This week’s highlights: Vertical vs. Horizontal Wealth, the future of work, and the Collapse of Google?

April Showers…continue into May

Cold and dreary greetings from Nashville.  It’s a good weekend to stay indoors and read – and a lot of thought provoking articles to highlight from this week.  Of course, if you are headed to Omaha for the Berkshire Hathaway Annual Meeting – you’ve got your learning laid out for the weekend.  Watch the live stream of the “Warren and Charlie Show” here.

Food for Thought:

1. Medium – The Price of Happiness: Horizontal vs. Vertical Wealth.  If you are vertically wealthy, you think “I am rich. So I had better do what rich people do. But horizontal wealth means not letting your increased income dictate your tastes. You like books and now you have money? Buy more books!
2. Fortune – CEO Pay Is Out of Control. Here’s How to Rein It In
3. NewYorker – Rod Dreher’s Monastic Vision.  Dreher’s book released in March seems to be appearing everywhere –  “An orthodox Christian says his side has lost the culture wars—and argues for a “strategic retreat.”
4. NYMag – Aziz Ansari Is From a Red State, Too.  Even though he is the latest comic ambassador for New York neuroses.
5. HBR – The Talent Curse.  The dangers of being labeled a high-performer.

Business/Economics:

1. Yale Endowment – 2016 Annual Report – David Swenson again reminds you that he’s one of the all time investing greats.
2. WSJ – Rob Arnott, ‘Godfather of Smart Beta,’ Tells Investors: You’re Doing It Wrong  In series of papers, investing pioneer casts doubt over merits of momentum strategies, valuations of low-volatility funds.
3. StartupGrind – This is How Google will Collapse.  Reporting from the very near, post-Google future
4. Bloomberg – How Intel Makes a Chip. – Credit Farnam Street – The development of a microprocessor is one of the riskiest, costliest, and most technically complex feats in business.
5. ZH – “VXX Short Utilization Spiked To An Insane 95% Yesterday”

Culture/Tech/Science:

1. LifeHacker – The Germaphobe’s Guide to Airplane Travel
2. BBC – The Next Generation of Jobs Won’t Be Made Up Of Professions.  To prepare for the future, we need to shift from thinking about jobs and careers to thinking about challenges and problems, reports Alina Dizik.
3. NYT – Bringing Family Wealth to Bear Against a Relentless Illness
4. BSLLC – The Hardest Job in School: The Board Member
5. GaryVee – The Ultimate Advice for Every 20 Year Old