Moritz Dressel

@OracleSK @finance_schmidt @TweetsOfSumit Steuerzahler sind keine Ersatzväter/-mütter, korrekt. Aber Unterhaltsvorschuss ist keine Voll-Alimentierung: Wenn der andere Elternteil 0 Cent zahlt, kommt beim betreuenden Elternteil sogar weniger an als bei regulärem Mindestunterhalt. Ist nur ne Mindestabsicherung fürs Kind.

@modressel_kpi @finance_schmidt @TweetsOfSumit Steuerzahler sind auch keine finanziellen Ersatzväter/-mütter. Mich würden mal die Kosten der Beamten/ÖD Mitarbeiter interessieren, die nur knapp 20% wieder reinholen. Sollte man die Rückforderung vielleicht komplett einstampfen und würde damit ebenfalls Kosten sparen?

Wird das medial nur nicht geteilt oder hat Herr Klingbeil von den Linken wirklich keinen einzigen echten Vorschlag wo der Staat *sparen* kann?

@OracleSK @finance_schmidt @TweetsOfSumit Die Rückgriffsquote ist schon ein Punkt... einfach auf vor 2017 zurückzudrehen trifft am Ende vor allem Kinder und Alleinerziehende. Sinnvoller wäre imo bessere Durchsetzung, Datenabgleich, Vollstreckung und zahlungsunwillige Eltern konsequenter belangen.. dann über Höhen reden.

@modressel_kpi @finance_schmidt @TweetsOfSumit Weil die Ausweitung der Regelung von 2017 eine de facto Voll-Alimentierung ist. Die Rückforderungsquote liegt aktuell nur bei knapp 20%.

@OracleSK @finance_schmidt @TweetsOfSumit Warum wäre es sinnvoll, die Unterhaltsvorschussregelung auf das Niveau von 2017 zu senken?

@finance_schmidt @TweetsOfSumit Im Bereich Soziales kann man nicht sparen? Wie wäre es mit der Unterhaltsvorschussregelung wieder auf das Niveau von 2017? Kindergeld nur wenn Wohnsitz in DE?

@ReturnsJourney Hysan and Lion Rock

Hong Kong companies by buyback yield. Anything you own? (Koyfin)

"Mr. President Trump, you stood there like a little white noodle, like a fanboy," - said Arnold Schwarzenegger about Trump's meeting with Putin. Source: Arnold Schwarzenegger/YouTube

@value_invest12 @basilialukos Got it. I'm also a bit hesitant to start making the lfl comparison...

@MoritzDressel @basilialukos I haven’t tried that enough yet. For my custom gpts I can’t even choose the model, when before I could default o3

I am seriously underwhelmed by the ChatGPT Update so far. To put it mildly, I even think this is a step back. Feels like got something taken away.

@value_invest12 @basilialukos Is that also the case if deliberately choosing gpt5 thinking?

@basilialukos Use it for anything you used o3 before. It will give you a crap answer. You then need to push it and maybe will come up with something on par if you are lucky

Starting a chat with 4o and escalating to o3 has “may I speak with your manager” energy

I just read this WSJ article on why Europe's tech scene is so much smaller than the US's and China's. I'm afraid that, like most articles on this topic, it largely misses the mark. Which in itself illustrates a key reason why Europe is lagging behind: when you fail to understand the root causes of an issue, you have zero chance to solve it. What makes me competent to speak on this topic? Back in the late 2000s and early 2010s, I founded and led HouseTrip which at the time was one of Europe's top startups. We were the first historical startup in which all top 3 VC investors in Europe invested. So I have a pretty intimate knowledge of the European entrepreneurship ecosystem and what it takes to create and grow a tech company in Europe. We were pretty promising as a startup. In fact as promising as it can possibly get. We had a similar concept to Airbnb (with some notable differences I won't bore you with), except we created the company 1 year before they did. Which means we were the first-mover - globally - with a multi-billion-euro concept, strong financial backing by the 3 top investors in Europe and, at some point, a team of 250 people with some of the brightest minds in tech in Europe. Everything we needed to succeed. And yet we didn't succeed: ultimately we were essentially crushed by our American competitor Airbnb in our home turf - Europe - and we had no choice but to sell ourselves to another American company, Tripadvisor. Believe me, I've reflected long and hard on how that could have happened. In fact after I left the company in 2015 I even spent 3 months in isolation in the Annapurna mountains in Nepal to reflect full time on exactly that 😅 And I then moved to China, where I spent the next 8 years and where I had the chance to study their ecosystem to understand why they're successful and Europe isn't. So all in all, I think I have some degree of legitimacy to comment on this topic. The WSJ article says that Europe lags behind due to the usual suspects, the reasons you constantly hear about: too much regulation, fragmented European markets, limited access to financing, a culture that isn't conducive to the startup grind, etc. Some of those are true, but imho all are secondary. Take excessive regulations for instance, which gets mentioned all the time. If they were such a hindrance to startups, why would American startups succeed in Europe - like Airbnb in our case - and European startups not? We all face the same regulations 🤷 Or take fragmented markets. Same question: how could US startups successfully conquer these fragmented EU markets when European startups can't? Because that's the real elephant in the room, and really the story of the European tech scene since the advent of the internet: US startups have shown a remarkable ability to capture European markets despite the supposed barriers, making many of the "usual suspects" explanations for Europe's tech struggles very unconvincing. In other words, logically, any explanation where both US and European startups face identical barriers fails to address the fundamental difference in outcomes we consistently observe. Based on my experience, the key problem faced by European startups can be summarized in one word: patriotism. There is virtually none in Europe, and more than anything that's what's killing EU startups, or preventing them from developing. It used to drive me absolutely nuts at HouseTrip. What a startup needs first and foremost, especially a consumer-facing startup like we were, is marketing, to become famous. At first, when I created the company and before Airbnb was even a thing, I used to pitch the company to the media and the general response I would get was almost one of contempt, as in "why would I belittle myself to write about your startup? And furthermore, who would be stupid enough to stay in an apartment when there are hotels? You guys have no future..." And then Airbnb got launched and the American media started their thing, hyping the company like it was the greatest innovation since sliced bread, like they were national heroes, giving them hundreds of millions in free publicity. That's when European media started to take notice. Not of us, god forbid, but of Airbnb. The concept was promoted by Silicon Valley, see... so now it was valid. So I went back to pitch HouseTrip to European media. This time around I was met with a different kind of contempt: "So you guys are like Airbnb? Why would we cover a European copycat when we can just write about the real American original?" Luckily I'm not violent but lets say those moments really tested my civility 😅 All in all, we arrived in the absolutely grotesque situation where, despite Airbnb not having yet set foot in Europe, they were already a cultural phenomenon there, promoted by European media, for free, when the European original - yours truly - had to spend millions on paid marketing (mostly to Google and Facebook, American companies) to achieve a small fraction of the brand recognition. Which means that, insanely, Airbnb was probably doing more business in Europe than we did before even opening an office there, simply on the back of the free publicity they were getting. How on earth can you even compete with that? This dynamic was at play with general European elites too. I remember very clearly having dinner next to a legendary European entrepreneur and investor - who I won't name, a man who supposedly, on paper, is dedicating his life to furthering the European tech ecosystem. We naturally got to talk about HouseTrip and he literally told me, and this is an exact quote: "you know I don't really like copycats, they really hurt the European ecosystem." Another big test for my civility that night... And even if we had been a copycat, so what? That's how China got started, there's nothing to be ashamed of. You need to learn to walk before you can run. In fact if you study the history of innovation you'll find that every major tech power, including the US, started by imitating and adapting others' innovations before developing their own. Speaking of China, again a country that I know in depth for having lived there for 8 years after HouseTrip, I've come to the conclusion that patriotism, a deeply rooted mindset of sovereignty, is truly the magic ingredient behind their success. Contrary to popular belief, they don't do it in a stupid way by just banning competition. Those cases are actually very rare and only occur if the companies in question violate Chinese law in pretty egregious ways. Most of the time it's the exact contrary: they welcome foreign companies and competition, but create conditions where local alternatives can thrive alongside them, giving Chinese users and businesses legitimate options to choose domestic champions. Which means you end up with, for instance, Apple doing well in China but simultaneously allowing the rise of Huawei or Xiaomi. Or Tesla doing well in China but simultaneously allowing the rise of BYD or Nio. Etc. And China is, interestingly, more comparable to the EU than most people realize. It is, again contrary to popular belief, extremely decentralized when it comes to doing business, with various provinces competing against each other much the same way EU countries compete against each other. But they do it in such a way where, again, the overarching sense of Chinese sovereignty never gets sacrificed at the altar of provincial competition. And where the ultimate goal is to develop Chinese champions which can successfully compete on the global stage. So there you have it, the dirty little secret behind Europe's lag. We're essentially witnessing a "colonization of the minds" whereby Europe has structurally internalized its technological inferiority, celebrating American startups while dismissing its own homegrown companies. Why does this barely ever get talked about? Think about it: do you seriously think that the Wall Street Journal would start advocating for, essentially, policies hostile to American tech dominance? Much better to focus on the usual red herrings like too much regulation or fragmentation which, conveniently, would primarily result in clearing obstacles for American tech giants to dominate European markets even further, rather than nurturing homegrown competitors. This article is, in itself, an illustration of the "colonization of the minds".

@ac132 @dieworkwear @ac132 Ordered once from your site. Was planning to do so again this summer (despite the last shirt arriving with a visibly tilted print). But your confrontational, disrespectful attitude here changed my mind. How a founder behaves in public reflects on the entire brand.

We already went through this Derek. Everyone know you’re a scammer who tries to extort consulting money but can’t give any useful advice. Your last recommendation was to switch to a vendor who sells $80 shirts and you lied to readers to say their prices start around $15. Now you’re writing long form nonsense that no one intelligent cares about in a vain attempt to appear intelligent. You’re a wanna be. Try fixing your blog so it’s readable.

In our current debates about the US economy, critics of free trade often invoke haunting images of shuttered steel mills and abandoned clothing factories. And it's true: trade agreements such as NAFTA helped erode union power and shutter thousands of garment factories across the country. Those who support Trump's approach (e.g. tariffs), argue that bold action is needed to bring back the manufacturing base of the 1960s . But this vision misses two fundamental points. First, the Trump administration has paired its tariff agenda with calls to slash government spending. That’s a contradiction. The robust garment sector of the mid-20th century didn’t arise from market forces alone. For garment manufacturing, it was propped up by a lattice of public programs. Home economics classes, the USDA’s Bureau of Home Economics, and 4-H clubs all helped cultivate a sewing-literate, largely female workforce. Any serious plan to bring back clothing manufacturing would require similar investments in training. The government would also need to subsidize the erection of garment factories, which require manufacturing technology made abroad. All this requires gov spending. Second, some reshoring advocates, such as @ac132 (CEO of Sticker Mule), openly admit they don’t intend to rehire US workers. They're waiting for robot technology to lower production costs. Certainly, even an automated system still requires some level of human labor: engineers to fix machines, technicians to monitor quality, and people to manage logistics. Those aren’t factory jobs of the past; they’re highly specialized roles, often requiring advanced degrees. Which brings us back to the real issue. America doesn’t have an unemployment crisis—we have a wage stagnation crisis. Over the last half-century, wage growth has clustered in knowledge-intensive sectors such as law, engineering, and medicine, while blue-collar work has stagnated or disappeared. If manufacturing returns only when blue-collar workers are no longer needed, what kind of economy are we rebuilding? Free trade hasn’t just destroyed jobs; it has also created them. Anthony and his team profit handsomely by selling $19 t-shirts printed on imported Nicaraguan blanks (which stretch out at the collar, fade in the wash, and pill after minimal wear). Tariffs might kill some of those jobs by raising costs on imported inputs. Maybe they’ll create a few robot maintenance gigs in Texas. But is that what rebuilding American industry looks like? Warehouses of R2-D2s supervised by a few graduate-degree holders in mechatronics? In the US, real humans already make t-shirts. Why not support those companies now? In the last few months, I've been pointing out that the loudest advocates of reshoring US manufacturing often sell merch printed on blanks made abroad. Why don't their customers demand they put their money where their mouth is? I support US garment manufacturing, although I don't think the goal should be to reshore the production of cheap $19 t-shirts and $40 jeans. I think we should use industrial policy to move the US towards upscale items, such as complicated outerwear, tailored clothing, and Goodyear welted shoes. We should have the "made in USA" label feel luxurious, like "made in Italy" or "made in Japan." This means crafted clothing made by real humans who are better protected from automation, and thus will see higher wage growth. We also need to solve the housing crisis, so that people who haven't seen high wage growth are not burdened by astronomical rents. And ideally, affordable homes in walkable neighborhoods so that you don't have to buy a $47,000 machine to buy groceries and get to work.

How much do you think it costs to make a pair of Nike shoes in Asia? I'll show you. 🧵

TikTok legt offen: 45 Millionen gefälschte Likes, um die Rumänienwahl zu manipulieren. Teile eines mutmaßlich mit dem russischen Staatssender Sputnik in Verbindung stehenden Netzwerks. Geschieht in Rumänien. Geschieht überall. t-online.de/nachrichten/au…

Europeans,

@TheLongHappy In-app? Can confirm. But that's a pretty common feature in finance apps AFAIK.

Did $IBKR just start to restrict screenshots? Or is it just me.... ?

Interessantes Tool. Von Dänen programmiert, die wegen des Auftretens der tRUmp-Regierung US-Produkte vermeiden wollen. madeometer.com (via @BjornRoh_1)

(1/3) It needs repeating: in 1994, Ukraine was persuaded to give up its nuclear weapons to Russia in return for the US, the UK, and Russia guaranteeing Ukraine’s sovereignty, security, and territorial integrity.

BERLIN 🇩🇪💪🇮🇱.

Elon probably fucked with the algorithm but it would be sweet if we could get #Krasnov trending ;)

Little experiment: Since President Reagan is no longer with us, I was curious and asked ChatGPT what he might say about the current situation. The results are quite interesting. AI-generated photo by Grok. AI generated "Reaganesque" speech (ChatGPT): "My fellow Americans, I speak to you today not as a Republican, not as a Democrat, but as an American who believes in freedom, in democracy, and in the sacred duty we have to stand against tyranny wherever it may rise. For decades, the United States has been a shining city on a hill—a beacon of hope for those oppressed, a defender of liberty, and a friend to those who fight for their own freedom. That is who we are. That is who we have always been. And that is who we must remain. Today, we see a tyrant in Moscow—Vladimir Putin, a man who mourns the fall of the Soviet Union, not because he seeks peace, but because he longs for empire. A man who crushes dissent, silences opponents, and wages war against a free and sovereign Ukraine. And yet, we hear voices here at home—some even within our own party—who would rather appease this dictator than oppose him. Who would rather shake his hand than stand firm against his aggression. Who mock and belittle a man like President Zelensky, not because he has failed, but because he has dared to succeed. Because he has dared to resist. Because he has dared to stand on his feet and say, not today, not ever! Let me be clear: America does not cower before tyrants. America does not abandon its allies. America does not betray those who fight for the very ideals upon which this nation was founded. Some would have us turn inward, retreat from the world stage, and cozy up to those who despise our way of life. But we have seen this story before, and we know how it ends. Weakness invites aggression. Silence encourages oppression. And appeasement? Appeasement is but a prelude to disaster. So I ask you, my fellow Americans: Shall we stand with the man who jails his critics, poisons his opponents, and invades his neighbors? Or shall we stand with the man who fights—not for conquest, but for the right of his people to live in peace and liberty? If America is to remain the last, best hope of Earth, we must choose wisely. Because the free world still looks to us, as it always has. And I say, as I have always said: Mr. Putin, we will not yield. And Mr. Zelensky, we stand with you. God bless you, and God bless the United States of America"

Europe can’t rely on the strength of the transatlantic relationship to help contain Russia’s threat – it must lead from the front and be the true force of support that Ukraine needs. Not just for Ukraine’s sake, but for a free and sovereign Europe. virgin.com/branson-family…