Seth Frey | Lightnews

Seth Frey @enfascination.com · 4h

Friend was just like “But that’s TMI … TMI means Too Much Information”

Seth Frey @enfascination.com · 6h

Cooperatives as civic enterprise

Seth Frey @enfascination.com · 1d

Funny that "barrista" and "barrister" have the same etymology. You could also call either a "bar-rior" in the sense of "war-rior"

Seth Frey @enfascination.com · 1d

Blind spots are the opposite of fairies. They are the only thing in the universe that pops into existence once you stop believing in them.

Seth Frey @enfascination.com · 1d

A fun thing about English and German is that the hardest word in each language for the other to pronounce is each one’s word for “squirrel “ (which come out “skvvewwew“ and “eichch-chchon-chchen” respectively)

Seth Frey @enfascination.com · 1d

By the 1860s a Republican militant radical leftist youth org called the "Wide Awakes" was a formidable force for the abolition of slavery in Missouri.

In other words, the Republicans woke first.

Seth Frey @enfascination.com · 1d

"""
These assets tend to be owned by smaller unsophisticated “mom and pop” investors ... they are satisfied with collecting their current below market rents without interruption ... This mentality creates an abundance of value-added opportunities for investors.
"""

Seth Frey @enfascination.com · 1d

Fascinating to see it, our financial system's open derision for people who care about their communities.

This is in the pitch of a private equity housing investor, actually one of the "good ones" that at least frames up the social need for workforce housing.

It's shocking the blindness.

As described above, the smaller size of workforce rental apartment buildings in greater Los Angeles (90% are under 50 units), mean that these assets tend to be owned by smaller unsophisticated “mom and pop” investors. Many have been held by families for decades if not generations, and during that time many of these owners have invested very little in capital improvements as they don’t want to spend the money or lose rent while improvements are going on. Basically, they are satisfied with collecting their current below market rents without interuption. For most long-time owners, maintaining the status quo (e.g., low unit turnover and vacancy) is their top priority, even at the expense of sacrificing higher potential rents and net operating income.

This mentality creates an abundance of value-added opportunities for investors like Paladin at multiple stages of the investment process.

Seth Frey @enfascination.com · 1d

Just saying: I'm no Lamarckian but within three months of being a professor I had ear hair.

Seth Frey @enfascination.com · 1d

"Our initial assessment is that they will all die". He's like Baghdad Bob but for the economy

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 1d

Hassett: "There's a chance that job creation lags, productivity skyrockets, profits skyrocket, GDP skyrockets, but then all of the sudden you're making 20 widgets and you can make 20 widgets with fewer persons, and then that person has to find a new job. I think that kind of transition could happen"

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 1d

Hassett: "There's a chance that job creation lags, productivity skyrockets, profits skyrocket, GDP skyrockets, but then all of the sudden you're making 20 widgets and you can make 20 widgets with fewer persons, and then that person has to find a new job. I think that kind of transition could happen"

Seth Frey @enfascination.com · 2d

This is why I distinguish "anti-state" and "pro-market" libertarians. They're only the same if you accept there's nothing between the two. "Anti-state" libertarians acknowledge the existence and value of some stuff that's not markets, "pro-market" do not. It's markets or bust.

Seth Frey @enfascination.com · 2d

US proves that
1. Yes, it's possible to harness greed for social good
2. No, it's not always possible

Seth Frey @enfascination.com · 2d

Simple thing CA permanent renters can do to reduce rent increases is get two-year leases (one of AB1482's few favors).

Seth Frey @enfascination.com · 2d

Note to the future. By day 32 of 2026, AI discourse was in the SantaClaw phase:

"When there's LOTS OF IT, is slop actually a good thing?"

Seth Frey @enfascination.com · 2d

The paradigm:
"""
For most long-time owners, maintaining the status quo (e.g., low unit turnover and vacancy) is their top priority, even at the expense of sacrificing higher potential rents and net operating income. This mentality creates an abundance of value-added opportunities for investors.
"""

Seth Frey @enfascination.com · 2d

Housing can be a right, and it can be an investment class, but it can't be both.

Seth Frey @enfascination.com · 2d

I'm studying up on the affordable housing sector. Now I know that if an investor says
"""
Offering attractive value-added potential (capturing a large “loss to lease”) to increase cash flow and residual value,
"""
it means "we're raising rent."

Seth Frey @enfascination.com · 2d

... and sometimes it's the same number of concepts, they're just flipped, like you see on menus in Nepal offering "non-vegetarian" options for most dishes (more interesting than a new normal is another normal).

Seth Frey @enfascination.com · 2d

... But sometimes the mindblower is the concepts you distinguish that other languages moosh, like "ennuyer" French, which means "boring" AND "annoying" (That makes so much Sense!)....

Seth Frey @enfascination.com · 2d

I always thought the mindblowing thing about learning another language is when they divide two concepts you've always mooshed together, revealing more ways of seeing the world. This is your "50 words for snow" (though it's true of English and Inuit both actually)...

Steve Jankowski @textaural.bsky.social · 2d

Oh my! First Monday is ceasing as a journal after 30 years. 😥 I always wanted to publish there. So much important work was done there.

firstmonday.org/ojs/index.ph...

First Monday @ 30 | First Monday

firstmonday.org

Seth Frey @enfascination.com · 2d

If our billionaires' choices don't make sense to us, it's because their hopes, fears, and incentives are very different from everyone's.

Seth Frey @enfascination.com · 2d

Musk is worth $775 billion ($775,000,000,000). How much is that? If bending over to pick something up costs 1 second, and Musk walks by $24,000, he should keep walking because it's not worth his time. He makes more than that per second.

onion person @junlper.beer · 5d

it’s genuinely reassuring to me that this is the most miserable and paranoid person in the entire world

Seth Frey @enfascination.com · 2d

Board of Piece all in 💰💰💰

Politico @politico.com · 3d

Trump aims to hold the first meeting of his new Board of Peace in Washington this month

The meeting, proposed for Feb. 19, will seek to raise money for the reconstruction of Gaza.

dlvr.it

Seth Frey @enfascination.com · 3d

Exactly what the San Francisco longevity scene doesn't want to hear.

The Washington Post @washingtonpost.com · 3d

New research shows that you can lengthen your own life by improving someone else’s.

As 65-and-over super-volunteers find their postretirement purpose in service, they are also discovering that it improves their health and well-being. https://wapo.st/4bEypA6

The Washington Post @washingtonpost.com · 3d

New research shows that you can lengthen your own life by improving someone else’s.

As 65-and-over super-volunteers find their postretirement purpose in service, they are also discovering that it improves their health and well-being. https://wapo.st/4bEypA6

Politico @politico.com · 3d

Trump aims to hold the first meeting of his new Board of Peace in Washington this month

The meeting, proposed for Feb. 19, will seek to raise money for the reconstruction of Gaza.

dlvr.it

Ken Tindell @kentindell.bsky.social · 3d

Got to wonder who is behind this book and what their agenda is.

Governor Wes Moore @govwesmoore.bsky.social · 4d

I stand with County Executive Calvin Ball as he signs emergency legislation today prohibiting privately owned buildings from being used as ICE detention centers.

Howard County chose dignity, accountability, and its people. Tune into our event now:
bit.ly/4a2VtHw

Redirecting...

bit.ly

Add to Home Screen

Light up
your news

Add to Home Screen

Light upyour news

Sign in to Lightnews

Sign up to start reading

Connect Bluesky

Connect with Bluesky

Light up
your news