Illegal immigrants…

…are not undocumented “immigrants”. Just like a burglar is not an undocumented “member” of the household. If you are illegally present in any country, you should be deported swiftly. Here is an exchange where Homan schools AOC.

It is interesting that we politicize a LAW. Enforcement is not easy and frequently heavy handed (whether that is illegal immigration, drug trafficking, burglary). Because both sides have an opposing agenda - one to uphold the law and the other to break it. Having said that, I am not a fan of Trump and his rhetoric, makes ICE enforcement harder, not easy. Just look at the Obama presidency - comparative illegals deported but done tactfully.

Healthcare

The world criticizes America’s health care system which is largely employer based. They crow about government health care systems elsewhere in OECD countries. That is sophistry at best. In Canada, UK, Germany healthcare is abysmal. The long waits for critical surgeries (months!), inability to go into an emergency room without permission (what!) abound. And most of these countries also include a need to supplement government healthcare with private insurance. Well, if you are that great why do we need to get private insurance?

Healthcare is NOT an entitlement. It is practical to offer some benefits when a government has surplus funds - but almost all governments are steeped in debt. And overall economic efficiency is gained if there are no middle men (no government, no insurance). Sure that has its downside but overall costs are kept low when you don’t have middlemen.

Private Credit

Private credit redemptions are up. Why? Bad loans at private credit firms made investors realize a little late that NOT marking debt to market value is a drawback, not an advantage. That led to loss of investor confidence and redemption requests ballooned. Private credit has a gating process that allows only 5% redemption per quarter. The next redemption is in June. If the 5% redemption request is greater than Natural Repayments + New Inflows, then private credit is cooked. And that is becoming increasingly likely.

CAFOs

Concentrated Animal Feedlot Operations (CAFOs) account for 90-99% of meat produced in the US (stats vary based on the source but usually north of 90%). As the name suggests, animals are concentrated in ridiculously small areas and treated in inhumane ways - all so we can consume them. Humans can do better than that.

Mark to Market

All assets fluctuate in price based on market value…except private equity assets. And therein lies fraud. Because private equity assets are privately owned, there is no SEC oversight (only applies to stock markets). Therefore, they grade their own report card as to the valuation of their assets. Phalippou has valiantly fought this for over a decade. The recent Harvard debacle is another cautionary note. Buyer beware.