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Nacho Oliveras Profile picture
Nacho Oliveras
@NachoOliveras
Ingeniero vagamundo. A veces pierdo el autobús. Lector de Borges, de Pessoa y de Suetonio. Bolardólogo e Incerto aficionado. Barberos. Pro-fuentes. Vd./Su.
9 subscribers
Feb 20, 2023 • 9 tweets • 5 min read
Russia in the Shadows by H.G. Wells. In 1920 Wells visited Petersburg and Moscow with his son. The harsh reality was apparent to him, as “it is hardly possible to dress up two large cities for the benefit of two stray visitors, wandering observantly in different directions”.

1/n As Wells had been in Petersburg before the war in 1914 he had a comparison baseline: “Never in all history has there been so great a débâcle before”.

2/n
Feb 13, 2023 • 16 tweets • 7 min read
Josep Pla's 'Trip to Russia in 1925'.

Pla, a conservative, states his intention of making his account as descriptive as possible because he said he knew basically nothing about Russia (besides having read some of their classics) and he didn't want his account be propaganda.

1/n Image In any sense (positive or negative) as it was apparently the case a century ago, even today. He paid 10 USD for a Riga to Moscow ticket, and 1 USD for a 3 course decent meal on the same train, that he considered a decent service at a decent price (1 USD 1925 ~ 16 USD today).

2/n Image
Jan 13, 2023 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
Same as it happens for people, it is a typical thing for countries with what I once called “low self-esteem” to be bothered by the perception other countries have on them, and wanting it changed.

1/n Some examples come to mind.

For instance, the beautiful documentary series that Louis Malle filmed in India, which he considered his best work, was hated in India, to the point India withdrew to the BBC for years permission to film new documentaries.

2/n
Jan 8, 2023 • 92 tweets • 50 min read
1 week driving in Morocco

1/n Crossed the Anti-Atlas (the last section of the Atlas range, spanning a little less of 500 km from Central Morocco to the Atlantic Ocean) and reached Agadir, a ~3h drive from Marrakech. Had a liver ‘Mqila’ (~casserole if I am not wrong) at this place, that inspired my trust.

2/n twitter.com/i/web/status/1… Image
Dec 16, 2022 • 39 tweets • 19 min read
3 days in Valencia.

1/n Image Estació del Nord main entrance, next to the bullfighting arena.

The main hall is an Art Nouveau supernova.

2/n ImageImage
Nov 4, 2022 • 28 tweets • 7 min read
The last talk of the day at @kilkenomics with @nntaleb, still in the Watergate Theatre, bears a promising name: “The Economics of Russia’s War”.

I don’t know who the other speakers will be. We shall see soon. I will put ‘NNT’ when quoting @nntaleb…

1/n Image Introduction by moderator (A), speaker B is a professor in Boston College, then next speaker is @JavierBlas that I will quote as JB. He explains he writes for Bloomberg on energy and he needs explain his parents he can’t get the Saudi to cheapen oil prices, then comes NNT…

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Nov 4, 2022 • 23 tweets • 7 min read
Well that was 2 tickets, so Alan may also get into “Misbehaviour and Animal Spirits”, the joint talk of @nntaleb and @rorysutherland.

Thanks again to @BrianKearney54 for his generous gift!

1/n We made it, and the network seems fine here.

I will live tweet if possible, NNT for @nntaleb and RS will mean @rorysutherland.

2/n
Nov 4, 2022 • 35 tweets • 8 min read
The New World Order will be my first (properly attended, and hopefully reported) talk at @kilkenomics this weekend. Nassim Taleb is one of the speakers, I will refer him as NNT. I am sorry, but I don’t know who the other speakers are, so they might be referred as A, B and C.

1/n I have been advised against this…

So me quoting NNT is not to be considered as a ‘factual’ statement, but rather as one filtered by me… A non pro, who often gets arguments backwards, armed with a cell phone and poor internet connection (so I may need to swap to a Plan B).

2/n
Nov 4, 2022 • 6 tweets • 3 min read
Let me elaborate on this idea. I totally ignore if there is any literature on it.

Luxury products are good products, with good "storytelling" (also named marketing), but once those conditions are met (and many brands do), they are just "memes" that serve a positioning need.

1/n They are Veblen goods.

Lord Walter Rothschild used a carriage drawn by zebras because any rich person in the late 1800s England had already a car drawn by horses: a simple horse carriage was not conspicuous enough to show off as "richer than rich"...

2/n
Nov 3, 2022 • 18 tweets • 10 min read
Kilkenny.

If you like the weather in Ireland, just wait 5 mins!

Setting up Nacho Industries HQ here until Sunday morning nevertheless…

1/n ImageImageImageImage When I get served this café, I wonder if I really share ancestry with these folks…

2/n Image
Oct 31, 2022 • 21 tweets • 10 min read
Nacho Industries HQ somewhere between Dublin and Kildare. You need to love trains!

In the news, a counter-intuitive story: since covid many employees that were based in Ireland went back home (e.g., France, Spain) to work remotely, and now they don’t want to come back here.

1/n Image But it is actually pretty intuitive when one thinks of it: the tax breaks Ireland is offering target the corporations, but income taxation is pretty aligned with the rest of Europe.

Besides, let us not dupe ourselves, Ireland is nice but the lifestyle here is not Bali’s…

2/n
Oct 29, 2022 • 19 tweets • 9 min read
Dublin.

1/n Image Nacho Industries HQ here are very align to my taste…

Very in the borderline of what Nacho Industries can afford as well (this will be just two nights, let us be crazy).

2/n Image
Oct 27, 2022 • 30 tweets • 15 min read
Just landed in Dublin, took a coach heading to Belfast, where I shall arrive in ~2h.

Got jokes from the guy selling me the ticket, the guy helping me place my suitcase and the driver: I am sure I won’t be able to keep up the rhythm.

1/n Image No border controls, Northern Ireland is for practical purposes within the EU, even if it is not the case ‘de jure’.

Belfast is giving me a good first impression, but at around 9pm most restaurants are closed and I had to settle for a croque monsieur at the hotel restaurant.

2/n ImageImageImageImage
Oct 15, 2022 • 82 tweets • 42 min read
My first stop in Calabria this week is Rocca Imperiale, famous for its lemons, the ‘Castello Svevo’ topping the rock where the village stands and (this, I am sure, is a very recent initiative), the poetry decorating its walls.

1/n ImageImageImageImage Spicy flavors!

2/n twitter.com/i/web/status/1…
Oct 4, 2022 • 24 tweets • 9 min read
Antalya again.

4th week in a row I am coming.

1/n Image I come as much that Apple's AI thinks this hotel is my 'home'...

2/n Image