Damn Kids

Baby Boomers Put Retirement on the Back Burner

"Demographics continue to define conflict in the Middle East. Here’s Egypt’s population by age group. In Western history, we showed in Financial Reckoning Day, the French and Russian revolutions also corresponded with epochs during which large cohorts of young people marauded about the countryside with nothing to do. Even here in the U.S., a restless band of baby boomers wreaked havoc in the 1960s… at least until the draft was abolished. If, as Auguste Comte suggested, 'demography is destiny,' we continue to wonder today what will happen to the West when hordes of those baby boomers, now old, have nothing to do… and no savings?" Continue reading →

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Diamonds, Advertising, DeBeers and Sex

"Starting in 1935 in Indiana, U.S. states started altering their laws to abolish the action for breach of promise. Women responded, by Brinig's account, by requiring a down payment from their fiancees in the form of an expensive ring—which forfeited if the fiancee terminated the engagement. Think of it as a performance bond. Brinig looked at data on diamond imports and concluded that the demand for diamonds started to rise about 1935, four years before the Ayer marketing campaign that is usually given credit for creating the demand for engagement rings. The evidence also suggested that the custom began declining once premarital sex became widely accepted." Continue reading →

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Cameron Herold: Let’s raise kids to be entrepreneurs [2010]

"Bored in school, failing classes, at odds with peers: This child might be an entrepreneur, says Cameron Herold. At TEDxEdmonton, he makes the case for parenting and education that helps would-be entrepreneurs flourish -- as kids and as adults." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCameron Herold: Let’s raise kids to be entrepreneurs [2010]

Successful Entrepreneurs Share a Common History of Getting in Trouble as Teenagers

"They found that successful entrepreneurs possess distinct traits identifiable back when they were teenagers. Some of the not-so-surprising traits include having a high IQ, coming from a stable family, having parents who earn a higher than average income, and having exceptionally high self-esteem and confidence. However, some other common traits are often associated with juvenile delinquency. The study found that successful entrepreneurs displaying these traits typically started their careers as top high earning salaried workers, and when they branched out on their own and successfully established their companies, they tended to enjoy a boost in earnings of 70%." Continue reading →

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