All Epsilon Theory Content

All Epsilon Theory Content

 

Everything we have published at Epsilon Theory since 2013, an archive of more than 1,000 evergreen notes.

Office Hours Recap 11/11/2022

By Harper Hunt | November 14, 2022 | 0 Comments

These are the major topics and ideas we discussed during the 11/11/2022 Office Hours as well as some of the biggest takeaways. If you have something you want to add to the conversation, let us know in the comments and join us next time.

Stock Buybacks!™ and the Monetization of Stock-Based Compensation

By Ben Hunt | November 9, 2022 | 30 Comments

I love stock buybacks, but I despise Stock Buybacks!™ – the issuance of new shares to management with one hand and the buying back of those shares with the other.

Over the past decade, Stock Buybacks!™ have transferred more than a trillion dollars from shareholders to managers. Not founders, not entrepreneurs, not risk-takers … managers.

Office Hours Recap 11/04/2022

By Harper Hunt | November 7, 2022 | 0 Comments

These are the major topics and ideas we discussed during the 11/04/2022 Office Hours as well as some of the biggest takeaways. If you have something you want to add to the conversation, let us know in the comments and join us next time.

Cursed Knowledge #15: Sir Edmund Hillary Thinks You’re An Ass

By Harper Hunt | October 28, 2022 | 3 Comments

Mt Everest is a death trap. Everything about the mountain is designed to kill you. So why are so many people going up there? Why do we ignore the very real and very dangerous narratives that are right in our face.

Office Hours Recap 10/21/2022

By Harper Hunt | October 24, 2022 | 0 Comments

These are the major topics and ideas we discussed during the 10/21/2022 Office Hours as well as some of the biggest takeaways. If you have something you want to add to the conversation, let us know in the comments and join us next time.

UK Pensions Webinar Recording

By Ben Hunt | October 18, 2022 | 0 Comments

This is the recording of our webinar on UK Pensions that took place on October 14th, 2022. If you want to continue the conversation, check out the ET Forum.

Office Hours Recap 10/14/2022

By Harper Hunt | October 17, 2022 | 0 Comments

These are the major topics and ideas we discussed during the 10/14/2022 Office Hours as well as some of the biggest takeaways. If you have something you want to add to the conversation, let us know in the comments and join us next time.

A Brief History of the Past 10,000 Years of Monetary Policy

By Ben Hunt | October 5, 2022 | 56 Comments

What we saw happen in the UK last week is the first shock, not the last, and all the massive pension funds and asset owners who have turned themselves into shadow hedge funds, full of swaps and leverage through the sweet whispers of Wall Street Wormtongue, will be our undoing.

Cursed Knowledge #14: In Defense of Marie Antoinette

By Harper Hunt | October 3, 2022 | 1 Comment

Marie Antoinette has a rather interesting historical footprint. For all that her image is iconic and her reputation infamous, it’s not all the truth. The real Marie Antoinette has been lost to the Cartoon of Marie Antoinette™. So I want to show you a glimpse at the real person behind the cartoon and take a closer look at how her cartoon got started.

Office Hours Recap 9/30/2022

By Harper Hunt | October 3, 2022 | 0 Comments

These are the major topics and ideas we discussed during the 09/30/2022 Office Hours as well as some of the biggest takeaways. If you have something you want to add to the conversation, let us know in the comments and join us next time.

Monetary Policy is Non-Linear

By Ben Hunt | September 22, 2022 | 137 Comments

The relationship between interest rates and inflation is non-linear and non-monotonic, and in exactly the same way that the Fed was unable to spur inflation by cutting rates to exceptionally low levels, so will they be unable to contain inflation by hiking rates off these exceptionally low levels.

The Fed first has to get interest rates to this monotonic tipping point before further interest rate hikes will have any appreciable effect in the real economy.

Cursed Knowledge #13: Subverting Censorship

By Harper Hunt | September 20, 2022 | 7 Comments

The Golden Age of Hollywood was full of drama. On and off screen. It was the age of carefully cultivated images. Fake names and secret procedures. And it was the age of censorship. The Hays Code and the censorship office had more influence on the film industry than any actor, director, or producer ever could. They had full control over what Hollywood made. Well, almost. There were still a few loopholes left to exploit.

Office Hours Recap 9/16/2022

By Harper Hunt | September 19, 2022 | 0 Comments

These are the major topics and ideas we discussed during the 09/16/2022 Office Hours as well as some of the biggest takeaways. If you have something you want to add to the conversation, let us know in the comments and join us next time.

The Widening Gyre

By Ben Hunt | September 19, 2022 | 34 Comments

The widening gyre is eating America alive. It is the instrument of the Beast, a three-headed hydra of Big Politics, Big Media and Big Tech.

A third political party can be our weapon to slay the Beast, but not in the way you think.

Why the Yankees Sucked in August

By Brent Donnelly | September 15, 2022 | 2 Comments

“The laws of probability, so true in general, so fallacious in particular.”

That was Edward Gibbon in 1774. This is ET contributor Brent Donnelly saying the same thing but in a much more entertaining way in 2022.

Government Sponsorship and the Student Loan Crisis

By Marc Rubinstein | September 14, 2022 | 0 Comments

US student debt is no longer ordinary debt, but has morphed into a bizarre government tax-and-spend model.

Office Hours Recap 9/09/2022

By Harper Hunt | September 13, 2022 | 0 Comments

These are the major topics and ideas we discussed during the 09/09/2022 Office Hours as well as some of the biggest takeaways. If you have something you want to add to the conversation, let us know in the comments and join us next time.

Office Hours Recap 8/26/2022

By Harper Hunt | August 29, 2022 | 0 Comments

These are the major topics and ideas we discussed during the 08/26/2022 Office Hours as well as some of the biggest takeaways. If you have something you want to add to the conversation, let us know in the comments and join us next time.

Sauron Remains Undefeated

By Ben Hunt | August 25, 2022 | 51 Comments

The US Treasury is the Eye of Sauron — a gigantic panopticon tower that sweeps the world with its unblinking gaze, seeking out the owners of power, i.e. money.

What Treasury did to Tornado Cash and its developers is just the beginning.

Cursed Knowledge #12: Resurrectionists

By Harper Hunt | August 24, 2022 | 1 Comment

What’s in a name? Quite a bit actually. Names and titles can be all that’s needed to make some one a hero or a villain. So we’re looking at some villains who never got their proper title. People who were able to hide behind social standing and wealth to excuse their crimes.