4/30/21 Recommended Issues: Tax Data, Stripe, World Building

Good day!

Each week we handpick newsletter issues by independent writers you may have missed that provide new or unique perspectives. 

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Here's what's worth reading this week...enjoy!

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TAX DATA!

America's tax cheats in Popular Information by Judd Legum on 4/28 

Taxes - we all have to pay them, but some of the fundamental data on who’s paying, who’s underpaying, the staffing levels of the IRS, and who/what the IRS is capable of auditing are just fascinatingly eye-opening. This quick-read issue by Judd delves into this data (and more!) - and will leave you with some great tax stats for your next cocktail hour as well as a better understanding of how Biden’s $70B investment in the IRS is likely to result in a many-X return…(887 words; 3minutes) Read it... 

STRIPE’S HISTORY

Stripe in First 1000 by Ali Abouelatta on 4/25  

Stripe has become one of the dominant online payment gateways over the past decade--and this issue tells the story of how it all got started. Part of what is most amazing, is the age of the brothers who started it (teenagers...who had already built a business and sold it for $5M before launching Stripe)-- and you’ll find yourself inspired by their age, ingenuity, what they could pull off, and how they pulled it off. The story is captivating and you’ll enjoy the great ride it takes you on. (3469 words; 12.5 minutes) Read it…

WORLD BUILDING AND STORY TELLING

World Building in Alex Danco’s Newsletter on Apr 11 

In this issue, Alex talks about the importance of “world building” when you’re trying to do just about anything complex and valuable which involves other people (selling something, building something, launching something, etc). Much of world-building entails bringing people along on this vision, this journey with you...and a huge part of doing that is storytelling. He uniquely dissects “worlds” into discrete components that you can imagine leveraging as you build your story and your world (like thinking about what the currency is in your world… it may be money, but there’s also social capital, reputation, etc; or thinking about “trade” in your world...what do different groups/teams get from each other, are there cycles to that, etc). It’s definitely an interesting thought exercise-- and you may choose to leverage it the next time you’re working on something meaty with a lot of “players” involved. (1932 words; 7 minutes)  Read it...
 

Learnings from newsletters this week:

• The retirement age for women in the UK was raised and caused an unintended side effect, which ended up costing the government even more. A recent studied just discovered that for every woman in her 60s working 30+ hours per week, it costs taxpayers £5600 in lost care that those women would otherwise have provided to their aging parents... hrrm. A lot to unpack there...Invisible Women Apr 26

• Professors in US arts and science PhD-granting departments at colleges/universities are 25% more likely than average to have a parent with a PhD. And faculty at "prestigious universities" are 50x more likely! BIG Apr 25

• Taxes...People who receive W-2 forms have a tax compliance rate approaching 100%.... but, per a paper published in March from the National Bureau of Economic Research: Americans in the top 1% underreport their income by an average of 21%. Popular Information Apr 28

• While Bitcoin and Ethereum have definitely risen over the last 100 days, Dogecoin has shot up ridiculously... A $100 investment over the last 100 days in Bitcoin (BTC) would be worth $135 today, in Ether (ETH) would be worth $186 today, in  Uniswap (UNI) would be worth $401 today, and in Dogecoin (DOGE) would be worth $2,742 today (!!!). Will be interesting to see how this roller coaster continues..." Coin Metrics' State of the Network Apr 27

• A study published this year found that if children have the sense of a loved one as a secure base they are less likely to be picky eaters, even from as young as eighteen months old. Intriguing! Vittles Apr 26

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~Jessica