The Best Reading with F+: Racist Math and Poor Billionaires

Dear reader, In the United States, the

has long been a topic of controversy.

Pedagogical reforms are gaining ground in schools there, lowering the level of math classes in the name of equality because immigrant students have a harder time with algebra and geometry.

In addition, concepts such as the Pythagorean theorem and pi gave the impression that mathematics was largely developed by Europeans.

And that perception, rampant in America, is now beginning to gain a foothold in British mathematics faculties, as was made more widely known these days by a letter of protest coordinated by Armstrong from mathematics professors, including eight fellows of the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Excellence in Science, founded in 1660 .

The letter is based on concerns about an unnecessary politicization of mathematics.

The guidelines of the quality assurance agency for universities give reason for this.

Carsten Knop

Editor.

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Our correspondent Gina Thomas in London is following the debate with interest: At universities,

, as the rector of Oxford University recently lamented.

In Cambridge, a college principal wrote to students saying she would boycott a talk by pro-binary The Economist journalist Helen Joyce because her views were "offensive and hateful."

No wonder that students felt encouraged to drown out the philosophy professor Kathleen Stock, who had been fired for her "gender-critical" attitude, with a drum protest.

It was a tough year even for the richest man in the world.

According to financial data service provider Bloomberg,

at the end of the year

.

To date, what is probably the most prominent entrepreneur on the planet has

.

In 2022, Musk made a name for himself with his confused takeover of the short message service Twitter (logo: a little blue bird).

It wasn't a good deal.

The $44 billion he bid for Twitter in April was "obviously" too much, Musk has since admitted.

Because since then, the valuations of technology stocks like Twitter have fallen drastically.

In between, Musk didn't really want the company anymore, but in the end he bought it, more out of necessity than out of conviction.

Since then, Musk has been causing fear and terror on Twitter with mass layoffs and wild demands for employees to work “hardcore” in the future.

At first glance, however, the

is only a side issue for Musk, because the majority of his fortune is in Tesla, the electric car pioneer that Musk made from scratch into the world market leader and of which he is still a major shareholder today.

Compared to the industrial giant Tesla, Twitter is economically tiny.

So it was primarily the fall in value of Tesla shares and less the failed Twitter purchase that severely added to Musk's wealth.

Several colleagues from the economics department of our Sunday newspaper have researched how other rich people have fared.

You know that latecomers will be penalized.

Do you think this statement also applies to people who will have to

that was 70 percent cheaper at the beginning of this year?

Our finance expert Volker Looman thinks that whining and complaining are useless.

Much more important is the ability to calmly accept what cannot be changed and

.

Otherwise it would still be expensive.

Looman justifies this by looking at the case of a 35-year-old man who needs 500,000 euros to be able to buy his own home in the commuter belt of Berlin that costs 700,000 euros.

He is a loyal customer (s) of a savings bank.

The man should take out a fixed loan that costs 3.5 percent per year.

The repayment is to flow into a home savings contract, which will be allocated in ten years and cost 1.25 percent annually.

What do you think of the offer?

The high transaction fee, the low credit interest and the controversial contract fee will most likely spoil your good mood.

Looman's detailed number games show four things.

First: The interest rates on

are currently between 3.5 and 4 percent per year, and there is no getting around these rates.

Second, there's no use waiting for "better" times because home prices are stable and you're not getting any younger.

Thirdly, banks generally limit the fixed interest rate on their mortgages to 15 years.

However, most financing lasts 20 to 30 years, so that an interest rate change is imminent at least once in a lifetime.

Fourth, building societies offer protection against rising interest rates, but only if linking the savings contract to a fixed loan costs no more than a loan with direct repayment.

In addition, there is the flexible repayment of the home savings contract, so that the combination can be worthwhile for many tenants.

Thank you for your interest in our digital offers.

If you have an F+ subscription and have questions about it, please send me an email to c.knop@faz.de.

Have a nice third advent, best regards

Yours sincerely, Carsten Knop

Publisher

Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung