China Ramps Up Stimulus Program
On Friday, the People’s Bank of China took several major steps to stimulate that country’s economy after it slowed to its lowest level since the 2008 global financial crisis. The bank: Cut its benchmark [...]
Jobs Report Shows Fed Must Be Patient
The U.S. Labor Department recently released the disturbing news that our job growth for non-farm payrolls only rose 142,000 in September. Adding to the woes, labor gains in July and August were revised downward. [...]
Why is Merger Activity on Record Pace This Year?
Global mergers and acquisitions could set a record this year of close to $4.6 trillion, according to data provider Dealogic. This would exceed the $4.3 trillion reached in 2007, the previous record year for [...]
Cost of a Family Health Plan Tops $17,000
Today’s WSJ revealed the results of a survey conducted by Kaiser Family Foundation along with the American Health Association. My Summary of Major points The average annual cost of an employer family plan in [...]
Moves Show China’s Weaknesses
China’s recent devaluation of its currency, the yuan, highlights Beijing’s attempt to reverse the country’s domestic economic slowdown. Until now, the country’s stimulus efforts focused solely on its domestic market: Beijing encouraged its banks [...]
Why the Cost of Coal Matters to Consumers
Investors are fleeing commodities amid mounting worries about the slowdown in global growth and the significant price declines in commodities. The World Bank, in its latest Commodity Markets Outlook, predicts that commodity prices will [...]
China Reaping the Results of its Political System
The communist Chinese government has now tasted the bitter medicine of the downside volatility that accompanies capitalism. That nation’s stock market has sold off $3 trillion — some 30 percent during the past four [...]
Higher Interest Rates Will Be a Good Change
In recent weeks, global interest rates have risen dramatically because of the improving economies of many of the largest developing countries. Interest rate increases in Europe and America have recently been following each other [...]
Charging Instead of Paying Interest, What Could Go Wrong?
Investors and savers -- those who buy bonds and put money in bank deposits -- are paying banks to hold onto and use their money. Mark Kiesel, chief investment officer for Global Credit at [...]
Cash Flowed to Clinton Foundation Amid Russian Uranium Deal
(The New York Times Article is included at the end of this essay so that you can form your own opinions.) Today’s New York Times highlighted another instance which involved questionable behavior by both [...]
Factors Pushing Mergers Grow, but is Wall Street Only Winner?
Merger and acquisition volume could reach $4 trillion globally this year, trailing only 2007's record. This time, America is much more active in deal making than Europe. The weaker countries in Europe are holding [...]
Fallout From Low Prices Will Continue for Near Future
In recent weeks, U.S. oil companies have announced $8.3 billion in cuts in capital expenditures for calendar 2015, primarily because oil prices have declined some 50 percent in the last year. Capital expenditure in [...]
Gift to Sarasota, in Memory of His Wife
CAUSEWAY PARK: Beneath Ringling bridge, it’s a renaming and dedication Causeway Park was renamed Friday after the late wife of a Sarasota man who donated playground equipment and other amenities to improve it. Members [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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, [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]