Joseph's "Just My Thoughts"

We often overlook the financial concept of “opportunity costs” because there is no immediate cash expenditure involved. Typically, we invest more time and effort in purchasing cheaper products. In contrast, wealthy individuals do not have to exert as much effort as those with fewer financial resources. When we factor in opportunity costs, we often find ourselves spending a similar amount of money on the same items, regardless of wealth status. For instance, if Bill Gates picks up a dollar that someone has dropped, he actually detracts from his financial standing due to the opportunity costs associated with the value of his labor. In this regard, he might save more money by choosing to rest instead of working. Ultimately, opportunity costs are the hidden expenses that can keep us in financial distress in the real world. - Joseph’s “just my thoughts”

Online sales surpassed offline sales as a result of the global pandemic. Nowadays, people are purchasing signals instead of tangible items. The online environment is a web of signals. If the signal presented by the interface is not trustworthy, purchasing is not possible. For a long time, stocks have been traded based on signals that represent rights without requiring physical stock certificates. The same principle applies to gold. The challenge arises because both the tangible item and the signal react based on their value, but human greed leads to an oversupply of signals. This happens because creating a signal is much simpler than producing the actual item. The fundamental issue is that the signal serves as a representation of the tangible item. When there are more signals than tangible items, this discrepancy is termed a “bubble.” In offline contexts, signals are known as “cash.” Essentially, money is just a signal, and “trust” is crucial for believing in that signal. - Joseph’s “j...

Extending a loan is buying time with money. However, banks turn time into money. Purchase time with cash makes you poor, but changing time with money makes you rich. To pay off your debt, you have to change your time into cash and buy money (debt) with that money. All economic activity is an attempt to turn time into money. - Joseph’s “just my thoughts”