Walmart and Others Know It’s Time to Raise Minimum Wage
It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest. - Adam Smith, Wealth of Nations, 1776 [...]
In Praise of Activist Investors’ Ability to Change Companies
The sudden resignation of McDonald's CEO Don Thompson is in part a result of criticism by activist investors. They complained about the company's weak financial performance under his leadership, including poor global same-store sales. [...]
Swiss Currency Decisions Adds Pressure on Europe’s Bankers
"The road to hell is paved with good intentions" Well meaning efforts by the Swiss National Bank have backfired, sending shock waves through international markets. In 2011, the Swiss central bank took dramatic steps [...]
Rationales for Thinking the U.S. is Headed for a Prosperous Year
America enters 2015 with more momentum than it has had since 2007. Hopefully, our fire power can pull the rest of the world out of its doldrums. Despite this week's plunge in the stock [...]
Scalia Interpretation of the Constitution
In brief, I found Judge Scalia’s speech disappointing on several fronts. First of all, his comments regarding homosexuals were most inappropriate. On several occasions, Scalia coupled homosexuals conduct and sodomy. While fun, many sexual acts [...]
Symbolism of the ‘Wizard of Oz’
Practically everyone has either seen or heard The Wizard of Oz and Dorothy story. The Wizard of Oz over the years has become one of the truly classic movies among children and adults alike. If [...]
Economic and Demographic History of the United States
U.S POPULATION 1.U.S. POPULATION GREW 4 FOLD SINCE 1900 2.ANNUAL RATE OF NATIVE POPULATION GROWTH SLOWED AFTER 1960 UNITED STATES POPULATION, 1900-2010 FALLING DEATH RATE, MASSIVE IMMIGRATION SPURRED POPULATION INCREASE U.S PERCENT OF POPULATION FLAT [...]
Why I Support AIPAC
I want to thank Dr. Ken Stein for taking time out from his busy schedule to share with us his perspective on the historical ups and downs of the relationship between Israel and the United [...]
The Duel: 10 May- 31 July 1940 – The Eighty-Day Struggle Between Churchill and Hitler by John Lukacs
By John Lukacs I am already starting work for my upcoming class on Modern American History which will begin in January 2016. Our first few lectures will be on World War II—the war that saved [...]
Why A Long-Held Inflation Goal Should Take A Back Seat at Fed
An article in the New York Times entitled "The goal of 2 percent inflation, rethought" shows the improbable evolution of this important economic target. According to the piece by Times senior economics correspondent Neil [...]
Plummeting Oil Prices May Have Serious Consequences
In recent weeks, Saudi Arabia, OPEC's largest oil producer, took two extraordinary steps to maintain its market share. These measures have helped triggered a near free-fall in the oil market, with prices hitting their [...]
Warning Signs in Savings Rate for Younger Generation
Adults under the age of 35 -- the so-called millennial generation -- are spending more than they make. They are either borrowing or depleting assets to pay for their lifestyles, resulting in a negative [...]
PINC. Sarasota PINC is for People, Ideas, Nature, and Creativity
On Thursday, Sarasota hosted the first PINC conference conducted in America. PINC is a handmade conference that started in the Netherlands 15 years and has been repeated annually. Nelleke van Lindonk, the widow of the [...]
There’s Dancing At Gas Pumps but Worry in Global Markets
Tumbling gas prices make me feel like dancing when I pull into a filling station. Gas prices in Sarasota now hover near nationwide levels below $3 a gallon, according to AAA. Prices of oil, [...]
Europe Needs to Act Quickly to Avoid Being a Global Drag
The central banks of Europe and the U.S. are on different paths: The U.S. Federal Reserve is ending its quantitative easing program because it worked; the European Central Bank is considering starting such a [...]
Bait Shop Trouble has Wider Impact
SARASOTA — In October, the city will receive an engineer's report detailing the deterioration of Hart's Landing and suggesting the possible cost of repairing it. The bait-and-tackle shop near the foot of the John [...]
Americans Need to Stop Paying World’s Pharmaceutical Bills
For close to a century and a half, Lewis Carroll's novel, "Alice in Wonderland," has entertained children and adults and provided analogies for columnists. It certainly felt like I had gone down the rabbit [...]
Eurozone’s Economy Requires Fiscal and Political Reform, Too
Mario Draghi, the European Central Bank president, remains a key player in efforts to save the Eurozone. Two years ago, he halted a Eurozone crisis by loosening the interest-rate logjam that threatened beleaguered countries [...]
Park to Get Update, and Maybe New Name
CAUSEWAY: Local man donating playground equipment and more Causeway Park may be renamed after the late wife of a Sarasota man who is donating playground equipment and other amenities to improve it. The park, [...]
Harrison Report to President Truman on the Status of Displaced Jews, August 1945
Introduction: In my judgment (1) the abhorrent treatment of Jews following the end of World War II both in displaced persons’ camps or in their native countries such as Poland, Rumania, and Germany, (2) the [...]
French Politics and Business Find Solution in GE Partnership
"The best is the enemy of the good."- Voltaire France and the U.S.-based General Electric Co. have become unlikely business pals. On June 23, after a nearly two month's battle, the French government and [...]
The Outsized Payment to Politicians for Speeches Needs Scrutiny
Over the past few days, I have become angered and confused over articles about the fees that the Clinton’s have received. Specifically, my inquiry was initiated by reports that a foundation associated with UCLA paid [...]
Pentagon says only 29% of Americans Qualify for Military Service
In today’s Wall Street Journal, an article “ Recruits’ Ineligibility Tests the Military” states that according to the Pentagon, only 29% of Americans, aged 17-24, qualify for military service because of physical, educational, or behavioral [...]
Red Flags Raised on Growing Danger of Housing – Price Crash
"The world must act to contain the risk of another devastating housing crash." -- Zhu Min, deputy managing director at the International Monetary Fund In the space of a few days, June 11-12, a [...]
Fix Fracking’s Problem to Help Goal of Energy Independence
The extraction in the U.S. of oil and natural gas from shale rock remains controversial. On the one hand, the benefits from this domestic power source are so great that they have changed the [...]
The Tax Reasons, and Problems, Behind Pfizer’s Bid for a Rival
Pfizer Inc. is trying to acquire AstraZeneca for both tax and strategic reasons. First, the tax reasons: Internal Revenue Service regulations have made it difficult for companies to leave the U.S. to go to [...]
The Pope (Pius XI) and Mussolini by David Kertzer
David Kertzer, a finalist for the National Book Award and professor of history at Brown University, provided a groundbreaking work on the relationship between Pope Pius XI and the Italian dictator, Benito Mussolini. It gave [...]
Activist Investors Prove Good for More Than Short-Term Profits
Recently, activist investors have performed alchemy, burnishing their base image into one with a golden tint. It is beneficial and informative when these hedge-fund managers -- notably David Einhorn of Greenlight Capital, Dan Loeb [...]
When Choosing Investments, Shareholder Yield is Best
The popularity of dividend-paying equities has grown tremendously as investors looking for ways to generate meaningful income in today's low-interest world. But Mebane Faber, a portfolio manager at Cambria Investment Management, argues that dividend [...]
European Central Bank Ready to Take Broader Role in Crisis
"There cannot be a single currency without economic convergence, or the euro zone will explode." - Mario Draghi, European Central Bank president, Dec. 1 Last week, Mario Draghi, president of the European Central Bank, [...]
We Need to Heed Warnings
We Need to Heed Warnings of power grid's vulnerability "The power grid now faces a range of threats it was never designed to survive." - Paul Stockton, former assistant secretary of defense We can [...]
Transcripts Show Fed was Late to Realize Seriousness of Crisis
Some six years after the 2008 financial meltdown, we are still learning important information about the mindset of policymakers during that anguished era. Recently released transcripts of the central banks' policy meetings in 2008 [...]
Can’t Decide About Keystone? Just Recall Arabs’ Oil Embargo
"Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it." - George Santayana To put in perspective the importance of the Keystone Pipeline, we need to remember the shock the U.S. suffered [...]
Watching the Retail Struggle Over Physical Versus Online
"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 [...]
J.P. Morgan Handling of Madoff Fraud Deserves More Scrutiny
"J. P. Morgan as an institution failed, and failed miserably." - Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara J.P. Morgan, fraudster Bernard Madoff's primary banker, agreed to pay more than $2 billion to avoid criminal charges [...]
West of Hester Street (Galveston Movement) and My Family
Summary: The Galveston Movement operated between 1907 and 1914. Its intent was to divert Jews fleeing Russia and Eastern Europe away from crowded East Coast cities to America’s West. Faced with poverty and death, millions [...]