Editor: Crass Cash

Both were great investors, even though one is real and the other fictional.  But how did they get that way?  

I would call them "realists".  Rhett Butler saw the world the way that it was, with as little emotion as possible.  The clip below shows this.  Soros wold have call this reflexivity and the ability to see what world as it really is in an epistomological sense.  I would throw Warren Buffett into this mindset as well.  

What is true? What is real?  When it comes to investing and your surrounding you should strive for the same thing at all times.  

Editor: Crass Cash

Most people aren't familiar with Li Ka-Shing, but he's the richest man in Asia.  No he's not some Chinese oligarch or dictator.  Instead he's 100% self made!  He grew up completely poor and on the run from a war torn region of China.  Now he's worth about $32,000,000,000 and growing.  In Hong Kong he's called Superman because they think he can do anything.  

This video is over an hour long, but it's excellent for a review if you've never heard of him or read his only English biography like I have.  

Editor: Crass Cash

For those of you who have studied economics, you hopefully remember the latin term "ceteris paribus" which means, assuming all else constant.  This is the go to phrase for economics professors who teach markets and the outside forces that impact them.  With that said, there is always outside forces that impact markets.  And none greater than the government.  

Here's a list of outside forces that the govt imposes in order to promote home ownership.  

1. Subsidized interest rates through the securitized mortgage market of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
2. Tax exemptions of $250k (single) and $500k (married) for capital gains on your primary residence. 
3. Mortgage interest deduction on your tax return if it's higher than the standard deduction. 
4. Depreciation for rental real estate.
5. Govt subsidized down payments for FVA, FHA, and low income owners.  If you qualify you can get ultra low down payments with no PMI since the mortgages are secured by the govt.  

All of this, in one way or another, costs the American tax payer money.  They do this in order to help out the "whole of society" and to promote the housing industry.  Long gone are the days where people treated their house with the same as another asset.  Take out a loan and pay it off as soon as possible! 

Now the govt encourages you take out as much debt as possible and hold it for as long as possible.  The idea of buying a home to fit your needs no longer applies.  As a result homes as become much bigger, the prices much higher, and debt burden even greater.  

For a similar perspective on this I'd recommend the following article: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/america-s-housing-policy--the-definition-of-insanity-145304611.html