21: China's Latest OKRs, Thinking About Macro, Fiverr x NFT, The Adventures of JP Sartre, Sellaronda, The Latest Felix Cartal
The future is already here — It's just not very evenly distributed - William Gibson
Investing & Business
China’s latest OKRs
Reading time: ~10 minutes
Another great post from Lilian Li from Chinese Characteristics, outlining the different salient points of the recently unveiled 14th Five Year Plan
Key takeaways:
No target on GDP Development, instead focusing on infrastructure and social/environmental indicators to better lay the ground for future growth
1/3rd of indicators about social welfare, including a +150% increase in number of childcare places for infants and toddlers under 3 years of age!
Binding objective of reaching 10% of GDP for valued added by high tech industries
Increased focus on food and energy production capacity
Given the difference in emphasis, I think China aims to reshuffle from an export-led, light manufacturing base that prioritises unequal growth to a consumption-led, high-tech manufacturing-based, low-carbon country (with sustainable fertility rate).
Thinking About Macro
Reading time: ~30 minutes
Interesting memo by Howard Marks focusing on… macro factors!
As always, very entertaining and also very interesting as Howard Marks is less interested in giving a recommandation as compared to sketching out the main arguments of both camps on each of the topics.
My favorite part:
“Regardless, the theme thus far in 2021 has been rising inflation. That and the associated fear of higher interest rates have been used to explain much of what’s been going on with in the stock market. The data reflected rapidly rising inflation, and stock market investors turned negative […]
The stock market was afraid of higher inflation and interest rates, but the bond market - where price movements are governed predominantly by the outlook for rates - gave us higher prices and lower rates, seemingly unconcerned about inflation.
That brings me to gold, which historically has been bought for protection against inflation. Despite all the inflationary signs, the market for gold seems to agree with the bond market that the outlook for inflation is benign. […]
Not only do the markets do not know what’s coming, but they often behave in ways that make little or no long-term sense.
Thought-provoking stuff…
Auction-sold Contracting Work Time as an NFT
Reading time: ~10 minutes
VisualizeValue running an auction for an interesting NFT:
The Adventures of Jean-Paul Sartre
Reading time: ~10 minutes
An interesting portrait of one of the most influential French Philosophers of the 20th century, trying to understand how Sartre lived up to his very own definition of existentialism
“He was bursting with ideas that he was desperate to share with the world, so he popped pills and drank coffee to increase his focus and enable him to keep writing at a breakneck pace without the need for rest. Once he finished writing, he was too revved up to sleep, so he would swallow barbiturates to knock himself out. When he finally awoke the next day, he’d pop more amphetamines to cut through the fog of sleep, so he could once again write obsessively all day and into the night. But productivity wasn’t the only reason he took drugs. He deliberately sought to break the shackles of conventional thinking and open his mind. He wanted to embrace the unlimited freedom of being, to experience life in a radically different way.”
Arts, History & Living
The World’s Most Beautiful Bike Route
Reading time: ~10 minutes
It’s around 30 miles in length, so just one or two turns should keep you happy. But it offers the chance to circumnavigate a colossal massif of jagged limestone peaks and impossibly green pastures, cross four mountain passes (three of which are higher than 2,000 metres), and tackle almost 100 adrenaline-pumping hairpins – all before lunch.
Treat for the Ears
Felix Cartal dropped a new album, throws us back to Edition #1 where I had reviewed his previous album Next Season:
Other Interesting Links
Until next week!
Antoine