Juggling Dynamite

As we grow older, a common refrain is that we must slow down, take it easy and not keep exerting our physical bodies. The trouble is laying back accelerates physical frailty and a self-fulfilling weakness. The reality is use it or lose it.  This story about a french cyclist (a little over twice my age) offers inspiration for continued commitment to daily physical exertion at all ages.

After completing 14 miles (92 laps) within one hour, the 5 foot tall (smaller dogs live longer than large, is it the same for humans?), 105-year-old, retired french fireman said: “I’m not a phenomenon.  I’m not looking to make progress. When you get up over 100 years, you can’t mess around…Tonight, I’ll party with all my friends.”  Words to live by.

For one hour on Wednesday afternoon, a 105-year-old Frenchman pedaled around a velodrome outside Paris. Before a small crowd and dozens of cameras, he completed 92 laps without stopping. And when his hour was up, his only complaint was that his arms hurt.

The man’s name is Robert Marchand and he holds the world record for distance covered on a bicycle in an hour by anyone at least 100 years old. He didn’t break it on Wednesday—which means the mark he set when he was 102 still stands—but he managed to stay on the bike. He considered his distance of 22.547 kilometers (14.01 miles) a victory in itself.   Here is a direct video link.

Skype quality not great here, but content of this discussion is worthwhile.

Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers said investors are being far too sanguine about the risks associated with Donald Trump’s incoming administration.The Harvard professor, a Democrat who was Treasury chief under Bill Clinton, cited the possibility of protectionist measures by the U.S. as well as changes to foreign policy and domestic social policy as issues that are creating “extraordinary uncertainty. Here is a direct video link.

“The vast majority of the companies who have large overseas cash also have substantial amounts of domestic cash,” he said. “The reality is that cash that is brought home will be used to pay dividends, to buy back shares, to engage in mergers and acquisitions, to rearrange the financial chessboard, not to invest in large amounts of new capital. It is a chimera to suppose that there will be large increases in capital investment as a consequence of that repatriation.”

A new report from the OECD is sounding the alarm on ‘dangerous’ conditions in several global property markets:  especially New Zealand, Sweeden, Canada, Australia and the UK.   While bad for ‘investors’ and the highly levered buyers who have been driving prices beyond reasonable levels, the report also notes that lower prices will eventually be better for families looking to form households.  First however, a plunge in prices will destabilize the economies who have become overly dependent on rising property values.  See Fears of a ‘massive’ global property price fall amid ‘dangerous’ conditions and market-slowdown: