September 7, 2022
Read time: ± 4 minutes
New here? The WC is a selection of five useful, interesting & notable insights, handpicked by our CIO Wyatt Cavalier and pumped into your inbox every Wednesday.
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Table of Contents
London’s biggest landowner? Indians.
Over the last year, applications from Indian teenagers to London universities have increased by 128%. This is part of a surprising trend that’s driving thousands of Indian investors to snap up property in the English capital.
In fact, Indians now make up the largest plurality of homeowners in London, with English residents second and Pakistanis coming in third.
Meanwhile, the number of European students attending UK universities has declined by 50%.
The catalyst for both? Brexit.
Demand from the EU has gone down, and India and Pakistan (both former British colonies) are swooping in to fill that gap.
What people want ≠ what they say they want
If you want to really know someone, watch what he does, not what he says.
What do people say they want? To learn, to meditate, to edify themselves.
What do they really want? Porn.
Onlyfans revenue was nearly 50x that of Substack in 2021.
More impressive from an investment point of view – Onlyfans’ ability to scale. While revenue increased 162% from 2020 to 2021, profits surged 937%. Seriously impressive.
Cuba’s White Coat Army
For the last seventeen years, Cuba’s been exporting something unexpected – doctors.
For around $13k per month, countries in need can rent a Cuban doctor specializing in a variety of disciplines such as oncology, nephrology, and infectious and tropical diseases.
Over 50 countries have hired physicians from the Henry Reeve Medical Brigade as the much-contested island country seeks to drive down its public debt and increase its international influence.
The brigade has also made a name for itself during humanitarian crises worldwide.
A few examples:
- Guatemala (Hurricane Stan): 8 October 2005, 687 participants (600 doctors)
- Bolivia (floods): 3 February – 22 May 2006, 602 participants (601 doctors)
- Indonesia (earthquake): 16 May 2006, 135 participants (78 doctors)
- Mexico (floods): 6 November – 26 December 2007, 54 participants (39 doctors)
- China (2008 Sichuan earthquake): 23 May – 9 June 2008, 35 participants (18 doctors).
- Barbados (COVID-19 pandemic in Barbados): 126 medical doctors, nurses and lab technologists.
The most recent beneficiary? Italy, which has just signed up to import nearly 500 doctors to provide healthcare to the impoverished southern region of Calabria.
The world’s most expensive wines
…Are nearly all from Burgundy.
Prices for wine from the central-French region have gone nothing but up over the last couple of years, and they’re now completely divorced from vintages from other regions.
Three years ago, many industry experts were calling for the region’s bubble to burst. This year’s top ten wines are up a staggering 41% over the last twelve months.
Last year, three of the top ten vintages went for more than $20k. This year it’s five.
Four of those five come from producer Domaine Leroy, which has cemented its spot as the world’s most premium winemaker. Not only does Domaine Leroy claim five of the top ten spots, it’s also responsible for a dizzying 62% of the top fifty.
What about the single non-Burgundy wine that broke into the top ten?
A bottle of Egon Muller Scharzhofberger Riesling Trockenbeerenauslese – a relative bargain at just over $16k.
What is “Hole In One” insurance?
If you’ve ever watched a golf tournament, you’ve probably seen an expensive new car parked along one of the par 3s.
Anyone who bags a hole in one gets to keep the car. Here are 14 golfers who won BMWs.
And when there’s chance + large sums of money, there’s a cottage industry popped up to support it.
Enter hole in one insurance.
For around $1500, the tournament promoter can insure themselves against the unlikely event of someone hitting an ace.
But there’s another market for this sort of policy.
In Japan, it’s customary for a golfer hitting a hole in one to throw a massive party, often costing upwards of $5k. Nearly 30% of golfers there spend up to $100 per year to insure against the outlay.
What caught your eye this week?
Cheers,
Wyatt
