Reading

Created
Wed, 17/07/2024 - 22:00

I found my sister’s diary seven years after her death. It was in my parents’ storage room.

I felt weird about the encounter, but I really wanted to read the diary. Plus, it’s not like my sister could walk in to bust me.

After my sister died, my parents had to pack up her apartment. I imagine the task felt like climbing a mountain when you really don’t want to climb a mountain.

My dad said the apartment looked like my sister was plucked from her life. Her cat was pacing and needed water. Dishes filled the sink. My mom found birth control under the bed (horrifying for a Catholic parent).

My sister’s unfinished business was everywhere. The whole thing was upsetting. My parents did their best to be respectful.

For years, I’ve wondered: How do you respect a dead person’s privacy while packing their things?

Created
Wed, 17/07/2024 - 18:00
Joel Mundy and Matt Roberts-Sklar When markets are volatile, liquidity tends to worsen. This makes it harder to intermediate buyers and sellers. We saw this during the 2022 liability-driven investment (LDI) stress, when the UK government bond (gilt) market exhibited extreme volatility. This illiquidity was also evident in gilt futures, derivatives that support functioning in … Continue reading Futures under stress: how did gilt futures behave in the LDI crisis?
Created
Wed, 17/07/2024 - 08:00
I can’t say I’m surprised. Choosing Vance was very dumb and it’s the kind of dumb I didn’t expect from Trump whose feral instincts are usually better than this: MILWAUKEE — With the clock ticking to the Republican National Convention last week, Donald Trump met privately to discuss his running mate search with two of his closest advisers: his sons.  The conversation quickly turned tense when the former president indicated that he was leaning toward Doug Burgum, until recently the largely unknown governor of North Dakota — but someone whose low-maintenance, no-drama personality would never threaten to outshine Trump. That’s when Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump chimed in. “Don Jr. and Eric went bats— crazy: ‘Why would you do something so stupid? He offers us nothing,’” a longtime Republican operative familiar with the discussion told NBC News. “They were basically all like ‘JD, JD, JD,’” the operative said. Trump ratified his sons’ recommendation here Monday, selecting Sen. JD Vance of Ohio as his vice presidential candidate.
Created
Wed, 17/07/2024 - 06:30
In 1941, Harper’s Magazine published a piece by Dorothy Thompson called “Who Goes Nazi?” It is an interesting and somewhat macabre parlor game to play at a large gathering of one’s acquaintances: to speculate who in a showdown would go Nazi. By now, I think I know. I have gone through the experience many times—in Germany, in Austria, and in France. I have come to know the types: the born Nazis, the Nazis whom democracy itself has created, the certain-to-be fellow-travelers. And I also know those who never, under any conceivable circumstances, would become Nazis… Let us look round the room. It’s a fascinating piece, highly recommended, even if it shows its age in certain respects. I had not read it until someone on twitter pointed out that one character in particular describes J.D. Vance. “Mr A” is a pillar of the community, a WASPy type who doesn’t have money but is well educated and cultured. He would never in a million years become a Nazi. “Mr. B” is similar but would probably go along to get along if it meant power and money but he wouldn’t be a true believer. “Mr.