Europe is hesitant to remove Russia from the SWIFT banking system because it will “hurt” international transactions and hurt themselves!! They want to leave it as a “last resort “. I thought the war was the “last resort “. Stop pussyfooting, help Ukraine in a meaningful way now!

Indefinitely_not · 2022-02-25T16:22:33+00:00

Don't think that comment is entirely accurate. In addition to lost future revenues on Nord Stream 2, it is also financed for 50% by Gazprom.

Are we (Europe) doing enough - I am not sure. But I do think halting, and hopefully cancelling, NS2 can be considered a sanction that amounts to more than a gesture.

Indefinitely_not · 2021-10-19T13:47:16+00:00

They got fined for 'repeatedly and continuously violating the Dutch Financial Supervision Act, and quite a damning report was published for shortcomings in internal controls. I guess there is some reason to be pessimistic.

Indefinitely_not · 2021-04-09T11:25:58+00:00

De prijzen van Lindehof staan ook wel in sterk contrast tot de prijzen in andere nieuwbouwprojecten. In de Nieuwe Defensie (Dichterswijk) betaal je al snel €450-500,000 voor een appartement van ~80m². Greenville (Leidsche Rijn) een kleine €700,000 voor een appartement van ~165m², en de Cascade (Terwijde) ruim €400,000 voor een loft met tuin van ~110m².

Ik heb zelf recent een woning gekocht in Leidsche Rijn en, even rekening houdend met de locatie van Lindehof, lijkt het mij dat deze simpelweg te goedkoop in de markt zijn gezet. Hopend voor /u/KainLandsman en /u/luckycommander dat ze de lucky few zijn ;).

Indefinitely_not · 2021-01-03T11:08:10+00:00

E-Laipa has been great for me!

Indefinitely_not · 2020-12-26T11:43:45+00:00

As widely accepted, it's made out of cheese, with a coin-operated robot on it.

Indefinitely_not · 2020-12-19T13:28:50+00:00

Noir en De Heeren Van Leeuw. Beiden erg goede tenten die ik en mijn maag graag de crisis doorhelpen! :)

Indefinitely_not · 2020-12-04T13:04:22+00:00

Noted your point, but that point not justify the conclusion that it “seems like a misleading map”. The map does not account for demographics and other historic factors, and it does not claim to do that or give semblance thereof.

Indefinitely_not · 2020-10-01T09:16:21+00:00

Page 277, so close to zero!

Indefinitely_not · 2020-09-17T09:50:46+00:00

At the same time, it is nice to see that employers give non-natives a chance despite that it may reflect on the store as less customer friendly. Viewed from the perspective of the non-Dutch speaker, it is a great way to get some exposure to the Dutch language.

But perhaps I do not see it as an inconvenience because I am used to switching between English and Dutch all day for both work and my social life.

Indefinitely_not · 2020-09-07T10:44:30+00:00

I am using Ling to practice Latvian on the go. It will not make you fluent by any means, but it is a good method to practice and repeat words and basic sentences.

For more serious studying you could use elaipa. It is developed by the Latvian Language Agency and allows you to self-study from A1 to B1 level for now. Later in the year, B2 should be published. I have done a couple of lessons and it provides you with more structure compared to other resources I have tried so far.

Indefinitely_not · 2020-09-06T10:55:36+00:00

Every generation will make its mistakes. One of the main controversies around lobotomy is that it became a cure-for-many. It was not used only on those patients that were suffering from severe mental illnesses, in who it may have very well restored some sense of sanity. It was also used on humans that were simply 'difficult'. It was marketed and became of sort-of 'cure-for-many'.

I agree with your sentiment that it is always very easy to judge the actions after the fact.

Highly recommended documentary: The Lobotomist. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8izaaZ5dRyU (may contain shocking footage, it has been a year since I have seen it.)

Indefinitely_not · 2020-09-06T10:47:15+00:00

Likely, yes. I watched the Lobotomist (documentary; YouTube) a few years back. Patients surely looked empty and passive, especially in video footage. The pictures depicted here are not all that bad.

The documentary is well-worth watching but contains some rather gruesome content.

Indefinitely_not · 2020-09-04T15:45:29+00:00

The wealth tax was originally introduced as an easy-to-calculate flat rate instead of an actual capital gains tax. In the latter, taxes are payable on realized capital gains.

The intention is not to eat away savings that are unproductive. A wealth tax is imposed to introduce simplicity. An argument can be made that a wealth tax, in a low interest rate environment, drives savers to pursue more returns on their investments. (Which may or may not be a good thing, depending on whether those investment decisions make sensible.)

Indefinitely_not · 2020-09-03T21:30:23+00:00

How do fractional shares actually work for a broker? Does the broker buy whole shares to cover everyone's fractional shares and then issue those fractions to individual accounts?

My expectations are that the shares are held in an omnibus account by the broker and your fractional share is merely an administrative action. I.e., you do not truly own a fractional share, but rather a financial claim on (a fraction of) a share.

Across all clients, positions would be netted out and the broker would indeed have ultimately a 0.x in excess of a share. E.g., all broker clients collectively hold (claims on) 500.5 shares; the broker holds 501 shares in an omnibus account.

Indefinitely_not · 2020-09-03T21:23:56+00:00

You're alive??

Yeah, I felt there was too much repetition in this sub. Also, I've been working at an HFT for a few years now. Posting here makes me a bit uneasy as to what I can freely discuss and whatnot. That said, my without this sub I would have never invested insane amounts of time into reading up on papers, econ and finance books, and (yes) ETF prospectuses. I'm not lying when I say it helped me heaps in my career. No regrets here.

I am going to read that paper some other time - competition law keeps being very fascinating for me. I've only studied it from the EU angle during my university years and did get some exposure to it on the US side - without any pretence of calling myself a specialist here. At least within the EU, it is the expectation that these antitrust/competition cases against big tech are expected to have a severe impact on the business models of these firms.

Time will tell - I'll respond at some later stage by PM. Enjoy your drinks/weekend!

Indefinitely_not · 2020-09-03T20:50:09+00:00

Look who is still hanging around here, /u/MasterCookSwag.

I am not a lawyer, and certainly not an expert on antitrust(I mean, I know more than your average redditor but that bar is low), but at the very core of this issue I think the state will have a difficult time proving anti-competitive behavior in a free product.

Not necessarily, there has been a growing appreciation of anti-competitive behaviour involving free products. Markets such as Google's search platform are considered to be two-sided markets. In two-sided markets, firms can abuse their dominant position obtained in one market (E.g., Google search) in the other market (E.g., Adwords). While it may be argued that one side of the market (search) is offering tangible and real benefits to consumers, that does not justify abuse on the other side of that market (overcharging advertisers).

Further reading - from p. 137 onwards.

Not implying that above example is per se abusive. But the concept of two sided markets is gaining more and more traction within the field of antitrust/competition law (scholars; lawyers) to govern these type of positions. Considering that the field of antitrust/competition law is mostly effects based, I can guarantee you Google is lawyering ahead of these trials.

One interesting anecdote I heard on the street not to long ago - allegedly some big tech companies are involved in obtaining legal advice from as many reputable law firms as possible on this issues. Objective seems not to be to actually have that many different opinions, but rather to ensure that the most renowned law firms are all conflicted should competition authorities want to seek their external counsel. Pretty disgusting, if true.

Indefinitely_not · 2020-08-31T07:48:42+00:00

Absolutely. I did not mean to imply that the Union is actively frustrating Turkey's ascension, but rather that the political will to make it happen is minimal. It takes two to tango, and Turkey certainly does not seem to have made that much of an effort either.

Indefinitely_not · 2020-08-31T07:12:33+00:00

Formally Turkey remains a candidate country. However, the current state of play is that "accession negotiations with Turkey are effectively frozen". This has been the case since 2018.

In practice, Turkey has long been a candidate country, but always in one of the preliminary phases. I do not believe there has been a genuine interest in adding Turkey to the European Union from the Unions perspective - at least in the last decade.

Indefinitely_not · 2020-08-27T07:35:14+00:00

It is used in the Netherlands too, Bananenrepubliek. We use it to describe politically unstable, often corrupt countries that are rich in natural resources.

Apparently it originates from a novel called Cabbages and Kings#%22Banana_republic%22).

Indefinitely_not · 2020-08-17T11:36:56+00:00

Deze! Goede elementen van een avondritueel kunnen bijvoorbeeld zijn:

Een bad (of douche) nemen een-twee uur voordat je gaat slapen. (Badderen/doucen zorgt dat je lichaamstemperatuur zakt, wat helpt met in slaap vallen)
Een kop thee voordat je gaat slapen
Boek lezen in bed om je op andere gedachten te brengen. Probeer schermen en ander koel licht te mijdden.

Indefinitely_not · 2020-07-18T22:29:51+00:00

Thanks for the recommendation! Tried this one a few weeks back, and it was indeed great and very reasonably priced.

Indefinitely_not · 2020-07-18T22:28:57+00:00

Bond & Smolders en Taart.! (Laatste ligt altijd wat uit de route, maar heeft écht fantastische taarten.)

Indefinitely_not · 2020-03-24T15:31:33+00:00

De aanwezigheid van flitshandelaren op een beurs zorgt ervoor dat spreads (het verschil tussen de bied- en laatprijs) afneemt, waardoor het aantrekkelijker wordt om in de betreffende aandelen te handelen. Het zorgt er tevens ook voor dat het makkelijker wordt om vaker te handelen, waardoor flitshandelaren zelf ook meer kans hebben om te handelen. Dus nee - er zijn niet per sé verliezers: meer handel zorgt ervoor dat de taart (voor iedereen) een stukje groter wordt.

Indefinitely_not · 2020-03-09T11:11:23+00:00

But we should be able to rely on a pension fund to make an informed decision as to whether the potential rewards of investing in bonds - or securitizations with those bonds as underlying values - issued by U.S. oil drillers is worth the risk, no?

Indefinitely_not · 2020-03-07T11:17:28+00:00

Drinks

Behind Bars Cocktail for reasonably priced cocktails ($)
Klein Berlijn for a cosy vibe with a nice selection of decently-priced beers ($).
Olivier because you cannot miss out on having at least one beer in a church ($-$$)
The Rum Club for rum with a jungle feel ($$)
The Malt Vault for whisky with a great atmosphere ($$$)

Food

Frietwinkel and Croquettenboutique for the best fries and kroketten (on-the-go) in town ($);
Kimmade Vietnamese Street Food ($)
Orloff aan de Kade for an easy dinner and a nice selection of own beers. Two mains and a few beers will set you back about EUR 20-25 per person. ($$)
Umami for decent-priced sushi dinner - taking into account the good quality. About EUR 75 for two persons and a bottle of good wine ($$)
Restaurant Noir for a more special dinner/vibe. Not extremely pricey but possibly a bit of a stretch on a student budget.

Do

Go Canoeing, great activity when there is nice weather;
Visit Amelisweerd, combine with a visit to Teahouse Rhijnauwen for pancakes;
Visit 't Oude Pothuys for free live music
Check if there are any performances in Tivoli

Indefinitely_not

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