An immediate question facing Americans today is the economic effect of war in Ukraine. As I write, it is not clear how the Russian invasion of Ukraine will proceed. However, it is impossible not to see echoes of Hitler’s occupation of the Sudetenland in the late 1930s or Saddam Hussein’s ...
Young Norman Neumann sits opposite me. “I’m Norman,” he says. “I know I’m not supposed to be talking to you, but I thought….”“First,” I say, “no names. Second, I’m not talking to you. You’re listening to me. Got it?”Norman nods. I continue, “Considering both full- ...
After the holidays and Valentine’s Day is always a busy time to buy and sell jewelry. But, just as with any sought-after items – scammers aren’t far behind. Jewelry can be bought and sold through a jeweler, pawnbroker, or even the public. All options are good but be sure to do plenty of ...
Imposter scams can take many shapes and forms to lure in unsuspecting victims – but now they’ve entered the workplace in an attempt to take advantage of employees. It’s become common practice to receive text messages and emails from bosses, but a new imposter scam is taking advantage of ...
I have a new phrase to add to your vocabulary and self-help guide: The Quilhot Bid.It comes from Russ Quilhot, who hosted the weekly afternoon card games a group of us old codgers participated in. I played bridge with him Wednesday before last. On Thursday he died. It was one of those abrupt ...
It is time to write about inflation again, although I allocated three columns to the subject in 2021. The first, in April, argued that inflation was a distant threat compared to the still sluggish economy recovery. With the passing of months, newer data confirmed that the economy was in worse ...
A white teacher in Chicago was fired recently for using the N-word in class.She wasn’t trying to be offensive. She was explaining to her world history class why the former name of the Washington Commanders football team was so offensive and compared it to the N-word, making the mistake of ...
Did you get engaged on Valentine’s Day? Whether you’re newly engaged or not, planning your wedding can seem like a monumental task and involves making very important decisions together as a couple.Weddings are stressful enough. The last thing anyone wants on their big day is to be dealing ...
An obscure economic fad known as Modern Monetary Theory is again in the news. This is in part because its leading advocates are backing away from several of its central predictions, while simultaneously claiming the doctrine has won the policy debate. The whole thing is a bit absurd, and should ...
The Jan. 17 issue of Bloomberg Businessweek featured “The year ahead, 2022.” It seemed a few weeks late for such an ambitious venture, but I enjoyed its review of the many open questions in our economy.The last major section of the magazine was devoted to “50 companies to watch.” The ...
