Archive

From time to time 5th Column Ideas makes its newsletters available to non-subscribers.

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The Quantified Self - Big Data, February 2012
What is it about making a billion dollars that make some people so gloomy? The US economy is becoming more productive and GDP has finally passed the pre crisis peak. We are living in a golden age of innovation but some people refuse to see it.

Burma Special Report, March 2012
Burma is a country that is beginning to generate a considerable amount of excitement as it shows signs of finally emerging from 50 years of misrule by a military junta. But the generals who run the place are kleptomaniacs on a biblical scale, guilty of numerous crimes against humanity. We fear that the rise in some Burma plays may be overdone. If Burma does manage to free itself from the past investors and tourists are in for one hell of a ride.

We strongly recommend a visit, the place is astonishing. However, make sure you take a body belt stuffed with pristine $100 bills. There is no credit, no credit cards and every Burmese citizen is a dollar expert.