A personal framework for measuring wealth as a share of an economy rather than a nominal amount in fiat currency.

Friendship grows out of shared life. When experience becomes memory and memory stops renewing empathy, the friendship begins to disappear.

A compact October 2023 forecast for China's property market, inflation, stocks and the fight between physical retail and e-commerce.

Shanghai and its people were at their funniest on Halloween. A tiny note written in delight.

A September 2023 macro view of China's demographic crisis, down cycle, US-China conflict and Belt and Road strategy.

China's pursuit of technological self-reliance may reduce vulnerability at home while making its products harder to trust abroad.

An August 2023 snapshot of the RMB, property debt, local government borrowing, banks and liquidity, with blunt forecasts for the year ahead.

A blunt August 2023 summary of media extremes, social stratification, surveillance, service, consumerism and everyday life in China.

After three and a half years away, a sudden trip back to Tianjin and Shanghai turns airports, streets and old places into a collision of memory and the present.

A July 3, 2023 forecast on the RMB, US-China relations, chips, property, stimulus and liquidity in China's economy.

Why restart a personal blog in 2023? For play, freedom, and a place to write whatever comes to mind.

A first-listen fragment on Omnipotent Youth Society and the shock of discovering “Kill the One from Shijiazhuang” on the band’s 2010 debut album.