Author Archives: Justin Colletti

Why Bitcoin is Not (And Can Never Be) “Digital Gold”

By Justin Colletti | Published: November 17, 2017

When faced with criticism, one of the most common responses from fans of Bitcoin is that its detractors just “don’t understand”. But this is a puzzling stance for them to take, because Bitcoin really isn’t that hard to make sense of. Simply put, it’s a digital token that grants access to digital transactions. Those transactions are permanently recorded […]

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Make America …Singapore Again?

By Justin Colletti | Published: March 30, 2017

Today, Roger Montejano has a post out on SonicScoop about the recording studios of Singapore. I found myself truly stunned looking at images of this city. This is not an uncommon experience. These are countries that started as essentially impoverished just over 50 years ago, and now stand as some of the wealthiest, most creative, […]

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How to Fix Daylight Savings Time

By Justin Colletti | Published: March 13, 2017

Today, I want to share a secret Sci-Fi fantasy with you. It’s about Daylight Savings Time. And I can almost guarantee you that it will come true within 30 years, if not sooner. Instead of dealing with setting the clocks back and forth by an hour twice a year, and dealing with all the annoyance […]

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Where are the fairly priced assets? Hiding in plain sight.

By Justin Colletti | Published: October 14, 2016
The S&P 500, priced in ounces of gold.

There are a lot of people who work in financial fields who have a hobby in music. It may be somewhat more rare to find the opposite: People who work in music who have a (reasonably lucrative) hobby in finance, but hey, I’m weird like that. Lately, I’ve been finding more and more crossover in […]

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Investing Strategies for Tumultuous Times

By Justin Colletti | Published: July 2, 2016

I get some great emails about the investing strategies I’ve talked about on this blog. Here’s one that came in just this morning. Hi Justin, I enjoy reading your blog and feel like you offer wonderful insights in posts like “The Independent Musician’s Guide to Not Going Broke” from 2013, and “How to Tell When […]

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A Few Thoughts on Brexit. (And Why Not to Fear It.)

By Justin Colletti | Published: June 24, 2016

The EU started with great intentions, as a free trade zone meant foster cooperation and connectedness within Europe. Over time, it has become the opposite: A giant bureaucratic regulatory boondoggle that helps some Europeans at the expense of others. As bureaucracies often do, it helps those closest to power while harming those furthest from it, […]

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Get Used to Negotiation. It is an Everyday Event.

By Justin Colletti | Published: March 15, 2016

I sometimes hear complaints about the role of negotiation in setting salaries and pay. The claim is that “negotiation skills” can give some people an “unfair” advantage over others. This claim sounds plausible at first, but on deeper inspection, it falls apart quickly. This is because it assumes that negotiating is not an important job skill […]

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On Adaptability and Figuring Out Why You’re Alive

By Justin Colletti | Published: March 14, 2016

I was saddened to hear that over the weekend, musician Keith Emerson of Emerson, Lake and Palmer shot himself. He was 71 years old and had become depressed that nerve damage to his hand was preventing of him from performing to the high virtuosic standard to which he and his fans had become accustomed. Specialization […]

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Free Speech Matters. Even for People We Disagree With.

By Justin Colletti | Published: March 12, 2016

When you have free and open debate, even of bad ideas, the best and truest ideas tend to win out over time. Not every time and in every moment, but by and large. As humans, we are all reasoning animals, albeit very imperfect ones. But when you shut down and shut out bad ideas—rather than […]

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The Interplay Between Giving and Getting (What Say’s Law Really Means)

By Justin Colletti | Published: March 11, 2016

If you want to get something, the best question you can ask is: “What can I give?” Once you have determined what you can give, you would be right to ask yourself: “Does anybody want it?” If the answer is “No”, then it may be wise to ask yourself whether you know what “giving” really […]

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