The Weekly Upgrade #12
We're evolving based on your feedback.
Happy Monday!
Thank you to everyone who filled in this feedback form last week. I pondered over your suggestions and decided to get rid of A Weekly Challenge from this issue onward.
Most of you liked the Something I Learned section best, and I’ve decided to give you more of what you want. The section has now been rechristened to “Stuff I learned this week”, and I will include more than one thing when I can.
Thank you for your help in improving the Weekly Upgrade.
Let’s get to it!
Stuff I learned this week
Credit Default Swaps are just like insurance on an asset without owning the asset.
Credit Default Swaps were complicit in causing the financial crisis of 2008. Just like most finance jargon, they’re a lot simpler than they sound.
Imagine you buy insurance on your car. You pay an annual premium, and the insurance company agrees to pay you the value of your car if you crash it. That’s insurance.
Now imagine if your friend goes to the insurance company and agrees to pay the same premium as you, as long as the insurance company agrees to pay him the value of your car if you crash your car. That’s a credit default swap.
Essentially, he’s made a side bet that you’re a bad driver.
Stevia is just a compound from a plant
Yup. That sugar substitute is what I’m talking about. I’d always assumed that stevia was some sort of artificially manufactured compound.
But I was wrong.
It’s just a compound taken from a plant and has zero calories.
A Book Recommendation
Becoming - Michelle Obama
The best autobiography I’ve read. If you haven’t read it yet, please do.
A Thought to Ponder
What can you remove from your life that will improve it?
That’s it for this week.
Cheers!