Big Cities Suck 👎

Yes. This is the CityChad, your financial Sherpa, ready to guide you through the peaks and valleys of life and money. Let’s start hiking!

In this week’s edition:

• Markets move up, Crypto down

• Article: Big Cities Suck

• News: Poland the next SuperPower?

• Travel Destination: Dubai, Habibi!

• Beta of the Week: Gary Gensler

MARKET REVIEW

Stocks traded up this week, in a relatively quiet time period.

There was some breathing room for regional banks, with PacWest more than doubling from its recent lows.

Inflation data came out in the US, showing that CPI is still rising, giving few hopes of a Fed Pivot any time soon.

Crypto dropped this week, mostly after the inflation data print.

$PEPE traded down, now well below it’s all-time high. Coinbase wrote a not so positive newsletter on the beloved meme coin, which caused a bit of a stir. I never thought I’d write about a corporation criticising a frog, but there you go.

BIG CITIES SUCK

TLDR: The value for money in big cities is just getting worse by the day. Crime, cost, crowdedness. They may still be the place to kick-start your career but the intelligent Chad knows when to make his move. Use Chad’s simple city ranking tool to see what city may be best for you.

• Why do big cities suck?

• Are there saving graces?

• When to call it quits?

• The CityChad Location Ranker

WHY DO BIG CITIES SUCK?

Last month we saw the horrifying news that Bob Lee, the creator of Cash App and former CTO of Square, was stabbed to death in San Francisco.

This tragic event is also symbolic of the opportunities and problems in places like SF.

They are hotbeds for innovation, where the best of the best gather together to create world changing products. But they are also places that are almost unlivable, that provide terrible value for money for most of its residents.

I would put London and New York in the same spot. Fantastic places to visit, but a nightmare to live day by day.

Want to catch-up with a friend within the city? It’s at least an hour round trip, and a half a day’s disposable wages for a few drinks.

Want to walk to work? Unthinkable for most. Rents near your office will be sky-high and there will be little supply due to urban planning. Get the metro instead and have the pleasure of being squashed into a train carriage.

Even the wealthiest people in the city have to face most of the same annoyances; travelling by taxi at a snail's pace is not much better.

ARE THERE SAVING GRACES?

Absolutely.

Big cities are the place to start your career.

If you are in your 20’s getting a high paying job at a reputable company can power up your money making potential for the rest of your working life.

The diversity of connections you can make, the people you can meet, the unique places you will see and the hardiness it will give you, will be invaluable. But you have to make the most of it and be proactive.

There are millions of other dreamers that wish to be in your shoes.

If you are not out there making the most of the opportunity, you are paying for the privilege of spending your hard earned money to make others rich.

Also, the advent of remote working has made commuting within the city less of a nightmare, with less crowded public transport.

WFH has also given the chance for many to escape the city and work abroad whilst keeping that juicy city salary. But it may just be a matter of time until the market catches up and the arbitrage dies.

WHEN TO CALL IT QUITS?

It’s up to you.

But the general rule of economics (and most things in life) is that a given activity is only worth doing when the marginal benefit exceeds the marginal cost.

So ask yourself, am I still getting more juice from this big city than it is taking from me?

An intelligent Chad, does not make many emotional decisions, so it is best to try to look at things as objectively as possible.

So I created a super simple tool to rank cities based on the factors that are most important to me. I call it the CityChad Location Ranker.

WHAT OTHER OPTIONS ARE THERE?

Most Chads and Chadettes don’t want to move to a boring two-horse town either.

We want opportunity and challenge, which you can get also outside of the World’s capitals.

So in the next edition we will talk about some of our favourite up and coming places.

NEWS: POLAND THE NEXT SUPER POWER?

Check out the video above from TLDR news for another take on the Polish miracle.

Last Sunday The Telegraph did a very interesting piece titled “Why Poland will be Europe’s Next Super Power”.

Even the Chad was shocked.

Did you know that, if things go as they are, by 2030 Poland will be richer than the UK?

The Post-communist economic miracle does not lie (though, the UK is no longer much of a benchmark after Brexit. Sorry guys).

As the article says “The truth is that living standards in places like Warsaw or Wrocław are already comparable to those in Berlin, Paris and London.”

After our recent trip to Warsaw, this fact is quite evident. Poland’s cities are clean, safe, and friendly.

Poland is up to all good. Move there before the secret gets out!

TRAVEL DESTINATION: DUBAI

We switched gears this week and headed further East.

So far East, we were no longer in Europe, but the Middle East. And we went to your favourite Instagram wannabe influencer city: Dubai.

This was our first time here and we had high expectations.

We were not disappointed. The city is safe, clean and above all glam. It’s a melting pot of people from all over the world. From the sunburnt European tourists to the workers from Africa and other parts of the Middle East.

We attended the Dubai Fintech Summit, and the vibe from the attendees and presenters was almost ecstatic. Money is flowing, businesses are growing, particularly in the cutting edge of finance and crypto.

If you want to move somewhere where the earth is shaking, Dubai could be an awesome option.

• Stay: There are plenty of hotel options, and the deals are amazing now as it is low season. Check out the Barsha Heights area for affordable options close to the best parts of the city.

• Work: Book a hotel with a good business centre, they are plentiful. We loved the space at Atana hotel, it was big, quiet and the internet worked perfectly.

• Stay Fit: Running around in the day now is almost impossible. Again, hotel to the rescue. The gym at the Atana was fully equipped and will suit you just fine.

• Eat: The options are limitless, you can find food from all over the World. The best value for money we found for lunch and views was at the Aura Sky Pool. 250 AED (about 62 EUR) per person, fully redeemable for food and drinks. Book in advance as the place gets busy. And the views are said to be the best in Dubai.

• Go out: If fancy is what you are after, Tabu is an awesome restaurant that turns into a lounge after hours. For a more rock ‘n roll experience, go to Lock,Stock and Barrel at the Grand Millenium hotel.

• Transport: The metro system is incredibly convenient. Otherwise, it is better to flag taxis than use apps like Uber as the price difference is significant.

BETA OF THE WEEK: GARY GENSLER

We are not having a Chad of the Week in this edition.

Instead, we have to give SEC chairman Gary Gensler the official title of Beta of the Week. Gary (and other American public servants), are basically turning the US into a no-go zone for the Crypto Industry.

Don’t get us wrong, we believe good regulation is key for making the space thrive.

Take places like Dubai, which are taking a leading role in crypto regulation with a progressive and open approach. In contrast, it seems the biggest economy in the World is doing its level best to make sure it gets left behind in this space.

Just this week, Binance (the world’s largest crypto exchange) slammed the US calling it a “very difficult” place to do business, seeking for oversight in the UK over the US.

The SEC, who Gary heads, has been busy suing crypto companies left, right and centre. Most recently, OG exchange Bittrex filed for bankruptcy having to deal with an SEC lawsuit.

What we hear from those in crypto is that it is not regulation itself, but the lack of clarity and clear rules that is making it nigh impossible to do business in the US.

You can do better, Gary.

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Disclaimer

The material on this email and our website is for informational and entertainment purposes only and we make no guarantees as to the accuracy or completeness of its content – it is subject to change. Please conduct your own due diligence and research.

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The Chad index (“the index”) is a combination of historical returns for the following assets:

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