Economist: “[India’s] migrants are both more numerous and more successful than their Chinese counterparts. The Indian diaspora has been the largest in the world since 2010. Of the 281m migrants spread around the globe today–generally defined as people who live outside the country where they were born—almost 18m are Indians, according to the latest UN estimates from 2020. Mexican migrants, the second-biggest group, number just 11.2m. Chinese abroad number 10.5m…Migrants have stronger ties to their motherlands than do their descendants born abroad, and so build vital links between their adopted homes and their birthplaces. In 2022 India’s inward remittances hit a record of almost $108bn, around 3% of GDP, more than in any other country. And overseas Indians with contacts, language skills and know-how boost cross-border trade and investment…India’s diaspora is bigger and more influential than any in history.”
WSJ: “Longevity researchers have spent decades hunting for a magic pill to slow the aging process. But the best solution—at least for now—may be the simplest one: Move more. No single thing—whether it’s regular cold plunges or off-label drugs and supplements like metformin, rapamycin or taurine—has a track record that can match exercise’s in terms of protecting against age-related diseases and helping people get more from their later years, a vast body of research shows. The muscle and bone growth stimulated by exercise can help older adults maintain their independence, lessen fatigue and protect against bad injuries from falls, the leading cause of injury-related death among those over 65. Regular exercise can reduce the risk of developing certain age-related diseases, including Alzheimer’s, cancer, diabetes and cardiovascular disease.”
Walter Williams: “Free enterprise, laissez-faire, open markets, and capitalism are different expressions which describe a particular relationship between humans. That relationship is voluntarism. There are no third-party interferences with exchange between two or more individuals. Put another way, all relationships are seductive in nature. This means that I do something or give you something that you like if you do something or give me something that I like…. The essence of voluntary (seductive) exchange is that no one enters one unless he, in his own estimation, perceives that he will be better off than in his next best alternative.” [via CafeHayek]
Kyle Harper in “Plagues Upon the Earth”: “There are about seventy-three bacteria among major human pathogens–out of maybe a trillion bacterial species on earth. To imagine bacteria primarily as pathogens is about as fair as thinking of human beings as mostly serial killers…Despite the tingling fear we still feel in the face of large animals, fire made predators a negligible factor in human population dynamics. The warmth, security and mystic peace you feel around the campfire has been instilled by almost two million years of evolutionary advantage given to us by the flames…Mosquitos are vampires with wings….The blood heist itself is an amazing feat. Following contrails of carbon dioxide that lead to her mark, the female mosquito lands and starts probing. Once she reaches her target, she inserts her tube-like needle, as flexible as a plumber’s snake, into the skin. She pokes a dozen or more times until she hits her mark. The proboscis itself is moistened with compounds that anesthetize the victim’s skin and deter coagulation. For a tense minute or two, she pulls blood into her gut, taking on several times her own weight, as much as she can carry and still fly. She has stolen a valuable liquid full of energy and free metals. Engorged, she unsteadily makes her getaway, desperate for the nearest vertical plane to land and recuperate, as her body digests the meal and keeps only what is needful for her precious eggs.” [via Alex Tabarrok]
Jason Lemkin: “We’ve moved on in SaaS from CLTV on its own being quite as magical a metric as we all thought We’ve learned: Net revenue retention probably matters more. How much revenue your existing customer base grows each year. If it’s more than 120%, your customer lifetime value in essence is infinity (for now). And we’ve learned if you do have net negative churn, you can maintain that for decades. Twilio still has 140% net revenue retention at $2b+ in ARR. Still. Long CLTVs can over/mis-justify excessive marketing spend. Just because a customer lasts a decade doesn’t necessarily mean you should spend the first 24 months of revenue acquiring that customer. It might justify it. But maybe not. The calculation is complex when net churn is close to zero or negative. If you are in a high-churn environment, calculating lifetime value is easy. E.g, net churn of 2%-3% a month. It’s critical to know then so you don’t have a “leaky bucket”.”
