I find it difficult to realize that I started writing “Doc’s Prescription” in March 2008. During the subsequent decade, both our economy and I reached rock bottom and pinnacles. My first column dealt with [...]
The pension funds of state and local governments and corporations are facing a total shortfall of up to $6 trillion. Some 200 multi-employer pension plan companies face bankruptcy. And unless this fiscal shortfall is [...]
“The hypocrisy is astounding. Every one of these Republicans complained about President Obama’s deficits and now they have put forward a trillion-dollar deficit.” — Sen. Rand Paul Members of both political parties criticized U.S. [...]
The expected large-scale increase in the use of robots has prompted discussion about which jobs will become obsolete as society becomes more automated. It’s an issue that dates back long before computers were invented [...]
Playing with Fire, The 1968 Election and the Transformation of American Politics -By Lawrence O’Donnell Introduction: I feel compelled to write up my book review for several reasons. First of all, I was probably [...]
On Wednesday, Apple said it would spend approximately $350 billion in the U.S. over five years on domestic jobs, manufacturing and data centers. The impetus for Apple’s decision was the Tax Cuts and Jobs [...]
Where have all the public companies gone? According to the Center for Research in Security Prices, the number of companies that sell stock to the public on the exchanges has shrunk since 1996 by [...]
Workers in the tightest American labor markets are finally receiving pay packages that are growing faster than inflation. According to an article in the Wall Street Journal on Jan. 1, in cities such as [...]
Citizens of London: The Americans Who Stood with Britain in its Darkest, Finest Hour By Lynne Olsen As he spoke in his last interview Eric Sevareid fought to keep his voice steady. At the end [...]
Few Americans in the twentieth century have left a greater legacy to world peace than George C. Marshall (1880-1959). As chief of staff of the United States Army during World War II, it fell [...]
The Ku Klux Klan Act represented a major civil right accomplishment of President Ulysses Grant. That is, by 1871 the racist ideology that was prevalent in both North and South undermined efforts to protect [...]
On the eve of the Senate Passing the GOP Tax Plan, I find it disturbing that there is no middle of the road discussion of its merits or demerits. While I have not read thoroughly [...]
The U.S. economy is on fire. According to the Atlanta Fed’s model, the gross domestic product is headed for a 4.5 percent annualized growth pace in the fourth quarter. The U.S. economy has enjoyed [...]
The Justice Department says it will file an antitrust lawsuit to stop the proposed $85.4 billion merger of AT&T and Time Warner. This marks a departure from decades of Justice Department practice of approving [...]
In recent months, evidence has increased that the high-yield bond market is under pressure. While this class of bonds rated below investment grade continue to trade near all-time highs, concerns are mounting beyond what’s [...]
Trump’s visit to Asia, he continued his efforts to shake up the world economic order and in the process raised fundamental questions about America’s global role. Trump voiced his belief that America should act [...]
President Trump’s nominee to be Federal Reserve chairman, Jerome Powell, is expected to continue the Fed’s restrained approach to reversing the central bank’s crisis-era stimulus policies. This would mean gradually raising short-term interest rates [...]
Canada, Mexico and the United States are involved in contentious negotiations to update the North American Free Trade Agreement. The Trump administration has offered a series of hard-line proposals that the U.S. Chamber of [...]
Last Wednesday, the Federal Reserve officially announced it will begin reducing its balance sheet. The $50 billion-per-month decrease would cut its holdings below $3 trillion by 2020. But even that figure is almost four [...]
The September 16th edition of the Economist highlighted major issues involving cancer Cancer claimed 8.8 million lives world wide in 2015 40% of Americans will have cancer during their lifetime Cancer kills more people [...]
Over the years I have thoroughly enjoyed Great Courses. In the past few days, I have listened to a series of lectures on the Constitution. In brief, this agreement between the original thirteen states was [...]
The twenty-first century promises breakthrough opportunities for American women, who have led the recovery of our workforce participation rate.Women, especially those in their late 20s and early 30s, have been responsible for 40 percent of [...]
William Cohan, one of America’s most respected financial journalists, has written an excellent, well-balanced book about Wall Street. Cohan argues that, despite the flagrant misbehavior by some Wall Street firms that led to the [...]
Federal Income Receipts $3.66 Trillion Social Security, Medicare Taxes 29% $1.070 Trillion Personal Income Taxes 42% $1.549 Trillion Corporate Income Taxes 9% $332 Billion Excise, Estate, Gift Taxes 8% $295 Billion Borrowing to Cover [...]
The weaker dollar is helping corporate earnings, which is good for U.S. investors. Multinationals’ earnings will rise because they have substantial overseas sales, which are paid for in foreign currencies. Converting these foreign currencies [...]
Exchange traded funds have grown to hold more than $4.1 trillion for the first time, according to HFR, a publisher of information on ETFs and hedge funds. These financial products strive to match the [...]
Today’s New York Times highlighted the obstacles that Asian-Americans face in getting admitted to the finest academic institutions in our country. In my judgment, the discrimination against Asian Americans is totally unwarranted and reveals [...]
Today’s New York Times the article highlighted the fate of books stolen by the Nazis. Tens of millions of books were taken from the Rothschilds, other prominent Jewish families, and Jewish Academic organizations Strangely [...]
On Wednesday, Volvo became the first mainstream automaker to say that all models it introduces in 2019 will be either electric-gas hybrids or powered solely by batteries. It is a bold move to lead [...]
In response to major progress on their balance sheets, the Federal Reserve has given the nation’s big banks a green light to take capital risks that appear to dull the teeth of the Dodd-Frank [...]
President Trump wants to make the U.S. coal industry “great again.” The president has repeatedly said, “We are going to get those coal miners back to work.” He derides the Obama administration’s “job-killing Environmental [...]
Miracle Cure: The Creation of Antibiotics and the Birth of Modern Medicine By William Rosen My cousin, Howard Plotkin, encouraged me to read this book because streptomycin saved my life in late 1945. My [...]
‘Give me a one-handed economist. All my economists say ‘On one hand, then but on the other .’” — Harry Truman On Friday, the Labor Department reported seemingly good news: Unemployment fell to 4.3 [...]
Amazon last week celebrated its 20th anniversary of going public. Today, according to several reports, half of U.S. households subscribe to the company’s Prime service offering free shipping and other perks for $99 a [...]
In America, does More Education Equal Less Religion? Overall, U.S. adults with college degrees are less religious than others, but this pattern does not hold among Christians Pew Research Center Survey showed the relationship [...]
Over the past few months, the investment community has begun focusing on the steps the Federal Reserve might take to reduce its current balance sheet, which now amounts to some $4.3 trillion. Because the [...]
