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Reading List 05/23/26
15 hours ago
- The weekly reading list covers topics including the Iran war's impacts on tech and shipping, housing legislation and market trends, and manufacturing innovations.
- In the Iran conflict, Iran proposes charging US tech firms for undersea cable use and starts Bitcoin-backed ship insurance; stuck ships suffer barnacle damage.
- A cooking oil shortage in India indirectly raises gas prices in California due to complex supply chain effects on LPG and alkylates.
- The US has lost 42 aircraft in the Iran war, mostly MQ-9 Reaper drones.
- The House passes the Road to Housing Act without build-to-rent restrictions; NYT op-ed advocates for more home construction to reduce prices.
- California landlords use 'squatter removal services', including katana-wielding specialists, to bypass slow legal processes for removing illegal occupants.
- Washington state legalizes scissor stairs, a space-saving design common elsewhere but previously illegal in the US.
- Apple repurposes defective A18 Pro chips by disabling faulty cores for use in cheaper devices like the Neo laptop, maximizing profit from imperfect processors.
How the British Broke Their Own Economy
15 hours ago
- Britain faces a productivity slump and stagnant real wages for 16 years, with a housing and energy shortage at the core of its economic woes.
- The 1947 Town and Country Planning Act (TCPA) and green belts restrict new housing development, causing homeownership rates to plummet and prices to double since the 1990s.
- Energy scarcity results from reduced nuclear power, declining gas production, and high construction costs, leading to electricity prices more than double those in France.
- Environmental regulations and frivolous lawsuits add significant costs to infrastructure projects, such as a £100 million bat shield for a railway.
- Reforms are needed to overhaul planning laws, reduce anti-growth litigation, and encourage private investment in housing and energy, including nuclear and gas production.
The Laziest Generation
15 hours ago
- Older generations criticize younger generations for not affording homes, attributing it to reckless spending on luxuries like avocado toast.
- Historical home prices show a dramatic increase: from $12,000 (grandfather) to $150,000 (author) and now $970,000 minimum in the author's neighborhood.
- Affording a million-dollar home requires a salary of $250,000-$360,000 annually, which is unrealistic for many.
- The author suggests cutting costs like avocado toast is insufficient; new income sources are needed.
- Future home prices could reach $10 million, making homeownership even more unattainable for the next generation.
- The author questions sustainability and predicts a collapse in the housing market.
- Renting is presented as a smarter alternative: lower costs, modern amenities, and money invested in dividend stocks for passive income.
- Homeownership is criticized for tying people to one place and requiring constant upkeep expenses.
- The author recommends selling homes, renting, and investing equity in dividend stocks as a better strategy.
Venice's access fee doesn't reduce tourism: it selects who can afford it
15 days ago
- The Venice overtourism debate focuses on visitor numbers, but the real crisis is structural, involving ineffective pricing policies, soaring property rents, and a shrinking resident community.
- The access fee for day-trippers, introduced in 2024, does not reduce tourist flows but filters them by affordability, as data shows ticket sales grew and higher-priced tickets were more common.
- Revenue from the access fee is opaque, with most used to offset municipal waste-collection taxes (TARI), but no public, verifiable list of specific measures funded directly by the fee exists.
- Venice's demographic crisis is severe: tourist beds now exceed 50,000, outnumbering residents, which have dropped below 49,000, driven by the profitability of short-term tourist rentals over long-term residential leases.
- A 2025 Constitutional Court ruling legitimized regional laws allowing municipalities to regulate short-term rentals, but Venice already has delegated power via the 'Pellicani amendment,' enabling measures like time-limited licences.
- A proposed solution includes time-limited licences for tourist lodgings, with expiry dates and renewal based on sustainability thresholds, aiming to revert properties to residential use and protect the city's social fabric.

Hasty Briefsbeta

housing crisis

Reading List 05/23/26

How the British Broke Their Own Economy

The Laziest Generation

Venice's access fee doesn't reduce tourism: it selects who can afford it