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A Caltech Nobel laureate celebrates his 100th birthday, then gets back to work

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Re: A Caltech Nobel laureate celebrates his 100th birthday, then gets back to work

#241

Post by ChuckMcM »

jacquesm wrote: post #234
ChuckMcM wrote: post #232

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes. They are absolutely securities. I explained them to a finance lawyer as basically a zero coupon bond without a fixed maturity date. So basically a variable yield. They quickly understood this and also understood why people would be somewhat reluctant to "invest" in something like that. My particular system had three types of points, one was investment points (weird zero coupon bonds), patent/inventor points (one…

The problem here in NL with this scheme is that if they are stock and they are not traded on the open market (which would require an IPO) then all of the transactions would be required to be passed through a notary, the fees alone would wreck the plan. There are no other ways to sell stock in an unlisted company. And yes, law firms would be a good candidate. As would almost any project based business. I wonder how th…

That would be painful, perhaps you could argue that patent points were not securities, just record keeping (I mean you could literally derive them from a select on a database of patents held by the company). Investor points would be infrequent so fees there probably not as big a deal. Do you have to buy bonds on the open market in NL? Service points work a lot like having a tab at a bar rather than securities as well.

Re: A Caltech Nobel laureate celebrates his 100th birthday, then gets back to work

#242

Post by lostlogin »

MichaelZuo wrote: post #240
paulryanrogers wrote: post #231

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It appears that areas where ownership are within reach of single income families is shrinking rapidly.

Not according to the metrics I've seen. The total acreage of all desirable neighbourhoods in the US beyond the reasonable means of a couple with MANGA compensation is not even 1000 square miles. Unless you know of some source?

I live in New Zealand. The average house price is nearly NZ$900k, with the big cities being more. The median wage is about NZ$63k.

Jobs, family etc are around the cities. There is a minimum deposit requirement before you can get a mortgage (at 20% or less it’s hard but possible. Below about 5% no one will lend).

Houses are way overpriced and average quality is low (insulation, heating/cooling, water tightness etc). Paying for a house on a single income is out of reach for huge swathes of the population and would also leave a household vulnerable if the earner was unable to work.

Your ideal of paying for a house with one wage is something left behind in 1950 New Zealand. Jobs, children, lifestyles etc are all dictated by rent and mortgage requirements. It’s depressing how inflated housing costs are.

https://www.qv.co.nz/price-index/

https://www.newzealandshores.com/new-zealand-job-search/sala...

https://www.westpac.co.nz/home-loans-mortgages/first-home/ki...

Re: A Caltech Nobel laureate celebrates his 100th birthday, then gets back to work

#243

Post by bjelkeman-again »

computerdork wrote: post #152
bjelkeman-again wrote: post #143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am 59, and this is my seventh new company, third startup with external funding. We just closed a €1M Euro grant for our work and are well placed for the next funding round during the autumn. You are not crazy, if it is something you are passionate about. I tend to work on things I expect to take a decade or so before I step off. I really don’t feel that being a bit older is a detriment. I work smarter than I did an…

btw, what's (roughly) the new idea you're working on? If you're at liberty to mention it (am just curious:)

Can see it in my profile. Closed loop food production systems. Only natural processes.

Re: A Caltech Nobel laureate celebrates his 100th birthday, then gets back to work

#244

Post by paulryanrogers »

MichaelZuo wrote: post #240
paulryanrogers wrote: post #231

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It appears that areas where ownership are within reach of single income families is shrinking rapidly.

Not according to the metrics I've seen. The total acreage of all desirable neighbourhoods in the US beyond the reasonable means of a couple with MANGA compensation is not even 1000 square miles. Unless you know of some source?

MANGA compensation (~$180K) is far outside the median income for a single income household in the US (~$70K).

Re: A Caltech Nobel laureate celebrates his 100th birthday, then gets back to work

#245

Post by MichaelZuo »

paulryanrogers wrote: post #244
MichaelZuo wrote: post #240

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not according to the metrics I've seen. The total acreage of all desirable neighbourhoods in the US beyond the reasonable means of a couple with MANGA compensation is not even 1000 square miles. Unless you know of some source?

MANGA compensation (~$180K) is far outside the median income for a single income household in the US (~$70K).

So what? The same logic still applies.

There just aren't that many unusually desirable neighbourhoods, most are clustered around the average. Obviously, most average families can't actually end up living in neighbourhoods of above average desirability by definition.

Re: A Caltech Nobel laureate celebrates his 100th birthday, then gets back to work

#246

Post by mgaunard »

toast0 wrote: post #89
mgaunard wrote: post #7

How is this legal?

Why would it be illegal? It clearly is something he wants to do, and something his employer wants him to do. In the US, various forms of age discrimination against people over 40 have become illegal over the years, including mandatory retirement. So the law is moving the other way.

He's taking up a tenure spot that's not going to someone younger.

Normally he should lose it and become professor emeritus instead.

Re: A Caltech Nobel laureate celebrates his 100th birthday, then gets back to work

#247

Post by jacquesm »

ChuckMcM wrote: post #241
jacquesm wrote: post #234

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem here in NL with this scheme is that if they are stock and they are not traded on the open market (which would require an IPO) then all of the transactions would be required to be passed through a notary, the fees alone would wreck the plan. There are no other ways to sell stock in an unlisted company. And yes, law firms would be a good candidate. As would almost any project based business. I wonder how th…

That would be painful, perhaps you could argue that patent points were not securities, just record keeping (I mean you could literally derive them from a select on a database of patents held by the company). Investor points would be infrequent so fees there probably not as big a deal. Do you have to buy bonds on the open market in NL? Service points work a lot like having a tab at a bar rather than securities as well…

There is this thing called a shareholders registry which you are supposed to keep up to date and at the company offices which lists each and every shareholder in a privately held company. While there is no legal limit to how many shareholders a dutch BV can have there are practical ones: the typical shareholder registry does not anticipate more than low double digit shareholders and the fees really add up when you start doing many transactions, especially small ones. Every modification to the shareholders registry is notarized, and there are strict requirements with respect to KYC/UBO and AML/ATF that each of these transactions is subject to.

The 'record keeping' argument was shot down based on several (good) arguments, the basis of which is that if it quacks like a duck and walks like a duck that it is probably a duck. The main points of interest: profit division, endurance beyond the work done for a particular job, the ability to trade them with others (possibly outsiders) and the fact that for taxation purposes they would likely be seen as shares. Having 'investor points' is a neat variation, but would probably be seen as a different class of shares.

Finally, there is a big problem in case the 'real' shareholders suddenly declare the points system invalid (because they have a big incentive to do so, for instance to be able to sell their 'actual' shares at a much higher valuation) to capture the profits themselves. This would likely result in a lawsuit where the points holders would take the position that their 'points' are shares and that suit would probably be lost based on the expected behavior.

So I can see many reasons why 'points' === 'shares' and only a few limited and ultimately broken ways in which they are not. The question then becomes 'is it possible to create a low-fee way to trade shares without going public?', and to me that one is still open. If the answer is 'no' then I think the idea is DOA, if the answer is 'yes' then it becomes a lot more interesting.

Bonds are traded on Euronext here (one of several major exchanges here), a retail investor would have to go through a bank or a broker and can't buy them directly.

Re: A Caltech Nobel laureate celebrates his 100th birthday, then gets back to work

#248

Post by JSavageOne »

mint2 wrote: post #239

Perhaps controversial, but after 65-70 continuing working is fine but the type and focus of work should change because if not, the work will be at the expense and harm of the next generation. After a certain point the focus should no longer be on doing work first hand, but should be working to help, mentor and advise others to provide them a path instead of occupying the top. Fostering the next generations should be…

> the work will be at the expense and harm of the next generation.

How is his work since 70 at the expense of the next generation?

People should do what they enjoy. If that's mentoring others, then great. If one doesn't enjoy mentoring others, that's fine too.

Re: A Caltech Nobel laureate celebrates his 100th birthday, then gets back to work

#249

Post by mint2 »

JSavageOne wrote: post #248
mint2 wrote: post #239

Perhaps controversial, but after 65-70 continuing working is fine but the type and focus of work should change because if not, the work will be at the expense and harm of the next generation. After a certain point the focus should no longer be on doing work first hand, but should be working to help, mentor and advise others to provide them a path instead of occupying the top. Fostering the next generations should be…

> the work will be at the expense and harm of the next generation. How is his work since 70 at the expense of the next generation? People should do what they enjoy. If that's mentoring others, then great. If one doesn't enjoy mentoring others, that's fine too.

It’s like comparing US presidents vs the English king/queen. There’s been a heck of a lot more people reach the top in the US. When there is turnover at the top, more people can have a career at it. Otherwise it’s very stagnant at the top. Look at Charles, he had to wait until normal retirement age to advance. If people don’t shift into mentor ship roles and instead cling to the top roles until they die, then it’s pretty obvious the next generations are going to be held back in terms of achievement.

Also while I’m not commenting on his work in particular, but there’s the colloquialism “Science progresses one funeral at a time”. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planck%27s_principle

Re: A Caltech Nobel laureate celebrates his 100th birthday, then gets back to work

#250

Post by ohbleek »

lambdasquirrel wrote: post #131
kristopolous wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My parents are on the far right. It was only after I ignored their rugged individualism Ayn Rand style beliefs that I got anywhere in life and now I'm doing fine. That's probably why I consider it to be such a scam. YMMV.

The opposite of something that is not working is not necessarily something that is working.

The opposite of a useless comment is not necessarily an aphorism.
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