10-Year US Treasury’s climb above 1% has widespread ramifications
The interest costs on Treasuries has widespread ramifications because money does not grow on trees.
Lessons from The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich by William Shirer
By William Shirer “History never repeats itself, but it does rhyme.” --Mark Twain Introduction Over the past 50 years I have read this wonderful chronicle of the rise and fall of Nazi Germany from [...]
All White Democratic Primaries – 1944
Over the years I have mentioned that Blacks were effectively denied suffrage in the South until 1944. The fifteenth amendment, providing male suffrage, was emasculated through a series of laws. The Civil Rights laws [...]
5G auctions attract record bidding
5G is the fifth generation technology standard for broadband cellular network that phone companies began deploying in 2019. The Federal Communications Commission has to date received bids for 5G frequency that has exceeded $69.8 billion. Wireless carriers, cable companies and others critically need these airwaves to support [...]
The Case for Eliminating or Keeping the Electoral College
Introduction: In recent years several people have expressed to me their desire for America to eliminate our Electoral College system for electing our president. Their reason is a recognition that given demographic changes the [...]
Let us toast the New Year
As we think about 2021, the words from Charles Dickens’ 1859 historical novel “A Tale of Two Cities” remain relevant: “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times ... it was the [...]
Phenomenal success of IPO market closes out remarkable year
The year 2020 has been a banner year for IPO (initial public offering) pricings. Jay Ritter, “Mr. IPO,” in an interview said that the New Issue Market is “not as crazy as in 1999 and 2000, [...]
Animal Farm By George Orwell
Introduction Animal Farm is an allegorical novel by George Orwell first published in England in August 1945. The book is both fun to read and informative. Orwell related how the ideal of the Russian Revolution [...]
Kindertransport: Into the Arms of Strangers
I saw tonight a documentary, Into the Arms of Strangers. It focuses on the lives of 10,000 primarily Jewish children from Nazi Germany, Austria, Czechoslovakia, and the Free City of Danzig who found refuge [...]
Slowing job growth spurs stimulus talks
Last Friday’s job report highlighted that the labor market recovery has slowed. The U.S. added just 245,000 jobs in November. This increase is far below the rebounds in May and June when business payrolls increased [...]
Dow Jones Industrial Index surpasses 30,000
The Dow Jones Industrial Index surpassed a major milestone this past Tuesday. For the first time, it crossed 30,000. This very popular price-weighted index follows United States blue chips – companies that are leaders [...]
Extraordinary responses to COVID-19 challenges and other debacles
COVID-19 has caused monumental disruptions across the globe. This past week, the federal Centers for Disease Control urged Americans not to travel for Thanksgiving, traditionally the busiest travel period of the year. The United States has [...]
Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership represents World’s Biggest Free-Trade Deal
Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) should be signed over the next few days. It represents the most significant trade agreement in modern history. Fifteen Asia-Pacific nations, including China, Japan, Australia and New Zealand, have [...]
Economic outlook remains uncertain
Last Thursday, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell emphasized that the U.S. economy needs more fiscal and monetary policy support. He pledged that the Fed would take whatever actions are necessary to protect the economy [...]
Rising Coronavirus Infections Weigh Heavily on Europe and the United States
The rapid escalation in the number of coronavirus victims has prompted policy makers in Europe and the United States to take or advocate corrective actions. On Saturday, the British prime minister introduced regulations that [...]
IMF reports that global public debt hit a record of 100% of GDP
The International Monetary Fund reported that global public debt would rise to 100% of the world gross domestic product in 2020. On an unprecedented level, governments have made huge fiscal expenditures in response to the coronavirus [...]
OPEC reduces long-term forecast for oil demand growth
The world has significantly changed its attitude toward fossil fuels since the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries imposed an embargo against the United States for its decision to resupply the Israeli military during the 1973 Arab-Israeli [...]
Ernie Pyle (The Greatest Correspondent of World War II)
Ernest Pyle was the best-known, most beloved correspondent during World War II. My mother who was a journalist named me after him. She and Ernie were working journalists in Chicago in the 1930’s. Like [...]
The Changing Racial and Ethnic Composition of the U.S. Electorate Pew Research October 2020
Pew Research reported that in all 50 states, the share of non-Hispanic whites declined between 2000 and 2018 with 10 states experiencing double-digit drops in the share of White eligible voters. Nevada, California, Arizona, Florida [...]
Economy is grudgingly advancing
Economists now anticipate that our economy will only slowly recover from the coronavirus pandemic. Heartbreakingly, there is mounting evidence that COVID-19 has inflicted a loss of millions of jobs forever. The labor market has recovered [...]
Jane Addams, Great Reformer (1860-1935)
It would be fun to speculate why some of the truly great Americans are forgotten within one hundred years of their life. Jane Addams by any definition should be an icon that we pay homage [...]
Economy is Chugging Along
The U.S. economy is grudgingly advancing. Economists now anticipate that our economic recovery will only slowly recover from the coronavirus pandemic. There is mounting evidence that the pandemic has cost a loss of inflicted [...]
California Takes Dramatic Steps to Combat Climate Warming
In recognition of its environmental challenges, California has taken the most aggressive steps in the United States to control emissions both in the field of transportation and electric power generation. Being the world’s fifth-largest [...]
Federal Reserve Will Keep Interest Rates Low For Foreseeable Future
Last Wednesday Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell emphasized the need to keep interest rates near zero at least through 2023. He said, “We believe that achieving inflation that averages 2% over time helps ensure that longer term inflation expectations remain [...]
Hundreds Rally in Paris to seek justice for murdered Jewish woman in France
Hundreds (sadly not thousands) of French Jews and their supporters in Paris called for justice for murdered Jewish woman, Sarah Hallimi, a retired physician and schoolteacher. In an astonishing decision, the court of appeal [...]
US economic recovery appears to be losing steam
Official numbers prove what we feel in our bones – the U.S. economy has hit the proverbial glass ceiling. On Thursday, the Labor Department reported that U.S. unemployment claims held steady at 884,000. This represents [...]
Verdict in Vichy: Power and Prejudice in the Vichy France Regime by Michael Curtis
Introduction For those of us who remain fascinated by World War II, an area of discussion is France. We ask ourselves how such a great nation could have accepted defeat only some 31 days after [...]
Federal Reserve policy lifts stock market
Last Thursday, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s comments helped bolster stock prices. Powell replaced the bank’s existing target for inflation of 2%. Instead, they would accept an average of 2%, and therefore allow price increases above [...]
America’s diverging views about the economy
The confusion about the status of the American economy and prescriptions to fix it has merit. The United States is in a recession, but this downturn is unlike any our country has ever witnessed. There [...]
50 Children: The Rescue Mission of Mr. and Mrs. Kraus, Spring 1939
“To take a child from its mother seemed to be the lowest thing a human being could do,” one journal entry went, describing the moment when the Krauses met with parents in Austria. “Yet it [...]
Times are a changin’
In 1964 Bob Dylan wrote a song “The Times Are a Changin.” It was an anthem for frustrated youth and summed up the anti-establishment feelings of people who wanted America to embrace Civil Rights legislation. [...]
Andrew Johnson
In May 1868, the Senate came within a single vote of taking the unprecedented step of removing a president from office. Although the impeachment trial of Andrew Johnson was ostensible about a violation of [...]
Rutgers English Department to Deemphasize traditional grammar in solidarity with Black Lives Matter
I only recently learned of this bizarre turn of events: The English Department at Rutgers University recently announced a list of “anti-racist” directives and initiatives for the upcoming fall and spring semesters, including an effort [...]
American economy contracted at record rate
The Commerce Department last week reported the steepest-ever decline in the U.S. gross domestic product. The value of goods and services fell at an annual 32.9% in the second quarter, wiping out nearly five years [...]
The Captive Mind and America’s Resegregation
The Captive Mind and America’s Resegregation, Wall Street Journal by Andrew Micha, Dean of College of international and Security Studies at George Marshall European Center for Security Studies in Germany Introduction All Americans have been [...]
Challenge of higher education
A study by EY-Parthenon, a consultant to the education industry, indicated that some 800 of America’s 2,000 colleges could close. Twenty percent of colleges run deficits because of inadequate endowments, less than optimal enrollment and/or [...]