Sterling Terrell

recovering economist

Brady Bonds

Brady Bonds

Brady Bonds sound like another government racket if I have ever heard of one.

Par for the course, I know.

But I like where Elon’s mind first went with it.

So few are able to immediately think like this…

It’s the difference between a true entrepreneur and everyone else.

Honestly, most of us are just scared.

While pursuing this project, Musk stumbled upon what seemed like an obvious business opportunity. The United States had tried to help reduce the debt burden of a number of developing countries through so-called Brady bonds, in which the U.S. government basically backstopped the debt of countries like Brazil and Argentina. Musk noticed an arbitrage play. “I calculated the backstop value, and it was something like fifty cents on the dollar, while the actual debt was trading at twenty-five cents,” Musk said. “This was like the biggest opportunity ever, and nobody seemed to realize it.”

-Ashley Vance, Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future (Amazon)

But It Hasn’t Turned Out That Way

But It Hasn’t Turned Out That Way

There…

I rewrote this passage for myself:

“When I was young I thought I would work for myself before my forties. But that is not how it has gone. I’m still a salaryman. On top of that, almost everything I have done has had nothing to do with my education. I assumed I would have made enough money to be in a different position, but I haven’t. Maybe one day.”

Good-grief. Just be encouraged.

Keep your dreams alive.

And keep moving towards them in whatever way your life will allow.

You are where you are for a time and for a reason.

Do not squander it – for it is preparing you for what comes next.

In earlier decades I thought that I would be out of the screenwriting business before my seventies, but it hasn’t turned out that way. At seventy-three, with Diana’s help I’m still pecking them out. Most of what I’ve done is journeyman work—or at least it was until she came along. I assumed I’d make enough writing fiction to let Hollywood go, but. . . well, I haven’t. And besides the need that keeps me active in Grub Street, I like Hollywood too much to want to let it go.

-Larry McMurtry, Hollywood (Amazon)

Sterling Terrell