David Beats Goliath Again
‘Major decision for the open internet,” — Orin Kerr, law professor at the University of California at Berkeley On September 9, in a 3-0 decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals let stand an August [...]
1948: Harry Truman’s Improbable Victory by David Pietrusza
Until the 2016 Trump election, most of us thought that polling techniques had improved so much that we could confidently predict presidential outcomes. We assumed that Harry Truman’s surprise victory over Thomas Dewey was not [...]
Federal Deficit Soars to Unacceptable Levels
The federal government budget deficit is fiscally irresponsible. For the second year in a row, the shortfall will exceed $1 trillion. The current generation of political leaders is now oblivious to fiscal constraint. The [...]
Europe Faces Economic Headwinds
There is widespread expectation that Mario Draghi, president of the European Central Bank, will initiate a fresh round of monetary stimulus. His actions would reflect growing concern that the trade conflict between the United [...]
Abortion laws get more attention in the culture wars – The other kind of pro-choice
The economist has pointed out that pro-life groups have not only engaged in restricting abortion clinics, but also have prevented reasonable access to health clinics that provide a full range of birth- control methods. Some [...]
Summary: Pew Research: Key Findings About Americans’ Declining Trust in Government and Each Other
By Lee Rainie and Andrew Perrin Survey of 10,618 adults conducted November 17-Dec 10 2018 Pew Research Center Report: Many Americans see declining levels of trust in the country, whether it is their confidence [...]
Troubled Times
As a person who is passionate about the importance of learning history as a necessary framework for making current decisions, I am deeply troubled my simplistic, arbitrary portrayals of our past. My concern is that [...]
The Biggest Threat to America is Us
The Biggest Threat to America is Us --Based on Thomas Friedman Editorial Thomas Friedman recently wrote an editorial in the New York Times that provided a sobering assessment of the challenges facing America. Friedman pointed [...]
Iran Violates Nuclear Sanctions
By David Kirkpatrick and David Singer NY Times Summary (Both David Kirkpatrick and David Singer are well respected journalists) In today’s New York Times, the article highlighted that Iran will breach the limits on uranium [...]
Nike Pulls Shoes After Kaepernick Objects
I hope that Nike receives overwhelming criticism for their “Yanking a U-S-A- themed sneaker featuring an early American flag after Colin Kaepernick told Nike that the shoes were offensive because they were a symbol of [...]
Pfizer Set to Purchase Cancer Drug Maker Array BioPharma
Pfizer will purchase Array BioPharma for $10.4 billion. It hopes to expand its cancer portfolio with targeted therapies. This acquisition underscores the importance of cancer drugs to the pharmaceutical industry. Because cancer drugs have saved [...]
Mark Shields, Mike Mansfield, and William Fulbright
For decades I have enjoyed watching Mark Shields and David Brooks discuss important issues on the Public News Hour. Last night was especially illuminating. The conversation began with both Mark Shields and David Brooks defending [...]
The Economic Impact of D-day
The observance of the 75th anniversary of D-Day has deservedly caused universal celebration. Winston Churchill articulated the importance of defeating Hitler. It prevented us from “sinking into the abyss of a new Dark Age.” [...]
Ernie Pyle: The Man Who Told the Truth About D-Day
Ernie Pyle was beloved by readers and service members alike for his coverage of the war through the eyes of infantrymen on the front lines In this week’s New York Times Magazine, the article was [...]
Remembering D Day’s Lessons
The past few days have at one level been exhilarating. For Western leaders to celebrate the success of the greatest seaborne invasion in history is memorable in it self. Moreover, while only 4% of the [...]
Fighting Thugs with Thugs
Jair Bolsonaro, the president of Brazil, will not defeat crime in Brazil by tolerating militias The economists highlighted Brazil’s plagues: economic stagnation, corruption, and sickening violence. In brief, terrorists, not the civilian government, rule [...]
Trump’s 5% Tariff on Mexico
President Trump’s surprising announcement that starting June 10 America will impose a 5% tariff on imports from Mexico has heightened tensions not only on our Southern border but also caused global turbulence. Since taking [...]
Remembering the American Civil War
Over the past few years, there have been major attempts to recast our image of the American Civil War. I am supportive of many of these efforts. Specifically, rather than focus on Civil War Battles, [...]
Why Do Millennials Prefer Socialism to Capitalism?
A Gallop poll last summer found that by a small margin millennials prefer socialism over capitalism. Because millennials have economic challenges attaining middle-class perks, they support populist candidates who promise universal health care and [...]
With Birth Rate Declining, Time to Revisit Immigration Regulations
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the U.S. birthrate fell in 2018 to 3,788,235 births. We have not witnessed such a low number since 1986. The U.S. fertility rate is now [...]
U.S. Government Uses Big Data to Survey Our Economy
The Wall Street Journal reported that our government is using Big Data, a revolutionary methodology to accumulate information about our economy in order to track our results and report their findings. Big data is [...]
Humans Are Speeding Extinction and Altering the Natural World at an “Unprecedented’ Pace
I have drawn heavily from an article in the New York Times by Brad Plumer. The United Nations in a 1500 report concluded that humans are transforming Earth’s natural landscapes so dramatically that as many [...]
Social Security Trust Fund Faces Depletion by 2035
Trustees of Social Security have recently reported that its costs will exceed its income in 2020. This shortfall will force the program to dip into its nearly $3 trillion trust fund to cover benefits. [...]
IMF Reports Global Economic Slowdown
Is the world in danger of drowning in debt? The International Monetary Fund this month issued a report highlighting its concerns about worldwide debt, which it said totals some $152 trillion. “The period of [...]
U.S. Economic Growth is Slowing, but Do Not Get Hung Up on the Short Term
On Thursday, the Commerce Department reported that the U.S. economy’s rate of growth slowed to an annual rate of 2.2 percent in the last quarter of 2018. This is below the 3.4 percent growth [...]
Federal Reserve Says Low Inflation Remains a Concern
On Wednesday, Federal Reserve Chairman Jay Powell said that he is concerned about low inflation not only in the United States but also in other developed countries. Specifically, inflation for a significant time period [...]
The Elephant in the Room – Spiraling Government Debt
“The high level of U.S. government debt is likely to mean that the U.S. economy is much more interest-rate sensitive than it has been historically.” Robert Kaplan, president of the Dallas Federal Reserve Robert [...]
McMartin Preschool Trial A Travesty of Justice
I normally rewrite the material that I describe; however, in this case I have extracted much from Wikipedia because it accurately portrays the horrible abuse that was inflicted on the McMartin family. I find it [...]
The Fifties by David Halberstam
I recently reread this classic and happily can report that I thoroughly enjoyed it. Halberstam made an interesting comment. When we think of the 50’s, we have an image of a black and white society [...]
Life After Carbon: The Next Global Transformation of Cities
"It always seems impossible until it’s done." -Nelson Mandela I recently heard a presentation on climate change and read a book “Life After Carbon” by Peter Plastrik and John Cleveland. Plastrik and Cleveland highlighted [...]
Record Corporate Buybacks Stimulate Controversy
The anticipation that U.S. corporations will repurchase a record $940 billion of their stock has raised significant congressional criticism, particularly from Democratic presidential hopefuls, but also from Republican Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida. The [...]
John Hopkins Cancer Symposium 45 Years of Turning Research into Results
I have just returned from a very exhilarating experience, the John Hopkins Cancer Symposium, sponsored by Erwin and Stephanie Greenberg. In brief, all of us would be elated to learn about the incredible breakthroughs [...]
Defending Intellectual Property Crucial, but We Want China’s Economy to be Strong
This past Thursday, President Donald Trump gave an upbeat assessment of efforts to settle our trade dispute with China. Vice Premier Liu He promised China would buy more U.S. farm and energy products and [...]
I Can Be Harry Truman’s One-Handed Economist
President Harry S. Truman once quipped that he wanted a “one-handed” economist because all his economic advisers said, “on the one hand this, and the other hand that!” Alas, “Give ‘em Hell Harry” would [...]
Israel’s Dangerous Dalliance with China by Ilan Berman
In today’s Wall Street Journal, Ilan Berman wrote an editorial that frankly surprised me. In brief, Berman highlighted America’s concern that Israel’s growing political and economic relationship with China has sinister implications. Specifically, John [...]
Why Apple Announcement Sparked Fear of Slowdown
On Thursday, the markets dropped precipitously for a variety of reasons, including Apple’s disappointing revenue projections, concerns over the Federal Reserve ‘s monetary policy, the U.S.-China trade impasse and weak U.S. manufacturing data. Stephen [...]