Weekend Reading #357
This is the three-hundredth-and-fifty-seventh weekly edition of our newsletter, Weekend Reading, sent out on Saturday 28th March 2026.
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What we’re thinking.
Not much to add this week in the ongoing game of trying to work out who is producing the original and organic opinions on the ongoing war in Iran. We have yet to find anyone who has written anything that go against prior biases so if you have, then please send on. We seem to be in the midst of a pattern where incidents happen on the ground and then Trump posts something to affect markets. We can only reiterate that no one really knows how this will end, not even the Americans. But we do know that at some point it will indeed end and only then will we all be able to pass honest judgement on who the winners and losers are. As for the markets, they are not reacting as much to Trumps posts as they were before and have been heading down regardless. Our philosophy with situations like this (and indeed all situations) is that we take instruction from the market rather than opinions (including our own). We keep it tight and trade the opportunities in front of us. We take the time available to do some research for what we believe will be relevant from a bottom-up perspective when the dust settles and we try not to get too clever.
This week I have been in Johannesburg for a few days for the first time in many years. It was pouring on arrival as we snaked our way to where we were staying on deluged roads. First impression fits the woeful tale of what I read. It is dirty, the traffic lights don't work and most obviously the drainage systems on the roads were non-functional. Yet friends and family live here happily, with exceptional quality of life, strong community and very low cost of living. Homes, though secured behind high walls and electric fences, are enormous and affordable. After travelling to many places over the past months, my conclusion is that people can live happily in most places. What's tolerable for one person is not for another. So what? Life is for living. And in Johannesburg, despite all the outsiders looking in with disdain, life is lived well. With local elections around the corner, there is also hope that political change can occur. Any positive development and investment will rocket. All the ingredients are here. It just needs a spark. DC
What we’re listening to
The only thing of note this week was a fantastic appearance by Brent Johnson espousing his view that stablecoins are a gift from the heavens for US Dollar supremacy. He also spent time talking about calls for the end of the US empire are simply just not true. His view which I really loved is that just like Rome did, the US is transitioning from the Republic to the Empire. Yes. The Empire is only beginning! This aligns also with the thinking of George Friedman (not the empire, but that this is just a bump on the road). This is gold from a true original thinker, something lacking all round these days it seems. DC
What we’re reading
This transcript of Singapore’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr. Vivian Balakrishnan’s interview with Reuters on the state of play of global politics is probably one of the best masterclasses in “treading the middle ground”. The basic principles of Singapore’s foreign policy are of course well established: sovereignty, strategic autonomy, rule of law, open trade, fiscal prudence and of course a strong preference for peace. And while tactful, he says what many other politicians dodge: that the US is clearly weaponising economic tools (including its domestic resource abundance), leading to the erosion of a system underwritten by the US. He also says the uncomfortable part out loud: that Singapore as a hub remains extremely exposed to these geopolitical vagaries, a consequence of the broader Asian dependence on gulf energy, with most of the consequences falling on Asia. Of course, he also makes the mandatory sales pitch for doing business in Singapore, especially given what has transpired in the UAE. One can take views on the morality of ambiguously taking the middle ground, but perhaps the truth is a small city state wedged between a US v China faceoff is much better off balanced in the middle, where things matter most at the margin.
On a separate note, remember the theory that Bluetooth headsets and our now-ubiquitous phones are going to fry brains and kill you? Seems like at least when it comes to the data, that might not be as straightforward a claim to make – to the extent that it might actually be the reverse. It turns out that according to two 2018 studies of rats exposed to mobile phone radiation conducted over 2 years and 7 exposure groups, 90 rats per group, it was found that the survival rate of rats in the exposed groups was higher than in the controls, showing less severe kidney disease (a main cause of death for older male rats) in the exposed groups, leading to longer life expectancy. Of course, the results are descriptive rather than published as a claimed benefit – but it certainly makes a good, quantitative and empirical rebuttal for dinner conversations.
This story broke a couple of weeks ago but I only just saw it: Reuters putting out a full-sized investigative article hunting down the true identity of British graffiti artist Banksy. The process is actually a great read, breaking down Banksy’s movements all over the UK, the middle east and even Ukraine. Of course, some argue that it is the anonymity that was the whole point and questioned the true purpose of the Reuters article. To be fair, the man named as Banksy, Robin Gunningham, hasn’t accepted the claim that Reuters has made, despite the latter’s presentation of his identity as proven “beyond dispute”. Perhaps we’ll never ever know for sure.
Finally, with the passing of martial arts legend Chuck Norris last week, Twitter once again serves up a full swathe of Chuck Norris jokes: one little collection here, and another montage in video form here. Who knows, somewhere out there a rematch with Bruce Lee might be in the works. EL