Reflection

Deuteronomy 29:29: 

“The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law.”

I looked up this verse because my friend complained that bible was too hard and further was unhappy how God kept so many things secret. However, let us never forget that our Father is a good God. He will reveal what is necessary and good for us. The rest we will find out when we are in Heaven with Jesus. Let us focus first on the things that Jesus told us to do instead of seeking what our God has hidden for good/ right reasons.

Daily

  1. SEC’s whistleblower program is working well, rewarding 22 million to a whistleblower. I think this is a great program. It really decreases the information asymmetry and the cost of acquiring information in enforcement. I hope other nations also follow suit with the whistleblower program to prevent crime.
  2. Abercrombie is having difficulty growing its sales as its main customers are getting older. I remember when A&F was the rage. The whole campus was covered with A&F. Then the A&F craze came to Korea and it was maddening. Young students refused to go to school until their parents bought them A&F. Thank God those insane times are over now. Thank You Lord for giving maturity to these consumers. I think A&F will transform and make it out alive. But I would not expect to see any sales growth any time soon.
  3. Law of unintended consequences. Cheap oil is making ships take longer routes. Yup, more pollution, more stress for people on board the ship, higher risk of pirate attack, and may be delayed trading flow due to longer voyage. I should really train myself more in thinking of the bigger picture. Very nice article BBC.

Podcast

Apple’s Tax Case

Bloomberg Law discusses how the EU commission is forcing Apple to pay $15 bn taxes to Ireland. I am not fan of firms engaging in aggressive tax strategies. However, governments enabled those tax laws and firms are just maximizing value so we cannot blame the companies alone. Also, I think Apple is probably better at allocating capital than EU commission, meaning Apple will produce more value with the money than the EU. But EU has a point, Apple did probably get a boost with tax savings and that could be anti-competitive. Overall, I think we should really overhaul the tax system. Let’s not demonize firms or governments, let us just simplify the tax code. I pray for a simpler and transparent tax code.

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