[Li Lu's 2015 speech at Peking U]

Thank you very much for doing this! Has anyone found the "Sixteen Lectures on Modernization" that he refers to in the lecture?

 

This might be the Chinese version. I can't read it unfortunately. http://liluchineseblog.tumblr.com

 

Yes, that looks like them.  Thanks!  The introduction to the first post says:  "Why is the disparity between China and the West so large?  How can China catch up with the West?  What will China look like after it catches up and can it reclaim its past glory?  Using New History and adding economics, biology and other natural sciences, as well as traditional studies of Chinese history, we can today place the question of China’s modernisation into the context of mankind’s overall development over the past millennia.  From this foundation, we can better understand and answer the three questions above and make more reliable forecasts about China’s future."

 

The blog also has Li's foreword to the Chinese edition of Poor Charlie's Almanac.  There's already a translation but the link doesn't work for me?

 

http://blog.enochko.com/2010/06/my-teacher-charlie-munger-english.html

 

It's available at archive.org

 

https://web.archive.org/web/20140701184816/http://blog.enochko.com/2010/06/my-teacher-charlie-munger-english.html

[Blow Up the Tax Code and Start Over]

It would be much appreciated, if a fellow board member would provide a link to a website explaining the US estate tax on the rim. It's important for non US residents board members understanding of what's going on in this topic.

 

Thank you in advance.

 

Here is a consise summary from Wikipedia.com

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Estate_tax_in_the_United_States

 

As you can see even the summary is long and tedious.  Basically a TL;DR is when someone dies their heirs will get their goods free and clear without having to pay an inheritance tax if the value is less than $5.3M. 

 

 

It seems the tax applies to everyone who owns U.S. stocks, even if held in an account outside the U.S.

 

http://www.taxtips.ca/personaltax/usestatetax.htm

 

"The deceased is subject to U.S. estate taxation on the fair market value of their U.S. assets at the time of death, including:

....

stock of corporations organized in or under U.S. law, no matter where the stock certificates are physically located, even if they are registered in the name of a nominee (in street name)"

 

[Working with Canadian securities and currency for a US investor]

I've used this method to convert at close to the spot rate in can brokerage accounts

 

http://www.moneysense.ca/invest/norberts-gambit-a-better-way-to-buy-u-s-dollars

 

http://canadiancouchpotato.com/2013/12/03/norberts-gambit-the-complete-guide/

 

 

But there are some risks in this  :(  I hope someone knows a better way :)