This year, the Free Cities Summit is taking place both online and in person. I spoke at the online summit on special economic zones.

I am speaking at this year’s Free Cities Summits!

This year, the CFA Institute Annual conference was finally back after covid! I had the great pleasure to moderate a panel for the CFA Institute Research Foundation on Private Credit for the session hosted by the CFA Institute Research Foundation.

I spoke at the CFA Institute Annual conference

I had two fascinating conversations with Marty Fridson, CIO at Lehman Livian Friedson Advisors, around topics in his book "Financial Statements."

Two great conversations with Marty Fridson for the CFA Institute Research Foundation podcast

We have the perfectly nerdy presentation and discussion on monetary policy for this 1-year celebratory edition of Bastiat Fort Lauderdale. I organize this together with Brain Singer, my business partner, and it is an absolute blast.

Bastiat Fort Lauderdale celebrates one year!

I published a piece that is but one chapter of a larger body of work, to be published soon, by Brian Singer and me. In it, we will lay out our framework for investing and dig deep into its fundamental underpinnings, both economic and philosophical.

Published a brief for the CFA Institute Research Foundation!

In this article Brian Singer and I describe how the commoditization of the cannabis plant is changing the consumption landscape.

Our third cannabis article for the Enterprising Investor is published

In this episode of the Financial Thought Podcast, I sit down with Bill Hardin, Dean of the FIU Business School, to discuss the measurable and intangible returns of business education.

Check out my conversation with William Hardin of FIU on for the CFA Institute Research Foundation podcast!

This episode of the CFA Institute Research Foundation podcast features our first in-studio recording, for which we went up to Chicago. Anthony DeChellis interviewed us.

Brian Singer and I interviewed on the CFA Institute Research Foundation podcast!

In this episod of the official podcast of the CFA Institute Research Foundation, I sit down with Philip Maymin to examine the technical and practical implications of AI in finance.

My super-interesting conversation with Philip Maymin for the CFA Institute Research Foundation podcast!

Joseph Simonian shares his wisdom on model validation in finance. This conversation opened my eyes to several aspects of this topic.

I had a fascinating conversation with Joseph Simonian for the CFA Institute Research Foundation podcast!

This conversation with Kerry Jordan focuses on our investment philosophy around global investments in private cannabis companies. We also share our views on how cultural shifts toward widespread medical and social cannabis consumption have led to sustainable and repeatable investment returns.

Brian Singer and I were interviewed on the This Is Supercritical Podcast!

Enjoy this episode of the Financial Thought Exchange Podcast with Mark Kritzman! In my view an underrated thinker, Mr. Kritzman discussed Relevance-Based Prediction with me, an alternative to machine learning.

Really interesting conversation with Mark Kritzman for the CFA Institute Research Foundation podcast

This conversation was an absolute blast, as Bob Murphy jumped though my adventures in the Swedish military, my scholarship, and my book.

I was on the infineo podcast with Bob Murphy!

In a series of four conversations, we discuss their framework for portfolio construction for individuals. The Research Foundation published this work as a monograph.

Great conversations with Thomas Idzorek and Paul Kaplan on the CFA Institute Research Foundation podcast

In this episode of the Financial Thought Exchange, the official CFA Institute Research Foundation podcast, I sit down with to discuss Harry Markowitz and the FAJ article.

I interviewed Larry Siegel and Stephen Sexauer on the work of Harry Markowitz!

March 26 2024 was the first meeting of Bastiat, where we bring freedom-long people together monthly for intellectual conversations and presentations in the Fort Lauderdale Area.

I launched Bastiat Fort Lauderdale!

The Enterprising Investor, the flagship forum of the CFA Institute for analysis of current issues in finance and investing, did it again! Brian Singer and I were allowed to provide the cannabis industry some attention from the institutional finance community.

Our second article for the Enterprising Investor of the CFA Institute is published!

I have launched the video podcast, the Financial Thought Exchange, for the CFA Institute Research Foundation! The goal with this project is to showcase the pieces we are putting out at the Research Foundation by interviewing our amazing authors.

The CFA Institute Research Foundation podcast is launched!

The Enterprising Investor, the flagship forum of the CFA Institute for analysis of current issues in finance and investing, opens its door to cannabis! For a conservative institution, it takes people they know and trust to step in and write about this topic.

Brian Singer and I write about cannabis for the Enterprising Investor

I was delighted to get to contribute my thoughts and opinions in the 2023 panel discussion on cannabis economics.

I participated in Withum’s 2023 panel on cannabis economics

Lotta Moberg, an analyst on William Blair’s Dynamic Allocation team, notes that the big issue being fought over, namely Ukraine’s membership in NATO, is one neither side wants.

Quoted in Barron's on Russia

Flagging my participation in Macro Matters, part of the CFA Society Chicago podcast.

Macro Matters with the CFA Society Chicago

This link takes you to the excellent podcast produced by CFA Society Chicago.

Check out the CFA Society Chicago Podcast

We show under what conditions a special economic zone will succeed at spurring development and at sparking broader liberalization.

Special economic zones and liberalization avalanches

While previously addressing issues of double taxation, the OECD shifted to restricting tax competition and increasing automatic exchanges of tax information. We analyze the reasons for this shift in policy focus.

Cartelizing Taxes - Understanding the OECD’s Campaign against ‘Harmful Tax Competition

This paper analyzes the concept of municipal bankruptcy in a comparative framework with commercial bankruptcy. Because of significant institutional differences between the two forms of corporation, we argue that it is impossible to construct a bridge between them.

Default Without Capital Account - The Economics of Municipal Bankruptcy

A broad look at export competitiveness of the Dominican Republic, where I contribute with a perspective on special economic zones.

How to sustain export dynamism by reducing duality in the Dominican Republic A World Bank trade competitiveness diagnostic

In Swedish. We perform a literature review of the research on how some counties have pursued efficiency enhancing welfare reforms. We find several clear findings of the political, bureacratic, and economic prerequisites for successful reforms.

Hur svårt kan det vara? Nio frågor och svar om reformer i västerländska demokratier (How Hard Can It Be? Nine Questions and Answers on Reform in Western Democracies)

This paper presents export processing zones (EPZs) as a rent-seeking tool with the appearance of a development policy. My model indicates that EPZs do not benefit an economy via backward linkages but through marginal improvements to a country’s trade regime.

Liberalizing Rent-Seeking - How Export Processing Zones Can Save or Sink an Economy

The purpose of this paper is to show how special economic zones (SEZs) can be applied to refugee camps. Zones are powerful tools for investors to act like institutional entrepreneurs, who promote institutional reform by pursuing exemptions from government constraints and taxes or by advocating for reform. Refugee SEZs (R-SEZs) would similarly allow for institutional entrepreneurs to promote broader immigration reform.

Refugee Special Economic Zones

Despite decades of international experience, there remains no blueprint for successful special economic zone policies. We propose a ‘robust political economy’ framework that divides political economy problems into those of inadequate knowledge and distorted incentives.

It worked in China, so why not in Africa? The political economy challenge of Special Economic Zones

This article explores the benefits and downsides of special economic zones, and analyzes their economic and political impact on the United States. It argues that, though widely implemented in the country, the zones have likely done more harm than good for the United States.

The Political Economy of Special Economic Zones - Lessons for the United States

This paper is a first attempt to apply a robust political economy framework to explain when Special Economic Zones can contribute to economic development. The framework can be applied to judge their potential efficacy, something that orthodox studies of country features such as natural resources, infrastructure, and zone location fail to do.

The Political Economy of Special Economic Zones

The political economy of state-provided targeted benefits

Today’s ultra-low interest rates are anything but ‘natural’.

Opinion piece in the Financial Times

Python automated testing in brief and a few principles to keep in mind.

My Chat with Mark Lutter of the Charter Cities Institute

High-level thoughts on the risk and opportunities in a pandemic world.

Some musings on investing in the time of covid

A debate from two sides of the ideological spectrum on what should be done in the US covid economy.

Conversation with Stephen Moore and Randall Wray on the current economy

A conversation about the logic, past and potential future of special economic zones.

Featured on Economic Rockstar

A conversation about NEOM, the city that Saudi Arabia is building from scratch, and what our knowledge on special economic zones says about its potential.

I explain the often underappreciated political economy aspects of special economic zones.

All Posts

I am speaking at this year’s Free Cities Summits!

I spoke at the CFA Institute Annual conference

Two great conversations with Marty Fridson for the CFA Institute Research Foundation podcast

Bastiat Fort Lauderdale celebrates one year!

Published a brief for the CFA Institute Research Foundation!