Investing in Freedom - Freedom 100 Emerging Markets ETF - FRDM

bee

On today’s show we discuss (Animal Spirit's Podcast):

How the makeup of emerging markets have changed over time
How freedom affects capital markets
The enormous gap between EM market cap and EM population

Investing in Emerging Markets based on a country's "Freedom Score".

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Backed by the godfather of smart beta, Rob Arnott, the Alpha Architect Freedom 100 Emerging Markets ETF is designed to track countries that allow human and economic freedom.

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LewisBraham

Freedom is a nebulous term that means different things to different people, and is thus often subject to propagandistic use. I think conservative libertarians often think of freedom to want, i.e., you can buy or sell anything freely on open markets without government regulation or taxation while liberals think of freedom from want--freedom from hunger, from illness via public services. This particular ETF employs the conservative libertarian Cato Institute and Fraser Institute's definition of freedom to help select its countries to invest in. Here's one take on the Cato index of freedom: https://erlendkulanderkvitrud.medium.com/the-economic-freedom-index-is-a-steaming-pile-of-neoliberal-bullshit-a35205855e29

Mark

Erlend Kulander Kvitrud - he's not wrong, while I think that @LewisBraham definition of how at least this liberal thinks of freedom could use some work. He might start by building off the Declaration of Independence if indeed it needs to be modified. Our efforts so far have been not so remarkable.

LewisBraham

I'm more a fan of Thomas Paine's Agrarian Justice I guess, although I'm glad Jefferson replaced "property" with the "pursuit of happiness." My way of thinking is that if one has no food, no healthcare and no housing, one doesn't feel free, even if with enough capital one can buy a 96 inch inflatable gorilla, a cockroach pillow, or an urn with a guitar on it at Amazon.com: https://reviewgeek.com/21980/14-things-you-didnt-know-they-sold-on-amazon/

carew388

The only freedom I want is to not have to buy this etf hyped by the "godfather of smart beta!"

Mark

My bitch Lewis is that even to this day, despite the clear wording of the Declaration, white males are considered and treated like they are more equal than all the others. That imbalance extends to housing, healthcare, employment, opportunity, wages for equal work, freedom, you name it. It's still an uphill battle after 240+ years.

LewisBraham

I agree, but then a document written by white males who at the time didn't think women or people of other ethnicities were capable of rational thought will tend to favor white males. The founders were important interesting men, but they were still men and very much of their time. They shouldn't be treated as infallible gods and their documents as religious texts, but as flawed human beings with reasonably good intentions. I see the documents they wrote as living elastic ones that need to be altered or adjusted to suit the times, not as stone tablets given to Moses.

bee

Yes @carew388, that was a concern of mine too. Arnott...or not.

hank

+1 LB -

I thought of that too, but didn’t want to stir the pot ...

An eloquent document, the Declaration of Independence Is in essence a declaration of war against Great Britain. It establishes the rights of citizens to bear arms against an established government they deem tyrannical. Mostly it lists and assails practices of the current British monarch designed to usurp the human rights Jefferson thought fundamental to all. In so doing Jefferson leaned on the writings of English philosopher John Locke.

Side note - Hamilton as staged on Broadway is available on Disney Plus. Almost worth the cost of a 1-year subscription alone.