Dinar

I paid nothing for my Phd which I received ten years ago. I also received a stipend every year. I could have tutored undergrads for $100+ per hour if I had the inclination. The people I am talking about received PhDs in marketing, economics, management, accounting, finance and computer science. All making $170k-300K per annum, + insane benefits + incredible lifestyle in academia. I don't know about Germany, in the US you do bachelor's in four years, although some people can do it in three. Masters is part of PhD program, that can be done in four to five years. Yes, some people take six or seven, but that is generally the exception. Fair salary for a PhD in academia? I don't know it depends. You work 10 hours a week twelve weeks a year, and the rest of the time you do research, except once you get tenure, you don't even have to do that. There is well known research study/ies that show that research productivity collapses after people get tenure. Well, for 120 hours of work per year what should you get paid? Keep in mind, tenure is like a bond. You get your salary, pension, healthcare (worth $40-50K per annum after-tax in the US), other benefits - like tuition payment for your kids at university. You can also "work" till you are 80. @thepupil, I don't know about professors of engineering. I know that a friend is a professor of physics at City College of NY. He makes about $90K per annum, pays nothing for his health care benefits, pays nothing for his future pension benefits, and teaches about 20 hours a week, twelve weeks a year. Also gets a sabbatical every sixth or seventh year.

Tobacco stocks are unlikely to outperform. Altria and British American tobacco are seeing almost 10% decline in the US cigarette business, and are not really priced accordingly, particularly Altria.

I did a Phd, so I know a bunch of people in my class, the year or two before and the year or two after. A distant relative just got a job as a computer science professor at NYU.

That's just not true. I know a bunch of people who at 22 went into graduate school, and at 27-28 were working as professors, with $170-$250K salaries, some with subsidized housing (2 bedroom for $2k per month in West Village of Manhattan where market price was $8k), 30K+ per year research budget that you could use for travel to conferences in Maui or Italy, and yes, teaching load of 6-10 hours per week, 12 weeks a year. Oh, and let's not forget university will pay college tuition of their kids if they go to that school, or 50% if they go to another university.

I don't listen to those who call capitalists parasites. I have seen that movie before, it is a call to mass murder.

Karl Marx was the ultimate parasite - lived on money that Engels gave him by exploiting his workers. Karl Marx denied the role of incentives and human nature. His taught incitement, his followers murdered more people than Hitler. It boggles the mind that Nazis are universally reviled and communists are celebrated by intellectuals.

And just 12 weeks a year at a place like NYU, Yale, Columbia...

Wait, where did I hear this before? Oh yes, in the USSR, reading Das Kapital! The only parasites that I can see is him and his fellow professors in academia

Greg, what are you referring to when you are talking about Fanatics? Thank you.

@Viking, I thought that the equity portfolio was USD 15bn, no?

Thank you very much for a very interesting, name, what do you think is the average over cycle EBITDA less maintenance cap ex for this business? Thank you.

WIth the caveat that I am neither a tax attorney nor a tax accountant, my understanding that it is only Fairfax India that is a PFIC.

That is correct. In terms of IRA, yes, but with a caveat if you put in more than USD 100K, there may be a filing requirement. I am having my accountant check on it.

Fairfax India is not really investable for US citizens. The tax and filing requirements are insane as far as I understand.

@ValueArb, I am not saying that the Soviet Army should have done what it did in Germany in 1945, I am just stating a fact. In terms of atrocities begatting more atrocities, it depends - look at what Turks did to Armenians in 1915 or Nazis did to the Jews or Ukrainians to Jews and Poles in World War II. (I feel that this should be obvious, but I will state it anyway - I do not support mass murder, I am just stating historical facts.) Oh, and for the record, I for instance do not support vengeance against Germans for what their ancestors did in WWII or against Ukrainians for what ancestors of some of their compatriots did in WWII.

It is not a time long ago to anyone who grew up in the USSR, let alone like Putin in the 1950s. As for Putin, you cannot make a good deal with a bad man, nobody who was a normal person would join KGB. Military yes, KGB no. It was much worse than Stasi - at least Stasi never massacred its own people by the tens of millions.

You do not seem to know your history. During WWII, first German soldiers committed unspeakable atrocities in the former USSR, and then Soviet soldiers avenged this with mass rapes in Germany.

You will officially become an old man when given a choice between going out with a beautiful girl and having a quiet evening at home you choose the latter!

Agreed. For instance, if BIAL goes public, and the market assigns value similar to GMR + real estate at the airport gets marked as well, BIAL stake could go up 3-5x over the next four years, which between 20% of the top and 40% or so ownership of Fairfax India would give you another $5bn+ uplift to book value at Fairfax Financial.

You are forgetting about taxes, operating earnings are before tax.

Agree on Turkey and Germany, but Yugoslavia no longer exists. Neither Serbia nor Croatia are part of NATO.

It was posted within the last two days.

Why did you sell YELLQ? Thank you.

Sure, Charter comes to mind.

No, what I believe is that unskilled immigration depresses wages paid to low income workers. If you would like to see their wages rise, like I do, you need to eliminate unskilled immigration and help those low income workers who want and can to become skilled tradesmen - carpenters, electricians, plumbers, etc... The benefit of gutting social services is manifold - good for people for their dignity and mental well being, reduces crime (when people don't work, they tend to look for trouble), boosts GDP as those workers join the labor force, crime reduction benefits society in a myriad of ways. Government has more tax revenue without changing tax rates, etc... Larger labor force is also good reducing inflationary pressures. But no, I am NOT saying that decreasing unskilled labor force leads to lower wages, just the opposite.