In an effort to jumpstart some more personal blogging, I thought I would try a weekly “curious things” post that highlights some random news and notes that I come across during the week that stimulate the “I should blog about that” reaction, but that I never seem to muster enough energy on for a real post.  We’ll see how long I can keep this up!

BRIC nations are abstainers on Libyan no-fly resolution - I found it interesting that the world’s fast growing, BRIC countries - Brazil, India, China, and Russia - were the only nations (plus Germany) that abstained from supporting the UN’s Libya no-fly resolution.  Perhaps this should be a signal that costly foreign interventions are the anchor that continues to drag down Western economies intent on maintaining an  antiquated position as global police force while high-growth BRIC countries prefer to remain on the sidelines.

DFJ Esprit nets 5X venture return (or 15% IRR) - Rarely do you see a venture capital firm put out a press release touting a return on an investment, but DFJ Esprit did just that this week.  It cited a 5x return on its investment in call center software company TLC.  While 5x sounds like a homerun, consider that they first made this investment in 2000.  11 years to exit means that a 5x return equates to a 15% IRR.  15% annual return is by no means shabby, but it doesn’t have quite the ring as 5x!  Just goes to show how the venture world sometimes plays fuzzy math to make itself seem far more impressive.

Inside Job - I went to see the Oscar-winning documentary Inside Job last night.  I had already read The Big Short (a must read), so the idea that the 2008 mortgage meltdown was the result of disgustingly greedy, deceitful, ponzi-like behavior came as no surprise.  What continues to surprise me is that absolutely nothing changes in the face of increasing income inequality and the clearly documented, widespread fraudulent behavior that many in the finance world have used to achieve this extraordinary wealth.