“In the iPhone, we are enjoying a product that cost (In total R&D expenditures to date) over $100 billion dollars — for about $30 per month, or around one hour and 45 minutes of work for a typical unskilled worker.”
– Gale Pooley, We Are All Billionaires Now
Last month, we explained all the reasons we have to be bullish on America. This month, we reflect on the billions of dollars that others have invested on our behalf.
Save the Date for January 30th
We have been publishing our Great Investors article series for over 10 years, and this series has consistently been our most popular content every year. We thank our loyal readers and truly appreciate your comments and feedback over the years.
As you know, we have changed the format for our Great Investors series from a monthly written commentary to a quarterly webinar format. We will deliver a brief talk summarizing our outlook on current events, delivered in the same style you have come to appreciate in our monthly article series. We will then have ample time for Q&A and discussion to address any additional questions you may have.
Our next webinar will be held on Thursday, January 30, and will be available via online live stream, and in person for those who can attend. Please save the date, and more details will be available soon!
We are ALL Billionaires Now
We have the highest possible regard for Gale Pooley’s outstanding recent article, We’re All Billionaires Now, and consider this a must-read.
Pooley’s primary thesis is that every member of modern society now enjoys the benefits of hundreds of billions of dollars of research and development expenditures, which have created amazing products and services that we can now access for next to nothing.
Consider this amazing fact: There are currently about 320 million songs available to listen to at the tap of your phone on the SoundCloud app. Back in 1955, access to that library of 45 RMP records would have cost about $1,831,466,666, representing about 106,666,667 hours of labor for the average unskilled worker in the American economy at the time. Today, anyone in the world can access that library for $4.99 per month, or about 18 minutes of labor time for an unskilled worker in America today.
We strongly encourage you to read this outstanding piece!
Helping Those You Care About
Over the last few years, the patience and discipline of all long-term investors has been severely tested. As must happen every few years, we were basically required to do just one big thing: reject the idea that “this time it’s different,” and hew to the belief that “this too shall pass.” We must not doubt that we’ll get many additional opportunities to practice patience and discipline in the years to come.
Successful investing, while always fundamentally simple, will never be easy. You may have a family member, colleague or friend who perhaps did not fare as well during the 2022-23 bear market, and who you feel might have benefited from the sort of advice you were receiving. Should that be the case, we would certainly appreciate your introducing us to them. We very much enjoy working with you and would welcome the opportunity to offer the same level of planning and service to people whom you care about.
You are more than welcome to bring a friend or family member to our event on January 30th, or to share the recording of our discussion that night.
Thank you, most sincerely, for being our clients. It is an honor and a pleasure to serve you.
All the best!