Panama Papers, Aaron Sorkin & (Re)Learning Economics!
Hi, Howdy & Hello -
Below are 5 places I've spent my time, in the last week. If you've engaged with any of these, I'd love to know what you learned!
The Laundromat. A film based on the Panama Papers. Side-note: the attorneys in the film filed a lawsuit in attempt to block its release, claiming they were defamed by the film (they didn't win). Warning: it didn't get great reviews, but I thought it was phenomenal. ~Spoiler: the conclusion of the film basically just states that everything was fully legal and there's nothing that can be done, so if you're looking for a "playbook" on how to offshore your money, this film is for you!
I also started The Newsroom (late to the game, I know!). As a big fan of Aaron Sorkin (WestWing, The Social Network, Molly's Game, among others), it's been super fun to watch so far - quick and witty banter, in true Sorkin form. Also, NYT published a challenging open letter from Aaron Sorkin to Mark Zuckerberg last month, that is well-worth the (quick) read.
Here's another, more light-hearted, read by the NYT, which I think we need more of in today's world, so thought I'd share: This Tom Hanks Story Will Help You Feel Less Bad.
Wealth of Nations was recommended by Naval (entrepreneur, investor, founder of AngelList) in a podcast I listened to months ago. Written in 1776, “The Wealth of Nations” continues to be one of the most important economics books of all time. Admittedly, I'm only 5 pages in, which probably took me an hour, but I've already unpacked a ton of nuggets of gold wisdom. If you've read it, let me know what you learned from it (and how long it took you to read).
The last couple weeks I've been building a couple websites for fun. It is mind-boggling how quick and easy tools like Wordpress, Godaddy and Squarespace make the entire process. Watch a couple YouTube videos (of Keanu Reeves) and, voila! ...You've got a website up-and-running. More on those websites later (maybe).
Happy Friday!
Cheers,
Brendan