Daniel Lubetzky’s OneVoice movement is one of the few rays of light offering hope for a sustainable solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Daniel is an incredible visionary whom I have had the opportunity to meet and this video is a powerful eye-opener as to to an alternative road for peace. OneVoice is mobilizing Israelis and Palestinians in large numbers to offer a solution. Please take a moment to watch the video.

David Swensen, the Chief Investment Officer at Yale’s endowment has an incredible track record over the past 20 years, achieving a 16% compound annual return. His 2005 book Unconventional Success is a must-read for any amateur or professional investor. Courtesy of my friend Bob Burlinson at Regis Capital Management, I just read Swensen’s 2006 annual report with asset allocations from mid-year 2006. Swensen has reduced his U.S. equity (12%) and bond (4%) allocations down even further to fund opportunities in timber, oil and gas (27%). Yale’s scale and access give it access to some of the most attractive investments in timber and venture capital. He raised his foreign equity (15%), hedge fund (25%) and (surprisingly) private equity (17%) allocations. He notes that his allocations are influenced by bottoms-up opportunities that he sees versus strictly expected returns, deviations and covariances. He is betting more on real assets and foreign equity, which will allow him to benefit if the dollar falls (or other inflationary pressures increase). He is also acknowledging that emerging markets (7.5%), and to a lesser extent Europe and Japan (7.5%), while not cheap, may still offer better risk-adjusted returns than the U.S. Finally, he does not see bonds and cash as an attractive alternative to a well constructed portfolio of hedge funds. Bottom line, he is bearish on the dollar and bullish on real assets such as timber, oil and gas, as well as private equity investments by strong managers.

This is the title of a fascinating book that I am reading by Fareed Zakaria, the editor of Newsweek International. He examines the importance of liberty and democracy in nation-building and makes a strong case that liberty should take precedence over democracy if nations are to achieve the peace and prosperity they seek. Zakaria builds on much of de Toqueville’s writings and updates them with modern-day examples. The democratically-elected autocrats of Russia and Venezuela are excellent examples of how illiberal democaracies can be extremely dangerous. The dictatorships in Korea and Taiwan in the 1980s and 1990s led to a transformation of these countries into successful liberal democracies. Capitalist and the rule of law came first, then democracy. There is still plenty of corruption, nepotism and voter fraud in these countries today, yet the same could be said about the American South in the 1950s. Democracy that is not built on a foundation of constitutional liberalism can often lead to the tyranny of the majority that De Toqueville was so concerned with. Well worth the read.

I have finally decided to follow the crowds and start blogging !! I have no idea how frequently I will be able to post, but I hope to write interesting and stimulating thoughts on an eclectic range of topics, related to my passions for my family, philosophy, politics, economics, the environment and digital media.