Drift Signal

Drift Signal

Share this post

Drift Signal
Drift Signal
Capitalists Beat Merchants Everytime

Capitalists Beat Merchants Everytime

European Straits #35

Nicolas Colin's avatar
Nicolas Colin
Sep 20, 2017
∙ Paid
1

Share this post

Drift Signal
Drift Signal
Capitalists Beat Merchants Everytime
Share

Dear all,

I’m spending a few days in Tallinn (Estonia), where I’ve been participating in a bootcamp organized by the INET’s Innovation Working Group. I also dedicated some time to meeting local entrepreneurs, investors, and government representatives to get a better grasp of the local entrepreneurial ecosystem.

Among the highlights of the bootcamp—which included talks by Erik S. Reinert, Carlota Perez, Dan Breznitz, and Bill Janeway—was a presentation by Mary O’Sullivan of the University of Geneva (Switzerland). Mary gave a fascinating talk on capital as discussed by economists throughout history. To make a long (and stimulating) story short, two lessons can be drawn from her reasoning:

  • If you want to learn more about capital, talk to capitalists (those who invest in and run businesses—people like us) rather than to economists.

  • Capitalists mostly care about return on assets (RoA) and return on equity (RoE), which enables them to take the larger view. As they’re focused on capital asset ve…

This post is for paid subscribers

Already a paid subscriber? Sign in
© 2025 Nicolas Colin
Privacy ∙ Terms ∙ Collection notice
Start writingGet the app
Substack is the home for great culture

Share