Reminds me of https://jlcollinsnh.com/2023/03/02/why-your-house-is-a-terri...

“Hey I’ve got an idea. We’re always talking about good investments. What if we came up with the worst possible investment we can construct? What might that look like?”

Well, let’s see now (pulling out our lined yellow pad), let’s make a list. To be really terrible:

- It should be not just an initial, but if we do it right, a relentlessly ongoing drain on the cash reserves of the owner.

- It should be illiquid. We’ll make it something that takes weeks, no – wait – even better, months of time and effort to buy or sell.

- It should be expensive to buy and sell. We’ll add very high transaction costs. Let’s say 5% commissions on the deal, coming and going.

- It should be complex to buy or sell. That way we can ladle on lots of extra fees and reports and documents we can charge for.

- It should generate low returns. Certainly no more than the inflation rate. Maybe a bit less.

- It should be leveraged! Oh, oh this one is great! This is how we’ll get people to swallow those low returns! If the price goes up a little bit, leverage will magnify this and people will convince themselves it’s actually a good investment! Nah, don’t worry about it. Most will never even consider that leverage is also very high risk and could just as easily wipe them out."