What’s all this “Republican establishment” vs. “grassroots populist” business; would somebody kindly inform me? I have rarely heard of anything nuttier. The essence of this widely retailed story is that rebellious men and women of the grassroots wish to prevent the nomination of Mitt Romney for president. If Romney got elected, we are apparently … Read more
If Mitt Romney gets the GOP nomination, prepare for a season of class warfare in America unlike any before. Not only has President Obama been pushing class warfare unceasingly for three years now, but his chief strategist, David Axelrod, has been employing precisely this tactic against Romney, and well before Newt Gingrich and Rick Perry … Read more
The ink was barely dry on the asterisk in Jimmy Hoffa Jr.’s rant about taking out those “sons-of-b*tches” — referring to Tea Party members — when the vice president made his own contribution at a Labor Day rally. “This is a fight for the existence of organized labor,” the veep shouted. “You are the only … Read more
It’s hard to know how to react to the apparently escalating protests on Wall Street. On the one hand, you can just roll your eyes. The numbers aren’t very big, especially for New York, and every generation has its “useful idiots.” I’ve been one myself. The demonstrations appear to be just another float passing by … Read more
As if we needed another reminder of the fruits of avarice, the business press is on fire with the news of the conviction of Raj Rajaratnam, the founder of the hedge fund Galleon Group, on all 14 charges of conspiracy to commit securities fraud. I hope he looks good in federal orange. As the … Read more
News to warm my heart: Apparently, the hip, new thing is farming. CNN ran a short piece about educated young people who are turning in their Wall Street jobs and Ivy League credentials for the agrarian life. Roy Skeen, a 28-year old Yale graduate from Baltimore is one such example. A history major who also worked in finance, … Read more
I must admit right up front that I am anything but an economist. My fiscal sensibility was formed by the heritage of seven generations of Pennsylvania Mennonite farmers. We live within our means. We don’t buy what we can’t pay for. We don’t have debt and we don’t gamble with our money — either in … Read more
There is much to celebrate in the collapse of Lehman Brothers and Merrill Lynch; not the fall of these companies in particular, but what the fall represents. It shows the impossibility of holding onto wealth and power in a free society that is always in flux. And this is as it should be. I’ll explain … Read more