Alessandro Martinello
@alemartinello.com
Econ PhD from the University of Copenhagen. Ex-academia at Lund University, ex-policy at the Danish Central Bank, finally landed in the private sector and leading the data agenda at Realkredit Danmark. We have cookies!
www.alemartinello.com
www.alemartinello.com
In a letter Tolkien pretty directly says that technological augmentation rather than skill cultivation is Evil.
November 12, 2025 at 3:28 PM
In a letter Tolkien pretty directly says that technological augmentation rather than skill cultivation is Evil.
But - IS it good? From the individual point of view 👍. You can afford to stay in your house for life!
But that means that in DK the great majority of older owners now lives in large dwellings (four rooms or more), even after the age of 75.
Back to square one. Is that good for first time buyers?
But that means that in DK the great majority of older owners now lives in large dwellings (four rooms or more), even after the age of 75.
Back to square one. Is that good for first time buyers?
November 9, 2025 at 9:27 PM
But - IS it good? From the individual point of view 👍. You can afford to stay in your house for life!
But that means that in DK the great majority of older owners now lives in large dwellings (four rooms or more), even after the age of 75.
Back to square one. Is that good for first time buyers?
But that means that in DK the great majority of older owners now lives in large dwellings (four rooms or more), even after the age of 75.
Back to square one. Is that good for first time buyers?
For most people, their largest asset is their home. For most older people, that’s completely irrelevant. What good does it do to you to have a half-million$ home if you can’t put bread on the table?
You can’t eat bricks. Well, most of us can’t.
So you are forced to sell your home.
You can’t eat bricks. Well, most of us can’t.
So you are forced to sell your home.
November 9, 2025 at 9:27 PM
For most people, their largest asset is their home. For most older people, that’s completely irrelevant. What good does it do to you to have a half-million$ home if you can’t put bread on the table?
You can’t eat bricks. Well, most of us can’t.
So you are forced to sell your home.
You can’t eat bricks. Well, most of us can’t.
So you are forced to sell your home.
Enter the one group of people who undoubtedly benefited most from IO mortgages.
Boomers!
A great analysis by @henrikyde.bsky.social and coauthors shows that IO mortgages have financed billions in consumption by older home owners.
That makes total sense.
Boomers!
A great analysis by @henrikyde.bsky.social and coauthors shows that IO mortgages have financed billions in consumption by older home owners.
That makes total sense.
November 9, 2025 at 9:27 PM
Enter the one group of people who undoubtedly benefited most from IO mortgages.
Boomers!
A great analysis by @henrikyde.bsky.social and coauthors shows that IO mortgages have financed billions in consumption by older home owners.
That makes total sense.
Boomers!
A great analysis by @henrikyde.bsky.social and coauthors shows that IO mortgages have financed billions in consumption by older home owners.
That makes total sense.
The point is, that the most important discussion about such a measure should be about these types of effects. Who gains? Who loses?
Instead most critics have focused, not surprisingly, on an entirely wrong point.
Dying before paying off a mortgage is bad!
Well, that’s good, actually!
Instead most critics have focused, not surprisingly, on an entirely wrong point.
Dying before paying off a mortgage is bad!
Well, that’s good, actually!
November 9, 2025 at 9:27 PM
The point is, that the most important discussion about such a measure should be about these types of effects. Who gains? Who loses?
Instead most critics have focused, not surprisingly, on an entirely wrong point.
Dying before paying off a mortgage is bad!
Well, that’s good, actually!
Instead most critics have focused, not surprisingly, on an entirely wrong point.
Dying before paying off a mortgage is bad!
Well, that’s good, actually!
Did it help first-time buyers?
Mmmh… Nope. The debate is not quite settled, but much points to the mechanism above - in line with economic theory. It likely created a capital transfer to existing owners.
Claes Backman has a paper on this btw
claesbackman.github.io/Papers/DkHou...
Mmmh… Nope. The debate is not quite settled, but much points to the mechanism above - in line with economic theory. It likely created a capital transfer to existing owners.
Claes Backman has a paper on this btw
claesbackman.github.io/Papers/DkHou...
November 9, 2025 at 9:27 PM
Did it help first-time buyers?
Mmmh… Nope. The debate is not quite settled, but much points to the mechanism above - in line with economic theory. It likely created a capital transfer to existing owners.
Claes Backman has a paper on this btw
claesbackman.github.io/Papers/DkHou...
Mmmh… Nope. The debate is not quite settled, but much points to the mechanism above - in line with economic theory. It likely created a capital transfer to existing owners.
Claes Backman has a paper on this btw
claesbackman.github.io/Papers/DkHou...
Interest-only (IO) mortgages!
That is, (for a time), you do not pay down your debt. Amortization is frozen, you only pay interest on your debt.
Introduced in ‘03 (also to help first time buyers), they have been hugely popular. Today, one in two home financing solutions is at least partially IO
That is, (for a time), you do not pay down your debt. Amortization is frozen, you only pay interest on your debt.
Introduced in ‘03 (also to help first time buyers), they have been hugely popular. Today, one in two home financing solutions is at least partially IO
November 9, 2025 at 9:27 PM
Interest-only (IO) mortgages!
That is, (for a time), you do not pay down your debt. Amortization is frozen, you only pay interest on your debt.
Introduced in ‘03 (also to help first time buyers), they have been hugely popular. Today, one in two home financing solutions is at least partially IO
That is, (for a time), you do not pay down your debt. Amortization is frozen, you only pay interest on your debt.
Introduced in ‘03 (also to help first time buyers), they have been hugely popular. Today, one in two home financing solutions is at least partially IO
Let’s start with what the debate should be about. Longer mortgages will likely NOT help first-time buyers.
Supply&demand. Push demand, price rises. Price rises => capital gain to existing home owners. Who pays? First-time buyers.
We might have seen it in 🇩🇰 with another mortgage innovation...
Supply&demand. Push demand, price rises. Price rises => capital gain to existing home owners. Who pays? First-time buyers.
We might have seen it in 🇩🇰 with another mortgage innovation...
November 9, 2025 at 9:27 PM
Let’s start with what the debate should be about. Longer mortgages will likely NOT help first-time buyers.
Supply&demand. Push demand, price rises. Price rises => capital gain to existing home owners. Who pays? First-time buyers.
We might have seen it in 🇩🇰 with another mortgage innovation...
Supply&demand. Push demand, price rises. Price rises => capital gain to existing home owners. Who pays? First-time buyers.
We might have seen it in 🇩🇰 with another mortgage innovation...
In an interesting turn of events, US and Danish government came up with the same to help with the affordability crisis: longer mortgages!
That has sparked some backlash. But in the US, it seems the discussion is focusing on the wrong stuff.
Well, let’s try to learn from 🇩🇰.
That has sparked some backlash. But in the US, it seems the discussion is focusing on the wrong stuff.
Well, let’s try to learn from 🇩🇰.
November 9, 2025 at 9:27 PM
In an interesting turn of events, US and Danish government came up with the same to help with the affordability crisis: longer mortgages!
That has sparked some backlash. But in the US, it seems the discussion is focusing on the wrong stuff.
Well, let’s try to learn from 🇩🇰.
That has sparked some backlash. But in the US, it seems the discussion is focusing on the wrong stuff.
Well, let’s try to learn from 🇩🇰.
‘Twas a while back, but I *think* it was this project. Would have to retrace the heated conversation with my team members to be sure
November 2, 2025 at 12:44 PM
‘Twas a while back, but I *think* it was this project. Would have to retrace the heated conversation with my team members to be sure
The maps. THE MAPS!!
October 27, 2025 at 1:28 PM
The maps. THE MAPS!!
Think this explains it well. It can be innocuous, but say I am using the same dataset to train two different models for two different purposes (not unusual), I would end up with the same train-test split.
Same with bootstrapping iterations.
Overall defeats the randomization purpose.
Same with bootstrapping iterations.
Overall defeats the randomization purpose.
October 23, 2025 at 7:45 AM
Think this explains it well. It can be innocuous, but say I am using the same dataset to train two different models for two different purposes (not unusual), I would end up with the same train-test split.
Same with bootstrapping iterations.
Overall defeats the randomization purpose.
Same with bootstrapping iterations.
Overall defeats the randomization purpose.
(4,6)
We tried going to bed at 10:30 but the 11mo did not comply
We tried going to bed at 10:30 but the 11mo did not comply
October 22, 2025 at 8:13 AM
(4,6)
We tried going to bed at 10:30 but the 11mo did not comply
We tried going to bed at 10:30 but the 11mo did not comply
Linkedin never disappoints.
“The social safety net is so good that nobody takes any risks” is a masterpiece.
Anyway, 🇩🇰 has also drawbacks.
“The social safety net is so good that nobody takes any risks” is a masterpiece.
Anyway, 🇩🇰 has also drawbacks.
October 13, 2025 at 5:08 PM
Linkedin never disappoints.
“The social safety net is so good that nobody takes any risks” is a masterpiece.
Anyway, 🇩🇰 has also drawbacks.
“The social safety net is so good that nobody takes any risks” is a masterpiece.
Anyway, 🇩🇰 has also drawbacks.
Random shoutout - I just started to read Data Engineering Design Patterns by @ssp.sh and it is full of tremendous inspiration, not only from a technical perspective, but also on how to effectively communicate data challenges. Getting pumped abt returning to work after paternity leave
dedp.online
dedp.online
October 11, 2025 at 12:03 PM
Random shoutout - I just started to read Data Engineering Design Patterns by @ssp.sh and it is full of tremendous inspiration, not only from a technical perspective, but also on how to effectively communicate data challenges. Getting pumped abt returning to work after paternity leave
dedp.online
dedp.online
The drones in Copenhagen have been a painful reminder at completing the preparations recommended by the 🇩🇰 government in case of sabotage to critical infra.
Last items: water for three days, emergency radio.
If you haven’t done it already, it is a good time to do it now!
Last items: water for three days, emergency radio.
If you haven’t done it already, it is a good time to do it now!
September 24, 2025 at 6:08 PM
The drones in Copenhagen have been a painful reminder at completing the preparations recommended by the 🇩🇰 government in case of sabotage to critical infra.
Last items: water for three days, emergency radio.
If you haven’t done it already, it is a good time to do it now!
Last items: water for three days, emergency radio.
If you haven’t done it already, it is a good time to do it now!
Well, preparing roe deer stew with the main ingredient grazing just out of the window is a first
September 13, 2025 at 1:28 PM
Well, preparing roe deer stew with the main ingredient grazing just out of the window is a first
Ish, the dannebrog is from a couple hundred years later. But to be fair, the Conqueror’s ancestor is said to be from Faxe, so checks in spirit.
August 27, 2025 at 12:15 PM
Ish, the dannebrog is from a couple hundred years later. But to be fair, the Conqueror’s ancestor is said to be from Faxe, so checks in spirit.
I suspect you know about it - so how come you haven’t centered environment management through uv?
Waiting *minutes* for an environment to be generated gives me the shivers nowadays
Waiting *minutes* for an environment to be generated gives me the shivers nowadays
August 14, 2025 at 9:04 PM
I suspect you know about it - so how come you haven’t centered environment management through uv?
Waiting *minutes* for an environment to be generated gives me the shivers nowadays
Waiting *minutes* for an environment to be generated gives me the shivers nowadays
Ok I read it because I am annoyed by the world’s obsession with bike = Netherlands instead of Denmark.
A bit of a weird experience? I was still asking myself “…and the problem is..?”. The closest they got to answer that question was around here - and yet see the highlighted part…?
A bit of a weird experience? I was still asking myself “…and the problem is..?”. The closest they got to answer that question was around here - and yet see the highlighted part…?
July 16, 2025 at 6:49 AM
Ok I read it because I am annoyed by the world’s obsession with bike = Netherlands instead of Denmark.
A bit of a weird experience? I was still asking myself “…and the problem is..?”. The closest they got to answer that question was around here - and yet see the highlighted part…?
A bit of a weird experience? I was still asking myself “…and the problem is..?”. The closest they got to answer that question was around here - and yet see the highlighted part…?
What about a comic book? 😉
July 5, 2025 at 8:13 PM
What about a comic book? 😉
You HAD to make me google 😂
May 31, 2025 at 4:14 PM
You HAD to make me google 😂
*one of the most punchable.
Can’t beat the King
Can’t beat the King
May 31, 2025 at 4:06 PM
*one of the most punchable.
Can’t beat the King
Can’t beat the King