Almost twenty-five hundred years ago, a Greek decided that his era was so unique and exciting that he was going to learn as much as he could about it by any means that he could. He would travel to where the great events of the age had occurred, learn about the cultures of all the … Read more
A couple of weeks ago a retired Greek pharmacist shot himself outside the country’s parliament in protest at austerity measures that include major cuts to pensions. But alongside this story of despairing protest comes news of youths who are adapting to their country’s plight by getting back to basics. Applications to the American Farm School … Read more
Few will mourn the passing of 2011 into the financial history books. From an apparent economic recovery at year end 2010 and high optimism in the financial markets, a succession of natural disasters, economic disappointments, and government failures led to the most volatile year in stock market history. Today there is broad skepticism that the … Read more
Everyone is wondering about the next disaster to befall Europe. Italy is one focus; Spain is also a possibility. But these crises are already under way. Instead, the next crisis will be political, not in the sense of what conventional politician is going to become prime minister, but in the deeper sense of whether Europe’s … Read more
The Greek government is in a gigantic financial hole and is teetering on the brink of defaulting on its debt. It has been able to limp along since last year only with bailouts from outside of Greece. According to the latest reports, the Greek government will run out of money in October unless it receives … Read more
Greece is a microcosm for most of the developed world. It is mired in debt and at the mercy of forces beyond its financial control. The downward spiral is accelerating. As a condition for granting the May, 2010 rescue package, the IMF imposed severe austerity measures which included reductions in government social spending and … Read more
The financial problems of Greece have dominated the headlines for months. The problems are not new. They have been apparent since the end of 2009 when Greece revealed that its budget deficit would be more than three times previous projections. The March 2010 rescue package (E110 Billion) and austerity measures agreed to by European … Read more
Recently I had a short contretemps with someone who said that her teenage son had come to a wonderful and intelligent conclusion about Homer’s Odyssey. He said that, when you stripped the beautiful language away, what you had left would make a good R-rated quest video game. She agreed with that assessment and grew angry when … Read more
Many years ago, my mother compared her life as a mother of nine children to a Merry-Go-Round. She said it felt like she stepped on each morning and spun around and around until the end of the day when she stepped off, slept a little, and got right back on the neext day. Back then, … Read more