The seeds of every great empire’s inevitable decline are embedded within the fruits of its successes. A predictable cycle of borrowing and spending occurs that boosts a great power’s spending power over the short-term and makes it appear very strong. But its finances are in fact

mark-logan.co.uk/news/remarks-a…

Japan’s Ambassador to the UK 🇯🇵 🇬🇧 “in these gloomy times, it’s uplifting for the British spirit to see his appreciation for tea cakes, haggis, Adam Smith, and marmalade sandwiches (which I haven’t tasted since the 1990s).” marklogan.substack.com/p/the-man-who-…

ベビーメタル BABYMETAL これが日本語のリスニングテストだったら、完全に不合格です！！ BABYMETAL

Why being in change isn’t what it used to be…

Slowly but surely, a small army of robotic feet moved a 7,500-tonne complex of historic Shikumen buildings in Shanghai’s Zhangyuan historic district.

After 47 years, Ray Dalio just walked away from his $160 BILLION empire. But the real shock? WHY he left. His warning: "We're heading for a new financial order." Here’s what he sees coming—and why Wall Street isn't ready: 🧵

My hometown. Heinous attack on a young girl on Saturday. Ballymena and surrounding area has a strong cultural identity and sense of community, and I know they’ll reject all poison in society. I hope there’ll be a calming in the short term, in the long term we rebuild our country.

MUSIC 🎶 Surely the most enjoyable way to learn a language: vocab, listening, pronunciation and turn of phrases, even memorisation This Japanese band is my latest fav: Humbert Humbert 音楽を通して…言語を学ぶ最も楽しい方法の一つかもしれない。語彙、リスニング、発音 etc

When you haven’t been in a Chinese railway station for a while, Shanghai Hongqiao feels massive. But then. Hangzhou East Station enters the conversation… Image 1, poster to the rear says: Forge ahead on the new journey of reform; strive to contribute to railway modernisation

the Tyranny of Choice

We are not suffering from a shortage of laws, but from a shortage of shared purpose, of conviction, about who we are and what we hold sacred

Easy pontificating from a comfy studio sofa, referencing tradition, “ignorance of history” etc, when we are living through the change of a global and domestic era. Sure, past wisdom could provide direction, but the old ways of doing politics/economics no longer cuts the mustard

If you know, you know

"I promise to not raise your taxes" and "I promise to not cut your benefits" are the two popular political promises that are inconsistent with the much more needed promise "I promise to cut the budget deficit to about 3 percent of GDP" that is required to prevent a big

Japanese summer exam coming right up 💪 😥 本当はもっと動画を作って日本語を練習すべきなんですが、時間を見つけるのも難しいし、日本語でぴったりの言葉を見つけるのはもっと難しいです。まだレベルが低すぎます。

After spending time in Washington, DC discussing the budget deficit with senior people on both sides of the aisle, it’s clear to me that we are unlikely to change the debt trajectory we’re on and avoid the painful consequences. While virtually everyone agrees on the need to