WaPo: “Fueled by record numbers from India and other South Asian countries, the head count of international students at U.S. colleges and universities and in related training programs has surged at the fastest growth rate in more than 40 years and recovered almost all the ground lost during the coronavirus pandemic.A report released [recently] found 1,057,188 international students in the U.S. higher education system during the 2022-23 school year, up nearly 12 percent from the previous year. Not since the late 1970s has the total grown that much in one year. These students bring global perspectives to campuses and account for more than 5 percent of postsecondary enrollment in the United States. The total from India reached 268,923, up 35 percent, according to the Open Doors report from the State Department and the Institute of International Education. That set a record for what is now the world’s most populous nation.”
Citywire: “Few allocate capital as effectively as Mark Leonard, the founder of AA-rated Constellation Software. The proof is in the returns he has delivered to shareholders in his Canadian software conglomerate. An investor who bought C$10,000 of equity in his company when it floated on the Toronto Stock Exchange in spring 2006 and reinvested dividends would now be sat on almost C$2.3m, 17-and-a-half years later…The endless acquisitions have created a sprawling conglomerate of more than 1,000 subsidiaries serving about 100 different markets. That raises the next big question: how can such a large and disparate group of businesses be effectively managed? And can Constellation keep up its acquisition standards? The answer lies in focusing on the metrics that really matter to compounding – return on invested capital (ROIC), cash generation and growth.”
Annie Ernaux on her ideal reading experience: “The first condition is silence. The when and where do not matter. On the other hand, I need to be seated comfortably with the book on my knees, not on a table. I also need a pencil to underline passages and jot down thoughts. And to have plenty of time, though there can be pleasure in reading a book while an urgent task awaits.”
Economist reviews “Around the World in 80 Games”: “WHICH ARE the best properties to buy when playing Monopoly, and how many houses should you build on them? Which continent should you aim to take over first in Risk? And what is the best strategy when using the doubling cube in backgammon? These are some of the questions considered and answered by Marcus du Sautoy, a British mathematician and Oxford professor, in his sprightly, light-hearted history of games and gaming. The narrative is organised geographically as a trip around the world, starting with ancient games from the Middle East—backgammon, the Royal Game of Ur, the Egyptian game of senet—and ending up in Europe with modern games such as Pandemic and Dobble. Along the way the author considers many old favourites (Cluedo, Scrabble, Risk), recent arrivals (Wordle, Settlers of Catan) and less familiar games from a wide range of cultures and historical periods, such as the African game of mancala and the Indian card game of ganjifa, whose rules change at night.”
