A list of all of Doc Werlin’s writings pertaining to economics.
"I don't agree with him on everything, but he is right about the out-of- control and unaccountable Federal Reserve." - Sen. Jim DeMint R-SC, referring to Rep. Ron Paul The Republican Party has a [...]
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 [...]
“The boom, not the slump, is the right time for austerity at the Treasury.” -John Maynard Keynes, 1937 In a New York Times editorial Keynes Was Right Paul Krugman agreed with Keynes. Krugman endorsed [...]
"We will do what is needed to maintain price stability." - Mario Draghi, president, European Central Bank, March 13, Vienna The European Central Bank recently indicated its willingness to take dramatic actions at its [...]
"The U.S. decision to delay approval of the Keystone XL pipeline is a catastrophic cop-out by the Obama administration." -- David Wilkins, former U.S. ambassador to Canada under President George W. Bush On Oct. [...]
MF Global Holdings' bankruptcy underscores just how easily Europe's problems can reverberate throughout the financial system. MF Global is the biggest failure by a securities firm since Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. filed for Chapter [...]
"We put our clients' interests first." - Michael Cozene, senior vice president, GenSpring Family Office, Sarasota This summer, Soros Fund Management, the investment operation of hedge-fund billionaire George Soros, decided to return the money [...]
"The top U.S. financial institutions have become zombie banks that will need a decade to adjust their businesses to the new realities in the industry." - Meredith Whitney, CEO of Meredith Whitney Advisory Group, [...]
For those of us who own equities, the last five weeks have been devastating. Market losses have put us into red territory for 2011 and even wiped out much of our profits in 2010. [...]
On July 26, the Pew Research Center released a study, "Wealth Gaps Rise to Record Highs Between Whites, Blacks and Hispanics." Pew reported that the wealth of different racial groups in the United States [...]
And somewhere men are laughing, and little children shout; But there is no joy in Mudville - mighty Casey has struck out. - “Casey at the Bat,” by Ernest L. Thayer Washington, like Mudville, [...]
Near the end of the HBO movie "Too Big to Fail," Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke is shown stating his rationale for the government's bailout of Wall Street firms despite their greed and their [...]
Henry Kissinger, in his recent book, "On China," wrote that Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai said in 1971 of the U.S.-China relationship: "This will shake the world." Kissinger responded to Zhou's statement by asking "whether [...]
"If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. Then quit. There's no point in being a damn fool about it." -W.C. Fields Fields could have meant this advice for Federal Reserve Chairman Ben [...]
"There are risks and costs to action. But they are far less than the long-range risks of comfortable inaction." - John F. Kennedy Those of us with more than a few gray hairs can [...]
"We think fundamentally that this transaction is so anti-competitive that there's no way to fix it that doesn't result in harm to consumers and the economy." - Charles McKee, Vice President of Government Affairs, [...]
For those who can remember the oil shocks of the 1970s, it all seems eerily familiar. During that decade, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries employed stratagems to increase prices from about $3 [...]
"The United States faces daunting economic and budgetary challenges." - Congressional Budget Director Douglas Elmendorf In mythology, Troy was destroyed because its inhabitants failed to heed the warnings of Cassandra against bringing a wooden [...]
In 2008, Mohamed El-Erian, CEO and co-chief investment officer of Pacific Investment Management Co., coined the term "the new normal." El-Erian used the term to describe the post-financial crisis facing investors, predicting a world [...]
"Gold looks better every day with growing sovereign risks." - Hussein Allidina, head of commodities research at Morgan Stanley "Paper eventually returns to its intrinsic value -- zero" - Voltaire Gold recently closed near [...]
In the space of a week -- Nov. 10-17 -- two blue-ribbon panels proposed tough-minded proposals for reining in our federal budget deficits. President Barack Obama appointed the bipartisan White House Fiscal Commission. The [...]
"There is no better way for individuals to build diversified investment portfolios. Every asset class is available at rock-bottom costs." - Charles Schwab, founder and chairman of Charles Schwab Corp. After all these years, [...]
"In a world in which the policy interest rate is close to zero, the (Federal Reserve) must consider the costs and risks associated with the use of non-conventional tools when it assesses whether additional [...]
I'm forever blowing bubbles, Pretty bubbles in the air. They fly so high, Nearly reach the sky, Then like my dreams, They fade and die -1918 lyrics by James Kendis, James Brockman and Nat [...]
"We've pressured Cisco, saying, 'We would like a share. You don't need all that money.'" - Susan Byrne, chief investment officer of Westwood Holdings Cisco Systems recently joined tech titans Microsoft and Oracle in [...]
"Governments should not become addicted to borrowing as a quick fix to stimulate demand. ... Deficit spending cannot become a permanent state of affairs." - Wolfgang Schaeuble, German finance minister, Spiegel Online, June 25, [...]
Suggestions on How to Give the U.S. economy a tune-up "It's the economy, stupid." - James Carville, lead strategist for Bill Clinton's 1992 campaign This phrase was used effectively during Bill Clinton's successful campaign [...]
Recent data show that the U.S. economy has lost momentum. As a consequence, the debate within the Federal Reserve is intensifying over the best way to prevent a double dip into a recession, coupled [...]
"China's main mission is to protect and fuel its growing economy, and to do that China is engaged in a concerted campaign to grab conventional energy resources around the world." -Karen Harbert, head of [...]
"We need an all-out effort, a Manhattan Project, a man to the moon, to become less dependent on fossil fuel and the Middle East." - Rep. Chris Shays R.-Conn. In 1957, the Soviet Union [...]
"Crisis Economics: A Crash Course in the Future of Finance," by Nouriel Roubini and Stephen Mihm "In practice, we have seen that things that should have happened once every one hundred years are becoming [...]
"We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately."-Benjamin Franklin Last weekend, Helmut Kohl, frail and confined to a wheelchair, implored his countrymen not to abandon his lifetime goal -- a [...]
"Time and again, problems emerge from a failure to heed the lessons of history. The recent market turmoil would not have occurred without unrealistic ratings, excessive leverage and government actions that distorted markets and [...]
Many Americans share my passion for courtroom dramas. We are riveted by the thrust and parry of trial lawyers and applaud when our legal matadors make the defendants break on the stand. Unfortunately, my [...]
‘The Case of the Intractable Deficit’ or How to Avoid Debtor's Prison' Since childhood, I have treasured my friendship with Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. Together we have solved mysteries such as "The Red-Headed [...]
