About Me
Hi. I'm Mike Kane, a Philadelphia guy investing in early stage venture companies. I co-founded Pour Richards as a way to bring interesting people together to talk about ideas. This saved me the enormous trouble of having to be interesting myself.Pages
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Category Archives: Uncategorized
Monetary Policy As a Cause of Global Food Inflation
An idea I presented at the 2013 “Non-Obvious Dinner” April 2nd in Wilmington, DE The history of the next 5 years will be told in prices of corn and onions –World will see major food inflation with significant political and … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
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The R Word: The Last Accepted Prejudice
A recent experience where I was subjected to the dreaded R word from a guy looking to raise money from me. Continue reading
Posted in Life and Family, Observations, Uncategorized
Tagged Glee, intellectual disability, prejudice, r-word, Special Olympics
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How I Survived the End of the World
Actuaries, bond traders, politicians, and other tradesmen whose career depends on the nature of the future still to unfold have written in to ask how I faced the impending End of the World with such nonchalance and poise. The traders in particular wanted to know if I had inside information that the world was not going to end, and if so, if there is any other inside information I could share with them. I will disappoint them on that second request, but hesitate to leave dissatisfied the chosen few of my readers who asked about my poise in the face of the well-publicized Rapture. Continue reading
Posted in Observations, Uncategorized
Tagged Apocalypse, Bible, day of reckoning, Descartes, Judgment Day, Will Rogers, William of Occam
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The Black Swan Has White Stripes
It is one thing to say we must be careful of claims about the future. It’s quite another to say that nothing can ever be known with certitude, for this last statement is a truth claim also, but one which conveniently exempts itself. Skepticism always has this problem when it crosses the line from a suggestion of caution to a theory of knowledge. There is also the personal inconsistency that runs throughout this work the way singing runs through an opera. Continue reading
Posted in Books, Financial markets, Observations, Uncategorized
Tagged Black Swan, Descartes, empiricism, Hume, Modern Portfolio theory, Taleb, theory of knowledge
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Prometheus and Predictive Genetic Testing
Prometheus brought us two gifts. The gift of fire, which gets all the press, was one. But few remember the second gift: ignorance of the time and manner of one’s death. The gift of fire meant mankind’s release from a shivering existence whose principal aim was pure survival. Ignorance of one’s own death freed the human spirit to pursue activities with the belief that life could be beautiful and meaningful. We are currently in a rush to return this gift of ignorance of our deaths for store credit. For only $162, you can have a test showing your genetic predisposition to twenty different diseases from obesity, to macular degeneration, to Alzheimer’s. There are a number of issues with this, as I see the matter. Continue reading
Posted in Observations, Uncategorized
Tagged ethics, genetics, health, mythology, Prometheus
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How to change the tree stand after decorating the Christmas tree
It’s self-evident to the thinking man that the proper way to carry out the operation includes a strong winch, a series of pulleys, a corrugated steel rope, and a team of Clydesdales. A gentleman of privilege might also expect to have a pair of robust stage hands, a smoking jacket, and a commanding presence, all topped off with a fine Cuban cigar and a single malt of some distinction. Naturally, I had none of this inventory available to me. Continue reading
On sitting down to read Keats once again
For reasons I don’t yet understand, I’ve been drawn back to the poetry of Keats this last month. In a letter to a friend, Keats writes a remarkable thing about poetry –that the poem should strike the reader as an … Continue reading
Possess a Nice Day: Blog Spam Greetings from Planet Zircon
It surprised me at first that anyone would bother to spam a blog at once as edifying and obscure as my own, but I then learned about tricks these bots use to game the search engine rankings. So I pay … Continue reading
Rent-Seeking in the Fund Industry
Imagine you’ve just enjoyed a nice meal at a fine restaurant when the waiter brings over the check. On looking at it, you discover there’s a 10% surcharge for “marketing expense”. When questioned, the waiter explains that this is a … Continue reading
Requiescat in pace: Gene Kane (1930-2010)
My father ended his amazing life last week. On Sunday, the family greeted a steady stream of visitors over five straight hours, coming to pay their final respects. We buried him on Monday. I am moved not so much by … Continue reading
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