INTRODUCTION If I were an excellent cartoonist like my friend, Mel Gerstein, I would draw a cartoon of Franklin Roosevelt, with a cigarette holder clenched in his mouth holding up the world like the mythical [...]
I recently completed an enjoyable book, A First Class Temperament. This work seeks to capture the essence of Franklin Roosevelt’s personality. President Roosevelt was indeed a remarkable person. A man who suffered such debilitating paralysis [...]
Mendacity. What do you know about mendacity? I could write a book on it...Mendacity. Look at all the lies that I got to put up with. Boy, I've lived with mendacity. Now why can't [...]
Mandela has demonstrably proved that he lives by the following credo: During my lifetime I have dedicated myself to the struggle of the African people. I have fought against white domination, and I have fought [...]
"Entreat me not to leave you, or to turn back from following you; For wherever you go, I will go; And wherever you lodge, I will lodge; Your people shall be my people, and your [...]
Introduction My Extra Inning: This fall there will be a television series that follows up on Ken Burn’s fabulous 9 inning series on Baseball. I am sure that I will watch it, but my [...]
FDR v. the Constitution A book by Burt Solomon “The Success of Democratic institutions lies in the success of the processes of reason as opposed to tyranny of force, between these, society must choose. If [...]
Ecclesiastes 1:14 I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and behold, all is vanity and a chasing after wind. George Santayana: “Those who do not remember the past are condemned [...]
Today’s Realpolitik encourages politicians from the local schoolhouse to President Obama to pretend that all of their efforts going forward will be to enact policies contravening current law. Their martial stand against current government reflects [...]
"The future ain't what it used to be."- Yogi Berra It has always been difficult for the retail industry to keep its customer base because of constantly changing consumer preferences, rapid commoditization and low [...]
The recent arrest of David Headley for his involvement in the Mumbai Massacre and 5 American college students in Pakistan for hoping to initiate terrorist activity represent a clear and present danger even in America. [...]
"There are rare moments in this institution when you can implement fundamental change. This is one of them." –Sen. Evan Bayh, D-Ind. President Obama is considering forming a bipartisan commission to reduce the nation's [...]
For decades the American government sought to increase homeownership because of a belief that it reinforced a faith in capitalism and made better citizens. Unfortunately, this effort turned into government mandates that led the [...]
Too Big To Fail: The Inside Story of How Wall Street and Washington Fought to Save the Financial System – and Themselves. By Andrew Sorkin. Andrew Sorkin, business writer for the New York Times, [...]
The decline of the U.S. dollar over the past six months is reviving concerns about its status as the world's reserve currency. A reserve currency is held in significant quantities by many governments as [...]
The movie "It's a Wonderful Life" highlights the fragile dependence of the community of Bedford Falls on its banking institutions. The potential failure of its saving and loan because of a financial crisis will [...]
SEC Chairman Mary Schapiro recently said the rating agency industry needs to be subjected to a stronger regulatory framework because investors frequently consider those ratings in making investment decisions. Schapiro needs to follow up [...]
"(I)t is important to note that the very absence of common-sense regulations able to keep up with a fast-paced financial sector is what created the need for that extraordinary intervention. The lack of sensible [...]
Much of the benefit of the Merrill Lynch (ML) and Bank of America (BAC) merger has been lost to investors for a lack of full disclosure. It is a fundamental principle of American finance [...]
"I was not going to be the Federal Reserve chairman who presided over the second Great Depression." -- Ben Bernanke President Barack Obama decided to reappoint Ben Bernanke to a second term as chairman [...]
Jeff Taylor wasn't happy that the Senate approved another $2 billion for the "cash for clunkers" program last week. For him, the program means fewer clunkers, and possibly less cash. Taylor hates the term, [...]
Pulitzer Prize winning author, Nick Kotz, wrote a compelling history of the fight for civil rights. The book primarily focuses on the extraordinary effectiveness of President Lyndon Johnson to pass the Civil Rights Acts of [...]
"In human life, economics precedes politics or culture" -- Park Chung-hee (1917-1979) , South Korean dictator The miraculous growth of the Asian economy will totally alter the economic landscape by the middle of the [...]
"Today, the entire Western financial world holds its breath every time the Fed chairman speaks, so influential are the central bank's decisions on markets, interest rates and the economy in general. Yet the Fed, [...]
By Allis Radosh and Ronald Radosh Dust Jacket “Even though I knew how the story would end, A Safe Haven still had me sitting on the edge of my seat, watching Harry Truman weigh the [...]
There's something to be said for leaving things as you found them, but not when it pertains to stock performance. Soon after Larry Kellner became chief executive officer in late 2004, shares of Continental Airlines [...]
About one year ago, I fired my longtime money manager. To paraphrase Warren Buffett, I discovered belatedly that now that the tide had gone out, my money manager was swimming naked! In a nutshell, [...]
"Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. but it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning." -- Winston Churchill, Nov. 10, 1942, Announcement of British victory [...]
"We cannot, we must not, and we will not let our auto industry simply vanish. This industry is, like no other, an emblem of the American spirit; a once and future symbol of America's [...]
The $30 billion deficit of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. highlights the difficulties the federal government faces in balancing different constituent interests. On the one hand, the PBGC protects the defined benefit pensions of [...]
"The only thing that gives me pleasure is to see my dividend coming in." -- John D. Rockefeller For many long-term investors, dividends are the straw that stirs the drink. Over time, a stock's [...]
A woman recently approached Richard Fisher in a Dallas Starbucks and thanked him. She had refinanced her mortgage at 4.3 percent, down from more than 6 percent, and she wanted him to know she [...]
"No one should be confused about what a bankruptcy process means, This is not a sign of weakness but rather one more step on a clearly chartered path to Chrysler's revival." -- Barack Obama [...]
The obstinate refusal of a small group of hedge funds to accept the government's terms for helping Chrysler avoid bankruptcy will probably unleash the legislative equivalent to waterboarding. Hedge funds have strong legal precedent [...]
When I initially considered joining the board of directors of a publicly traded company, my first thoughts were the images conveyed by the film industry. I pictured myself sitting with nicely dressed people around [...]
In his first presidential news conference on Feb. 9, Barack Obama highlighted Japan, the world's second largest economy, as an example of a country that has suffered from mistaken financial policies. Obama argued the [...]
