Can Turtles Fly?

I always like reading about how certain industries evolved over time—partly to see how the business economics had changed over time; partly to see how life used to be. I ran across an interview with the founder of the Four Seasons hotel chain and he briefly touched on how the hotel industry has changed.

Some of these articles are really old—in general, don't always assume I post current articles since I have a habit of reading old ones—but think some of you may find them interesting. (Highly Recommended) GuruFocus interviews Bruce Greewald (GuruFocus): Some people don't like Bruce Greenwald, professor of finance and asset management at Columbia University, but I'm a fan of him (although I don't really use his methodologies). (Recommended) Book Excerpt/Adaptation - The Price of Everything: Solving the Mystery of Why We Pay What We Do (The New York Times): Adapted from a book by Eduardo Porter, this article provides a look at a modern problem, the spectacular rise of incomes at the top (whether in sports, entertainment, or business). One theory cited appears to explain what may have happened: " Nearly 30 years ago, Sherwin Rosen, an economist from the University of Chicago, proposed an elegant theory to explain the general pattern. In an article entitled “The E...

Here are some articles I found interesting. I have a bunch related to politics and this may anger some of you so if you don't want to hear it, skip over the WikiLeaks stuff near the bottom. As usual, not in any particular order... Some Canadians snapping up US residential real estate (MoneyVille): Real estate bulls such as John Paulson have said that it's a great time to buy American real estate but I am not so sure. Although not as risky as buying near a peak, I can see someone not making any money for years. Having said that, the funds mentioned in this article are buying prime Florida real estate—I assume they are prime?—so they should be ok in the long run. After all, they don't build those sandy white beaches in America. A bubble in private Internet companies? (Dealbook): The privately rumoured valuations of Internet companies like Twitter, Groupon, Zygna, and others, often reach billions of dollars. Some of these companies are revolutionary and likely will dominat...