=;indicator=volume;charttype=area;crosshair=on;ohlcvalues=0;logscale=off;source=undefined;

Similarly, at the individual company level, you'd be hard-pressed to find a company with a higher average IQ than Facebook, but you're down big now if you bought it at its IPO a few months ago.

I do agree with Siggie that Japan's declining population is not a problem for them. They can take care of their elderly with increased automation, and the idea that the Japanese people are going to disappear just because they have below replacement birth rates now is daft. At some point, Japan will be more spacious and less expensive to live in, due to its smaller population, and at that point, young people will be more inclined to have kids.

[DaveinHackensack]

For shits & giggles, why don't we list specific investment ideas here, and then revisit them in 6 months? The commenter with the best return could win a signed print of one of Siggie's photos.

[sabril]

Deep down, pretty much everybody knows that HBD is correct and that global warming is a hoax.

That's why real estate in Detroit is still so cheap and beachfront property is still so expensive.

See, most people have brains with a "standby rationality mode." When their own important interests at stake, they usually subconciously reach the correct decision and then rationalize it. Subconsciously, white liberals know perfectly well that blacks are violent, dangerous, and aggressive. Which is why they never live in black neighborhoods or send their children to schools with a lot of blacks.

So I think HBD investing is not all that useful. The market has already factored in these sorts of things.

[dearieme]

Oh, Hoch, you are being stupid. If you invested in Japan in 1940 you were wiped out. The later recovery there did you no good at all.

Investing is about finding stuff that is cheap and hoping that no disaster strikes. It doesn't do to invest because the Japanese are clever. As the last couple of decades has shown.

[Bekenstein]

Half, there are very important questions I always wanted to ask you. I would be glad you answer.

According to you, our current elites (Fortune 500 CEOs and owners, the New York Times clique, etc) are unaware of HBD.

But:

- How can they profit while ignoring such an important thing?

- If they are smart enough to get rich, why aren't they smart enough to understand HBD?

- On the long term, won't their ignorance of HBD cause their downfall?

[IHTG]

"Countries *not* to invest heavily in:

* Mexico."

Carlos Slim says hello.

[WRB]

One strategy would be to short companies which clearly ignore HBD, while having a long position in a stock market index. Such opportunity existed when Bank of America began offering mortgages to illegal aliens in 2006.

[Dan]

China better to invest in than Brazil? I wouldn't say that...

For example one could have gotten a return of 50% over the last decade investing in a Chinese ETF (ticker FXI) as compared to 500% in a decade for a Brazilian ETF (ticker EWZ).

Some reasons:
(1) It can be the case that a place where there are a lot of hurdles to competition and less entrepreneurship are better to invest in that places with more competition and more entrepreneurship. You are investing in big existing companies. If new companies come along all the time, that's not good for you the investor.
(2) China, due to its innate savings levels, has an abundance of capital. Valuations will therefore be higher (worse for the investor buying in) than in a place with a relative dearth of capital (Brazil).

The level of human development does not seem to be that tightly tied to investment returns. Lower IQ nations have been okay as investments. On the other hand, there is the central risk:

The public can become anticapitalist and confiscatory, especially toward foreigners. This is a huge risk because it can destroy as much as 100% of one's capital. Think Venezuela, Saudi Arabia, Zimbabwe, all Marxist states and so on.

[AnneKavkaz]

Caution on Australia for the time being: the Chinese economy is starting to suffer. In particular, they have a large oversupply of iron ore, which they have been buying in large amounts from Australia. Metal prices are tanking.

China is going down partly because of the Eurocrisis, which looks set to drag on for a while to come. Keep checking the financial press for developments.

[Bekenstein]

"The public can become anticapitalist and confiscatory, especially toward foreigners. This is a huge risk because it can destroy as much as 100% of one's capital. Think Venezuela, Saudi Arabia, Zimbabwe, all Marxist states and so on."

Bingo. That's the big problem with "investing": you never know if brute force won't take from you what you hold dear.

[DoJ]

There are limits to the Microsoft/Google hiring strategy.

http://articles.businessinsider.com/2012-03-25/tech/31235632_1_google-tv-google-and-apple-google-s-android

[not too late]

"Japan's main problem is an aging population. The economy is being slowly strangled by pension liabilities, among other things."

Pension liabilities can be reduced by legislation. You can't legislate NAM disfunction away.

[Dan]

A lot of people consider South Africa a horror story, but I draw a lot of inspiration from it.

Of course it is as perfect a demonstration of HBD as there ever was, but I also note that a tiny minority has held that country together in a state of only modest chaos.