Stock Market Reaches All-Time High
Happy days are here again The skies above are clear again So let’s sing a song of cheer again Happy days are here again All of the major indexes have performed remarkably well in [...]
Drug Import Plan Initiated by Trump Administration
Last week, the Food and Drug Administration announced that it is taking steps to allow the import of cheaper drugs from Canada and other countries. The goal is to enable U.S. citizens to attain [...]
Remembering Paul Volcker (1927-2019)
Last week, Paul Volcker, one of our greatest Chairmen of the Federal Reserve, passed away. Volcker’s most notable accomplishment was his successful struggle to subdue inflation in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s. Volcker [...]
Jobs Growth Soars: It’s the Economy Stupid
On Friday the Labor Department reported that the job market enjoyed excellent performance — nonfarm payrolls surged by 266,000 and unemployment fell to 3.5%, a 50-year low. Over the past year, almost 1.7 million [...]
The Role of Investment in the U.S. Economy
According to the National Bureau of Economic Research, the United States has enjoyed its longest expansion. Starting in June 2009, our Gross Domestic Product has grown 25%. We now enjoy a 3.5% unemployment rate, [...]
The U.S. Gave Troubled Doctors a Second Chance, Patients Paid the Price
The U.S. Gave Troubled Doctors a Second Chance, Patients Paid the Price By Christopher Weaver, Dan Frosch and Lisa Schwartz Today’s Wall Street Journal Highlighted a horrendous scandal. That is, the Indian Health Service [...]
Federal Deficit is Unsustainable
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, November 13, 2019 In testimony before the House Committee on the Budget, Federal Reserve Chairman Powell expressed strong reservations about the U.S. federal debt. He worried that policymakers will [...]
Nobel Prize in Economics Awarded for Work on Poverty
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences awarded the 2019 Nobel Prize in economics to Abhijit Banerjee, Esther Duflo, and Michael Kremer for their investigational work in fighting global poverty. The academy noted that the trio [...]
Trump’s Policy Zigzags in Mideast Undermine America’s Long -term foreign policy objectives
Over the past few days, I have read a number of articles and heard from a bi-partisan group of leaders regarding America’s abandonment of the Kurds in Syria. Stated differently, the Kurds in Syria, [...]
Signs of Global Economic Slowdown
Recently, most major indicators have turned negative. As a consequence, the global-growth slowdown has frightened investors. In recognition of this malaise, the stock market has been flat for the past 12 months. To ward [...]
Nobel Prize in Medicine: Importance of Oxygen
Dr. William Kaelin (Harvard University); Sir Peter Ratcliffe (Professor at Oxford and Director of Clinical Research at Francis Crick Institute in London); and Gregg Semenza (Professor of Medicine at John Hopkins University) won the [...]
Role of Prices in a Modern Economy
In anticipation of the 2020 elections, candidates have made campaign promises to make our country better. The high costs of a college education, medical treatment, improving our environment, housing, etc. are just some of [...]
Helping Cancer Survivors
The death of legendary journalist and political commentator Cokie Roberts from breast cancer poignantly reminds us that cancer can strike all of us. Her first bout was in 2002. Since then she worked hard [...]
America Needs a Legitimate Third Party
Over the past few days I have spent too much time following the controversy associated with President Trump’s telephone call with the newly elected Ukrainian President, Zelensky on July 25th. According to a leak from [...]
America’s Political Polarization is Almost Complete
Today’s Wall Street Journal highlighted that our two political parties now represent two different economies. Indeed, there has been a total flip-flop since my youth. I can remember when it was said that college [...]
Manufacturing Sector Contracted in August
“We do not want to be servants to the Chinese.” — President Trump Tweet, Sept. 1 Last Tuesday, the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) released data that showed U.S. manufacturing sector declined for the [...]
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 [...]