Mike Bird
@birdyword.bsky.social
Wall Street editor at The Economist, co-host of our Money Talks podcast.
Today's the day: the Land Trap is now OUT in the US! Just two days to wait until the UK release. Pre-orders landing imminently.
If you're interested in why land is so vital in finance everywhere, the rise and fall of Georgism, and how land shaped Japan, China and Singapore, this is the book for you
If you're interested in why land is so vital in finance everywhere, the rise and fall of Georgism, and how land shaped Japan, China and Singapore, this is the book for you
November 4, 2025 at 2:51 PM
Today's the day: the Land Trap is now OUT in the US! Just two days to wait until the UK release. Pre-orders landing imminently.
If you're interested in why land is so vital in finance everywhere, the rise and fall of Georgism, and how land shaped Japan, China and Singapore, this is the book for you
If you're interested in why land is so vital in finance everywhere, the rise and fall of Georgism, and how land shaped Japan, China and Singapore, this is the book for you
Very excited to see the first major review of my book, which now comes out in less than three weeks, by @martinsandbu.ft.com in the Financial Times! www.ft.com/content/cb90...
October 16, 2025 at 6:23 PM
Very excited to see the first major review of my book, which now comes out in less than three weeks, by @martinsandbu.ft.com in the Financial Times! www.ft.com/content/cb90...
Audiobook recording is WRAPPED!
You can preorder here, or get yourself a print copy! Or ideally, both! Available at a bunch of other places too.
www.amazon.com/Land-Trap-Hi...
You can preorder here, or get yourself a print copy! Or ideally, both! Available at a bunch of other places too.
www.amazon.com/Land-Trap-Hi...
September 27, 2025 at 10:00 PM
Audiobook recording is WRAPPED!
You can preorder here, or get yourself a print copy! Or ideally, both! Available at a bunch of other places too.
www.amazon.com/Land-Trap-Hi...
You can preorder here, or get yourself a print copy! Or ideally, both! Available at a bunch of other places too.
www.amazon.com/Land-Trap-Hi...
BIG NEWS: My book, The Land Trap, is coming out on Nov 4! I've been fascinated by this topic for years. The book tells the story of why land still occupies such a huge role in finance, economics and politics globally, and why that's a source of huge risk. You can preorder NOW!
August 15, 2025 at 3:06 PM
BIG NEWS: My book, The Land Trap, is coming out on Nov 4! I've been fascinated by this topic for years. The book tells the story of why land still occupies such a huge role in finance, economics and politics globally, and why that's a source of huge risk. You can preorder NOW!
JP Morgan now accounts for about 30% of the market cap of large American banks, from 12% when Dimon started. Mike Mayo, the Wells Fargo banks analyst, thinks itsm's heading to $1tn. It already had a lead over competitors on efficiency pre-pandemic, but the gap is huge now.
May 22, 2025 at 12:11 PM
JP Morgan now accounts for about 30% of the market cap of large American banks, from 12% when Dimon started. Mike Mayo, the Wells Fargo banks analyst, thinks itsm's heading to $1tn. It already had a lead over competitors on efficiency pre-pandemic, but the gap is huge now.
Transpacific trade is already seizing up because of the tariffs.
Three weeks ago, about 60,000 TEU (a measure of container volume) were scheduled to be "blanked" from April 16-May 10 (cancelled voyages/stops at a port). Now the figure is *367,800*
www.sea-intelligence.com/press-room/3...
Three weeks ago, about 60,000 TEU (a measure of container volume) were scheduled to be "blanked" from April 16-May 10 (cancelled voyages/stops at a port). Now the figure is *367,800*
www.sea-intelligence.com/press-room/3...
April 18, 2025 at 2:13 AM
Transpacific trade is already seizing up because of the tariffs.
Three weeks ago, about 60,000 TEU (a measure of container volume) were scheduled to be "blanked" from April 16-May 10 (cancelled voyages/stops at a port). Now the figure is *367,800*
www.sea-intelligence.com/press-room/3...
Three weeks ago, about 60,000 TEU (a measure of container volume) were scheduled to be "blanked" from April 16-May 10 (cancelled voyages/stops at a port). Now the figure is *367,800*
www.sea-intelligence.com/press-room/3...
The media monoculture breaking down is so fun. This guy is visiting China, I had never previously heard of him, but as far as I can tell it's perhaps the third biggest global news story happening in the last week.
April 5, 2025 at 10:57 PM
The media monoculture breaking down is so fun. This guy is visiting China, I had never previously heard of him, but as far as I can tell it's perhaps the third biggest global news story happening in the last week.
There are now only two occasions in recent financial history where the S&P 500 sold off more sharply in two days than it has since the US tariff announcements - the peak of Covid panic in March 2020, and a cluster of occasions during the very worst moments of the global financial crisis in 2008
April 4, 2025 at 3:05 PM
There are now only two occasions in recent financial history where the S&P 500 sold off more sharply in two days than it has since the US tariff announcements - the peak of Covid panic in March 2020, and a cluster of occasions during the very worst moments of the global financial crisis in 2008
Some of the US stocks with the biggest international trade/production exposures have just been absolutely battered since mid-February. Best Buy, Dell and Nike down between 26% and 36%.
April 3, 2025 at 9:05 PM
Some of the US stocks with the biggest international trade/production exposures have just been absolutely battered since mid-February. Best Buy, Dell and Nike down between 26% and 36%.
Capital Economics: if today's announcements are implemented, the effective US tariff rate will shoot straight past the Smoot-Hawley levels of the 1930s.
"The effective tariff rate on all imports will rise from 2.3% last year to around 26%, leaving it at a 131-year high"
"The effective tariff rate on all imports will rise from 2.3% last year to around 26%, leaving it at a 131-year high"
April 2, 2025 at 11:06 PM
Capital Economics: if today's announcements are implemented, the effective US tariff rate will shoot straight past the Smoot-Hawley levels of the 1930s.
"The effective tariff rate on all imports will rise from 2.3% last year to around 26%, leaving it at a 131-year high"
"The effective tariff rate on all imports will rise from 2.3% last year to around 26%, leaving it at a 131-year high"
There's something darkly funny in looking at these trends and remembering the RW mockery of the shifting "current thing" and NPCs who can't think for themselves
April 1, 2025 at 3:33 PM
There's something darkly funny in looking at these trends and remembering the RW mockery of the shifting "current thing" and NPCs who can't think for themselves
Bit embarrassing to admit they missed this one
March 31, 2025 at 4:33 PM
Bit embarrassing to admit they missed this one
It is fascinating that the entirety of the recent US stock selloff is accounted for by valuation re-rating. For all the reduced confidence, tariff threats etc, earnings estimates are still at an all-time-high.
March 28, 2025 at 9:14 PM
It is fascinating that the entirety of the recent US stock selloff is accounted for by valuation re-rating. For all the reduced confidence, tariff threats etc, earnings estimates are still at an all-time-high.
I think when you already have slightly cartoonish facial furniture, these things work even better
March 26, 2025 at 4:20 PM
I think when you already have slightly cartoonish facial furniture, these things work even better
To put the recent rally in Chinese tech stocks in context, they're still much cheaper by forward PE (red line) than US tech stocks (green line), but also cheaper than *the US market overall*. The drop from a PE of 70 at the peak of the 2020-early '21 mania is insane.
March 25, 2025 at 3:35 PM
To put the recent rally in Chinese tech stocks in context, they're still much cheaper by forward PE (red line) than US tech stocks (green line), but also cheaper than *the US market overall*. The drop from a PE of 70 at the peak of the 2020-early '21 mania is insane.
A happy reminder from Google Photos of my first of three trips into various forms of quarantine in Hong Kong, five years ago today! How the time flies eh
March 23, 2025 at 11:22 PM
A happy reminder from Google Photos of my first of three trips into various forms of quarantine in Hong Kong, five years ago today! How the time flies eh
Henry VIII's 1527 suit of armour next to his 1544 suit of armour in the "Track Your Calories" exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art
March 23, 2025 at 9:57 PM
Henry VIII's 1527 suit of armour next to his 1544 suit of armour in the "Track Your Calories" exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Trump is so powerful that he may even manage to break the overwhelming anti-incumbent trend in global politics, by propelling the Canadian Liberals back into office.
March 20, 2025 at 4:54 PM
Trump is so powerful that he may even manage to break the overwhelming anti-incumbent trend in global politics, by propelling the Canadian Liberals back into office.
After 15yrs of roaring returns, US investors have never been so exposed to a selloff. Stock wealth ran to 170% of disposable income last year, twice the long-term average.
But the way they interpret a selloff is now being warped by the country's divisive politics www.economist.com/finance-and-...
But the way they interpret a selloff is now being warped by the country's divisive politics www.economist.com/finance-and-...
March 19, 2025 at 5:08 PM
After 15yrs of roaring returns, US investors have never been so exposed to a selloff. Stock wealth ran to 170% of disposable income last year, twice the long-term average.
But the way they interpret a selloff is now being warped by the country's divisive politics www.economist.com/finance-and-...
But the way they interpret a selloff is now being warped by the country's divisive politics www.economist.com/finance-and-...
Bank of America records the biggest single drop in allocations to US stocks on record (data goes back to 2001) in its monthly fund manager survey. An astonishing shift - investors went from overweighting US equities in Feb (net +17%) to underweighting heavily in March (net -23%).
March 18, 2025 at 5:02 PM
Bank of America records the biggest single drop in allocations to US stocks on record (data goes back to 2001) in its monthly fund manager survey. An astonishing shift - investors went from overweighting US equities in Feb (net +17%) to underweighting heavily in March (net -23%).
I hadn't realised just how comic the partisan division in consumer expectations data is over time. It's actually slightly amazing that this can average out to something useful. (University of Michigan index, Red = GOP, Blue = Dems)
March 17, 2025 at 9:55 PM
I hadn't realised just how comic the partisan division in consumer expectations data is over time. It's actually slightly amazing that this can average out to something useful. (University of Michigan index, Red = GOP, Blue = Dems)