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Here is the short version of German soccer game:

Yes. You cannot criticize immigration policies in the UK. That's antithetical to Free Speech. The whole point of Free Speech is to allow challenges to government & power. That's why it is a bedrock of true democracies. Many "democracies" in Europe look like fake democracies.

If you cannot insult politicians or government policies, Europe does not have free speech--certainly not the Free Speech that matters. Europe's restrictions on free speech are autocratic--they are designed to allow the elite class of Europe (Ursula, Lagarde, Brussels gang and Company) to remain in power indefinitely.

LOL. You literally cannot criticize people in power and old retirees are under investigation for calling politicians "idiot" and "Pinocchio" and you are calling it "one specific unsatisfactory thing" when I point out that this occurs while European leaders literally say "Freedom of speech is the foundation of our strong and vibrant European democracy". You are just someone who is easily offended and can't come up with any real arguments.

OK, I was barking up the wrong tree. One chapter on the 3:1 leverage then!

That’s good on paper but in practise it really hurts free speech. What people regarding as insulting or hateful differs dramatically. Some consider talk or stopping immigration hateful for example.

AI´s answer if Europe has free speech: Yes, free speech is a fundamental right in Europe. European laws and the Charter of Fundamental Rights protect your right to hold opinions and share information without government interference. However, the European approach differs significantly from the US model. Unlike the near-absolute protections in the US, European free speech has strict legal limitations. In countries like Germany, for instance, freedom of expression (protected under Article 5 of the Basic Law) is balanced against other rights and public safety. Key differences in European free speech include: Hate Speech & Discrimination: Incitement to hatred, violence, or insults based on race, religion, or sexual orientation are criminal offenses. Historical Taboos: In Germany and several other nations, Holocaust denial and the display of unconstitutional symbols (like Nazi insignia) are strictly prohibited and punishable by imprisonment. Online Regulation: Under the EU's Digital Services Act, large social media platforms are legally required to swiftly remove flagged hate speech and illegal content. While you are entirely free to criticize politicians, participate in protests, and share your beliefs, you must navigate these specific legal boundaries regarding hate speech and public endangerment.

BBQ Index is running hot #Trumpflation

You clearly do NOT have "Free Speech" if you can not criticize politicians. Period.

Just the usual 'one specific unsatisfacty thing'that you don't like for a specific European country [where you don't live, so it not in in any way is up to you, and your business at all], and then you carry on with your eternal generalizations about blowing up - ungrounded - on Europe as a whole. It's mind boggling to experience this kind of 'logic' here on CofB&F.

Yep--and not being able to criticize the people in power is a hallmark of autocracies, not democracies.

Europe is so "transparent" that this picture is illegal in Germany: https://www.politico.eu/article/us-diplomat-attacks-eu-germany-over-investigation-against-man-who-called-friedrich-merz-pinocchio/

It's often better to not know so well, how the sausage is made

Egon [ @EgonKuhn ], Let's have some fun - it's Friday, right!? I know on the distance personally, professionally the CEO of Backahill put there by the Paulssons - it's certainly not a coincidence - because he is a pure play, 100% distilled unreasonable, endlessly demanding, bad manners a$$hole, sucking every available kJoule out of everyone around him for his own benefiit alone - however, he may have changed since then by now, though. At a moment in time I said to my boss, when I asked to be relieved from him [the Backahill CEO] in another context , getting an 'Absolutely NO!, -Period! - Just do as I ordered you.' : 'Ok then, but do never place me in a room with him, I may poor this little fat gnome out of the window!' <which got respected> - - - o 0 o - - - Pretty cool to have such a guy sitting around on boards watching over the Paulssons - and my - capital!

https://www.dw.com/en/germany-could-scrap-law-banning-insults-against-politicians/a-77630055 Hot off the presses. Germany might actually become more of a democracy. Germans are notoriously slow at making changes though so it might never happen. “private citizens found themselves under investigation by the police for publicly calling politicians "Schwachkopf" (idiot), "Lügenfritz" (lying Fritz) or "Pinocchio" on social media.” https://v4na.com/politika/retired-woman-fined-for-politician-caricature-153202/ https://sfg.media/en/a/germany-merz-insults-300-cases-court-disclosure/ Calling a politician an idiot is illegal in Germany and Ursula is preaching about Freedom of Speech? LMAO We all know from history that the Chancellor of Germany ought to be immune from insults, right?

I assume he means chapters in his book on leverage. Taking the number of chapters from two to one.

Missed the point yet again? Some questions may just be too difficult.. Or you simply have no answers. No worries, I'll stop asking.

I see. Of course I could stare at the endless rows of figures in TIKR for ages and still be none the wiser in the end If I understand you correctly, your impression from three years ago has been confirmed, and you’ve stuck with the investment vehicles of Paulsson and Lundberg, or perhaps even added to your holdings from time to time? Here in Germany my impression of REITs and REICs is that, while they somehow muddle through, they are ultimately treading water operationally. They are running, yet practically getting nowhere. Like a hamster on a wheel.

It really is quite amazing how folks rationalize laws where it is *illegal* to insult politicians. Knowing German history, they might have benefitted from allowing politicians to be insulted. Having laws against criticizing politicians is extremely un-democratic. Europe is not transparent. You asked “who promised Free Speech in the first place”? My answer: European/German leaders like Ursula. LOL. You come off as totally wrong because Free Speech has been a platitude of European leaders for a long time. In many ways it’s 1984-esque where they claim to champion things like Freedom of Speech and Democracy while doing the exact opposite (your post proves my point): “War is Peace” “Ignorance is Strength” etc etc

What do you mean, taking leverage from two to one? By my calculation, Fairfax invest an amount roughly equal to its equity in equity investments, and roughly twice its equity in fixed income investments. So I would have said thet have 3 to 1 leverage*, down from about 3.6 in 2021, but not 2 to 1 and certainly not 1 to 1. But perhaps you meant something else, and I don't see comments in this thread from sholland or patterson that might make it clear what you are referring to. *meaning they have $3 invested for every $1 of their own book value. But it depends how you define it. $1 invested for every $1 in book value, is that 1x leverage, or 0x leverage? Maybe the latter, in which case having 3 times as much investments as equity would be 2x leverage?

Oh how I miss all the dives and theatrics of previous decades Truly was a beautiful game, when it was done very well! Its all par for the course. SD

Egon [ @EgonKuhn ], I appreciate the discussion here. Please see green box called 'Fam Paulsson', upper part of chart, with a line to box 'Backahill', with a line [11%] to a box called 'Wihlborgs'. - Yeah, the whole chart appears quite confusing, until one starts trawling through some of the companies, looking at them. You can call my approach a 'jockey stock approach' - trying to assess and judge who are competent and not inept. Backahill is an awesome private company, doing its thing mostly under the radar. The Paulsson family members are far from inept, to me. [ Link, Link ] No, Egon [ @EgonKuhn].

Changing gears to the right thread here. I guess "K-Fastigheter" is something else than "Wihlborgs Fastigheter AB", so "Wihlborgs Fastigheter AB" isn't there in this graphic? The working hypothesis for all these Northern European and ultimately virtually all European REITs/REICs seems to be that Europe will never return to a growth trajectory again and that interest rate levels will therefore remain relatively low forever. One can certainly take that view, but I would feel somewhat more at ease if they were reducing their debt levels much more aggressively. Yet I don't see that happening anywhere neither with Germany’s Vonovia for instance nor with the Swedish companies. Whatever additional rental income comes in is swallowed up by steadily rising interest expenses. Consequently they are essentially treading water when you look at FFO trends over the last few years. Have you ever come across an example of a European RE play significantly deleveraging currently, moving toward a Debt/EBITDA ratio of for instance 5, like the major US multifamily REITs?

LoL! - Gave me a good laugh. - Bolded bullet points are great!

You can only suggest getting rid of the offside rule if you actually are not a fan/player. It's a totally ridiculous suggestion - sorry. There are def issues I'd like to get sorted. Like time wasting, cheating, professional freekicks (I'd like these yellowcard to give a 10 min suspension as they are so effective to kill the game). Having said all that I've thought the refereeing has been very good so far. One thing to keep in mind is that it's impossible for the referees to get it all right. Because they are human of course, but also because everybody never really agrees even after the fact with all camera angles if it indeed was a freekick, penalty or a yellow or red card. It's a continuous discussion after every match it seems.