Weekend Reading: New Approaches to Land and Investment Strategies
What Caught My Eye This Week
I was delighted to hear from Monevator reader Elizabeth Wong a few months ago when she sent me a copy of her new short story, suggesting it might resonate with our community. After diving into The Landless, I can confirm it does—its themes of land ownership, generational debt and forced resettlement echo many discussions we’ve had in these Weekend Readings threads and their comment sections.
While I couldn’t share the full text at the time, I’m pleased to present an extended excerpt published by Wasafiri, lightly adapted to remove sensitive references and focus on universal drivers of displacement:
Excerpt from “The Landless” by Elizabeth Wong
She told Poppy, “If you say ‘refugee,’ I think of someone driven out by conflict. And if you say ‘migrant,’ I picture someone seeking better opportunities. But these people are neither refugees nor migrants. They are just… landless.”
Poppy retorted, “But aren’t they escaping regions made uninhabitable by rising temperatures and systemic discrimination? Families who once lived comfortably but were forced out—aren’t they refugees now?”
Louise sighed. “My family took out a sixty-year, multi-generational mortgage to buy our hilltop chalet. It was only paid off last year. This season in Monte Carlo? That’s the payoff of three generations of hard graft—amortisation schedules, compound interest, refinancing rounds. Why should land be any more affordable? We earned it.”
Poppy lowered her voice. “But the new settlements—water shortages, unshaded metal roofs, dust storms…”
Louise shrugged. “They have basic utilities: solar-harvested power, borehole extraction, communal micro-loans. They chose to move. If it’s not to their liking, they can return.”
For the remainder of May, you can read Wong’s The Landless in full on Wasafiri. It’s a powerful lens on the interplay between climate stress, debt burdens and social stratification.
From Monevator
- Safe withdrawal rates: How to spot if your portfolio is headed for trouble—Monevator [Members]
- Home ownership and mortgages: Impact on your overall asset allocation—Monevator
- Why you shouldn’t track every return: Lessons from the archive-ator—Monevator
News Highlights
- BoE policy update: The Bank of England cut the base rate by 25bps to 4.25%, with a surprising 5–4 split vote. Yields on gilts rose 15bps intraday as markets digested the signal—Reuters.
- Mortgage regulation: The FCA has launched a consultation to simplify loan-to-value bands, streamline APRC calculations and require digital affordability assessments—FCA.
- Household bills: Ofwat projects average English water bills could exceed £2,000 by 2050, driven by infrastructure upgrades and climate resilience investments—The Guardian.
- Tech M&A: DoorDash agreed to acquire Deliveroo for $3.9 billion in an all-cash deal, consolidating food-delivery platforms in Europe—Semafor.
- Bankruptcy filing: WeightWatchers (WW) filed for Chapter 11 in the US as subscription attrition accelerates and GLP-1 drug therapies reshape the weight-loss market—T.I.M.
Products and Services
- 6.5% Regular Saver: Virgin Money’s latest fixed-term cash savings product—Be Clever With Your Cash.
- Delayed-Start Mortgage: A unique UK product allowing borrowers to lock in rates now and begin repayments later—The Guardian.
- Lifetime ISA Myths Debunked: Six misconceptions about tax-efficient saving—Which?
Comment and Opinion
- The value of a second opinion—Oblivious Investor
- How much exposure to US stocks is too much? [Paywall]—FT
- Borrowing from your future can cost you everything—Of Dollars and Data
Additional Analysis: Multi–Generational Mortgages & Debt Structures
Multi-decade mortgages (30–60 years) shift amortisation schedules outside traditional working lifespans. Lenders often use graduated payment profiles, starting with interest-only phases (0.5–1% of principal) before principal amortisation. In jurisdictions like France and Australia, such long-tenor loans carry embedded rate floors and caps to mitigate negative amortisation risk. According to a 2024 report by the Mortgage Bankers Association, loans over 40 years now represent 12% of new originations, up from 4% in 2019.
Additional Analysis: Climate & Geopolitical Drivers of Landlessness
Global land displacement is projected to double by 2035 under RCP8.5 scenarios. The UN’s Habitat III conference highlighted that 140 million people could be internally displaced by 2050 due to extreme heat, desertification and storm surges. Coupled with discriminatory land tenure laws, this creates a new class of “environmental landless”—households stripped of traditional agriculture rights.
Additional Analysis: Portfolio Implications in an Inflationary Environment
With real yields on 10-year treasuries near zero, shifting allocations from nominal bonds to Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities (TIPS) or floating-rate notes (FRNs) can preserve purchasing power. A rule of thumb: for every 1% rise in inflation expectations, reallocate 5–10% of fixed income to inflation-linked securities. Expert Jeremy Siegel notes that during the 1970s stagflation, TIPS outperformed by an annualised 4% over standard Treasuries.
“There is a buyer for every seller and what hurts one necessarily helps the other.”
—Warren Buffett, The Essays of Warren Buffett
Enjoy your weekend reading, and read on YieldRadar.info for more insights.