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 [...]
"We are at a very high level. These levels in the previous episode led to problems and riots across the world." - Abdolreza Abbassian, senior food analyst, U.N. Food Organization In December 2010, the [...]
Today’s New York Times in an article “Squalid Abortion Clinic Escaped State Oversight” described the despicable conditions poor colored women confronted in getting an abortion in Philadelphia over a 25-year period. A few days ago, [...]
Charles Darwin, best known as the discoverer of natural selection, was born in 1809 to a very distinguished English family. Mr. Darwin by all accounts was an extraordinary English gentleman who avidly followed his [...]
Unfortunately, I have only seen scattering comments that refer to some concern on Rebecca Werlin’s part regarding the religious affiliation of Israel. Further, I understand that Rebecca feels that a theological state might not [...]
The Nuremberg Trials from 1945-1949 provide an understanding of the nature and causes of evil. Those who come to the trials expecting to find sadistic monsters are generally disappointed. What is shocking about Nuremberg is [...]
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 [...]
Remembering my mother, Rosella Werlin Let me say at the outset, I owe so much to my mother, that I cannot separate my life from hers. She was not only an indispensible partner [...]
Grandmother Werlin: Life in Rural Texas before Electricity Sarah Werlin. Photo courtesy of Ernest Werlin I have thought very little about Grandmother Werlin over the years. She died when I was [...]
Jacob Werlin. Photo courtesy of Ernest Werlin My grandfather, Jacob Werlin, represented a significant group of self-taught Jewish intellectuals bred in the poverty and virulent anti-Semitism of Eastern Europe. These men spent [...]
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 [...]
Book Review: Mistress of the Vatican: The True Story of Olimpia Maidalchini: The Secret Female Pope (17th-century Scarlett O’Hara) By Eleanor Herman Overview The author, Eleanor Herman, provided a spectacular account of Olimpia’s incredible life [...]
The title I chose, A Country Named Intrepid, reflects my feelings that we perverted of the wholesome counter intelligence efforts of a by-gone era. Specifically, a wonderful book called, A Man Named Intrepid, described the [...]
"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 [...]
In an editorial for the New York Times, The Technocracy Boom, David Brooks highlighted a fundamental problem—the extensive growth of the federal bureaucracy that has occurred in the twenty-first century (2001-2010) under both Republican and [...]
"We need to ensure that SEC officials are more focused on regulation and enforcement than on getting their next job in the industry they are supposed to oversee." --Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa The term [...]
"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 [...]
In Greek mythology, Greek Sea monsters Scylla and Charybdis were situated between Sicily and Calabria in Italy. They were so close to each other that they posed an inescapable threat to passing sailors; avoiding [...]
"Keynes, The Rise, Fall and Return of the 20th Century's Most Influential Economist" by Peter Clarke Clarke explains very clearly, in about 200 pages, the shifts in John Maynard Keynes' reputation from 1920 to [...]
Derivatives’ Destructive Role in the global marketplace In my studies of the European conquest of Native Americans, I leaned how a relatively few invaders could subdue millions. Europeans possessed several formidable advantages, including rifles [...]
In the memorable movie "The Graduate," a family friend of the Braddocks, Mr. McGuire, says to the aimless Benjamin Braddock (Dustin Hoffman): "Let me give you one word -- plastics. There is just one [...]
