One the more interesting investments I’ve made over the last few years was buying a sizeable chunk of a successful baby products company; our products sell around the world and in top retailers like Target, Babies R Us, Bed Bath and Beyond, etc.

The managing partner forwarded me a letter yesterday from one of our international manufacturing agents; the letter explained that, over the last two years, prices have risen substantially in the developing world where many of our products are manufactured.

China, for example, has seen wage increases of 44.6% since 2010. Vietnam- 39.1%. The polyethylene resin that we use has gone up in price 40.3%. Naturally, the rise in oil prices has also increased transportation costs substantially as well.