Hey man my gold leafed signed 1st edition of Mr. T and the T-Force is gonna put my kids through Harvard. Its worth hundreds of cents more than when I bought it.
These people have spent their entire existence, ensconced in institutions and media bubbles where nothing is an problem unless it confirms their preexisting ideology, they are incapable of understanding or solving real world problems
The comic book boom/bust of the 90s as a kid is a fundamental experiences that helped me as an adult to understand the stock market.
30+ years later, some of mine are now worth tens of dollars. I have some in the hundreds I bought newsstand. Any I bought as back issues are maybe 5-10x what I paid.
great piece about being a mediocre white man in conservatism inc. also the piece at the end written from a voter's perspective in a mayoral election is our life right now.
Great piece by JVL. I keep wondering when conservatism in this country began its long descent into the kind of movement that includes the Kevin Hassetts of the world. Was it always headed in this direction?
It’s funny, because the original value of collecting comics was so that you could like, read them. But now we have TPBs and Omnibuses and digital comics, so unless you really have a thing for vintage ads, the only reason to collect singles issues is if they’re important enough to frame on your wall.
Hi JVL - I promise to listen/watch this tonight. I tagged The Bulwark in a post here and a comment on YouTube, but trying you too - can you please ask your peeps to not use the flashing lights background on the quote clips? Or put a trigger warning? Epilepsy, you know 🙃
Hassett was responsible for the “cubic model” that predicted COVID would disappear by mid-May 2020, which may be The Most Ridiculously Ignorant “Mathematical” Prediction of All Time…🏆
In other words, he randomly picked a 3rd-order polynomial equation (with absolutely NO scientific justification) in order to put the best possible spin on “The pandemic is over. Everyone feel free to resume your normally scheduled activities.”
When comic books as a commodity stumps a so-called economist. It's a wonder the world doesn't just fall apart with guys like this in positions of authority. Frankly depressing and horrifying by turn.
You forgot one of the great Hassett analyses from the pandemic era. When he used the built in Excel cubic polynomial function to predict that COVID cases would go to 0 in March 15 2020. Relevant to his bird flu analysis
Thank you so much for this article. It's so refreshing to read something so full of common sense. Also, I love that you pursued this story and could not let his notion about comic books being a good investment go unchallenged. It's disheartening that this man now has a position of power in the gvmt.
"People succeed in life for lots of reasons. Intelligence, nepotism, charm, luck. So far as I could tell, Hassett had none of those. He was dim, ordinary, tiresome, and not particularly lucky, either.. He was merely the product of a system that needed people like [him] to exist."
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they can only harm others
30+ years later, some of mine are now worth tens of dollars. I have some in the hundreds I bought newsstand. Any I bought as back issues are maybe 5-10x what I paid.
I have had trouble selling some Paul Smith X-Men (160s-170s).
Also, JVL dunking on Ross Douthat is my favorite JVL.
https://www.vox.com/2020/5/8/21250641/kevin-hassett-cubic-model-smoothing