Dreyfus Affair
Introduction Over the past forty years I have read several books about the Dreyfus Affair. Over time, my focus has shifted from the personal tragedy of Alfred Dreyfus, unjustly convicted and brutally treated, to the [...]
China’s grip on Hong Kong has financial and political ramifications
China’s legislature has taken preliminary steps to impose greater national security control over Hong Kong. These efforts would override the territory’s partial autonomy in order to crush anti-Beijing protests. For several years, the tensions between [...]
Economic numbers remain in doldrums
Over the past few days, economic releases have highlighted the damage caused by the coronavirus pandemic. On Friday, we learned that consumer spending dropped a record 16.4%. On Thursday, the Labor Department reported that 36.5 [...]
How Washington Learned to Embrace the Budget Deficit
Introduction Today’s New York Times highlighted the canonization of federal deficits. For the first 75 years of my life, I learned repeatedly that government deficits should be a source of fiscal concern. Today there [...]
Europe Faces Worst Recession Since World War II
On Wednesday, the European Commission projected that Europe’s economy will decline by 7.4% this year. Unfortunately, this downturn far exceeds the financial crisis of 2008, when the Eurozone’s economy shrank by 4.5%. Currently, economists expect [...]
Book Review: Shoe Dog By Phil Knight, co-founder of NIKE
“You measure yourself by the people who measure themselves by you.”--Phil Knight Introduction A normal review book would involve highlighting the important message of the book. In this case, I enjoyed the book so much [...]
America needs to establish a national holiday to commemorate the devastation wrought by the coronavirus pandemic
Before we address our dire economic status we need to mourn the terrible toll caused by the coronavirus pandemic. More than 1 million Americans have tested positive and 60,000 have died. During the Civil War, [...]
World Oil Demand Forecast to See Largest-Ever Decline
The International Energy Agency (IEA) forecast that the global demand for oil would decline more this year than ever. Faith Birol, head of the Paris-based IEA, said: “We may see it was the worst [...]
Robert Caro: Understanding the Use of Power in our Democracy
Introduction For all of us, these are challenging times. Each one of us spends our times differently as we try to cope with COVID-19, a pandemic that has devastated our globe. (As of this [...]
Federal Reserve Launches $2.3 Trillion Program to Support U.S. Economy
On Thursday, the Federal Reserve announced a monumental $2.3 trillion program to provide funds for businesses and municipal governments. To underscore its efforts, Jerome Powell, the chairman of the Federal Reserve, issued a statement: [...]
Protocols of Zion and Me
Introduction At some level I have been aware of the Protocols of Zion as early as my teenage years. That is, I knew that this fabricated text purporting to describe a Jewish plan for [...]
Rising Expectations for Serious Economic Crisis in the U.S.
U.S. policymakers now anticipate that our country will experience the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. The U.S. is at the center of the global pandemic. According to data compiled by John Hopkins [...]
How Will We Know When It’s Time to Reopen the Nation
How Will We Know When It’s Time to Reopen the Nation By Aaron Carroll, New York Times and professor of Pediatrics at Indiana University. Carroll made the following points: To date we can only [...]
Putting the $2 Trillion Coronavirus Aid Package into Perspective
President Trump signed a $2.2 trillion bill — the largest relief package in history — that hopefully will stabilize our coronavirus-battered economy. However, despite the enormous efforts on both the fiscal and monetary side, [...]
New York Outbreaks Worse than Wuhan’s – New York Times
Today’s New York Times reported that if the rate of growth in coronavirus cases in the New York metro area continues, it will suffer a more severe outbreak than those experienced in Wuhan, China [...]
Acquiescence of the American Government in the Murder of the Jews During World War II
Introduction After reading The Washing War: FDR’s Inner Circle by James Lacey I feel there is sufficient explicit and implicit facts to charge key State Department and Army officials that they “acquiesced in the Murder [...]
The United States Braces for a Drastic Economic Slowdown
We now have a consensus that the United States, along with the world economy, will enter into a severe recession, surpassing the 2007-2008 slumps. Forecasting when the recession will begin is notoriously difficult; however, [...]
The Washington War: FDR, Politics & World War II by James Lacey
By James Lacey “World War II challenged Americans to rise to greatness. . . . Roosevelt led the way and stood at the pinnacle of events.” --President Roosevelt before the joint session of Congress on [...]
Corporate Bond Debt is a Ticking Time Bomb, and Coronavirus has Lit the Fuse
Borrowing by businesses is historically high relative to gross domestic product (GDP), with the most rapid increases in debt concentrated among the riskiest firms amid weak credit standards. Coronavirus represents a threat that has [...]
Lessons from the 1918 Influenza by John Barry
By John Barry, author of “The Great Influenza” St. Louis Red Cross workers in 1918 waiting to receive influenza patients In today’s New York Times, John Barry discussed the Spanish Flue that killed between 50 [...]
Coronavirus Raises Risks for Global Recession in 2020
The likelihood of a global recession has risen dramatically in recent weeks. The World Health Organization (WHO) recently reported that COVID-19 has infected more than 100,000 people across 92 nations and territories. It has [...]
Role of Business in the American Economy
During this election cycle, presidential candidates have been critical of American businesses and their influence over the legislative process. I would like to provide an alternative view from an economic perspective. As long as [...]
Amazon CEO: ‘Climate Change is the Biggest Threat to Our Planet’
Jeff Bezos, Amazon founder and CEO, announced recently that he was committing $10 billion to combat climate change through a global initiative, called the Bezos Earth Fund. Bezos said: “The fund will support scientists, [...]
An Affordable House Challenge – One Local Developer Strives to Find the Solution
Across Sarasota and Manatee counties, we face an affordable housing crisis. A recent report examining affordable housing revealed around 42% of households in Sarasota County and 38% of households in Manatee County spend more [...]
Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka Kansas (1954)
"We conclude that the doctrine of 'separate but equal' has no place. Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal." —Chief Justice Earl Warren Introduction Over the past twenty-five years I have read on three occasions [...]
A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood
Tom Hanks portrays Mr. Rogers in A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood. This is a timely story of kindness over cynicism, based on the true story of a real-life friendship between Fred Rogers and the [...]
Why I dislike the Debate Forums?
Last night because of Mike Bloomberg’s entrance into the 2020 race to become the nominee for the Democratic Party, I watched the debate. Within a few minutes, I was forcibly reminded why I historically avoid [...]
Global Impact of Coronavirus
Chinese authorities failed on a timely basis to warn about the coronavirus epidemic, endangering the world. The Wall Street Journal reported that the World Health Organization, bending to Chinese pressure, failed to declare it [...]
President Trump Raises Profound Concerns About Abuse of Power by the Executive Branch in Punishing Enemies and Favoring Allies
I concur with Trump’s critics who believe that his actions have lowered the morale of the Justice Department because he is undermining its apolitical tradition and setting up a precedent where America could become a [...]
Origins of St. Valentine Day
While the origin of St. Valentine’s Day is controversial, it is generally thought to evolve from a strange Roman tradition. From February 13-15, Romans celebrated the feast of Lupercalia. The men sacrificed a goat and [...]
Presidential Debates Counterproductive
The Democratic Presidential debate reinforced my previous concerns that these forums are not productive in helping our citizenry make informed decision about the most qualified candidates for our highest office. Since the 1960 debate [...]
Addressing Economic Inequality in the U.S.
A January poll by the Pew Research Center found that while 62 percent of Americans believe there is too much income inequality, only 40% believe that reducing it should rank as a top priority. [...]
Technology Giants are Dominating the Stock Market
On Thursday, Google-parent Alphabet became the fourth U.S. firm to achieve a market value of more than $1 trillion. Alphabet joins Apple, Amazon and Microsoft as the only American companies to have attained this [...]
More Women Hold Jobs in U.S. Than Men
“Education is what survives when what has been learned has been forgotten.” — B.F. Skinner In the latest job report, women held more jobs than men. The development reflects, in all likelihood, the future [...]
Why I oppose the Trump Impeachment
Introduction: As many people know I dislike President Trump on a personal basis. I voted for the Libertarian Candidate in 2016 and will probably cast another throw away vote in 2020. My attitude toward Trump [...]
Will Japan’s Economic Problems Morph into a Financial Pearl Harbor
As one would expect, stock market junkies like myself think about our prospects for 2020. After enjoying stellar returns in 2019, some analysts (not me) worry that the United States could suffer from falling [...]