In November 1967, Martin Luther King Jr. announced his last campaign.
He was tired and depressed, but he felt he had one more obligation: to fight against economic inequality and poverty. He called it the “Poor People’s Campaign.” Read more…
Carve out 15 minutes and read two things:
One will make you teary-eyed. The other will make you nauseous.
I won’t say I’m finally settled in Los Angeles, but…almost. Let’s just say my moving experience has been, well, an experience. We’ll blame the dearth of blog posts on the unnamed fellow who stole the modem outside my apartment building.
To get us back in the proper mood, here’s one of the greatest living comedians, Stephen Fry, formerly of the famous British duo “Fry and Laurie.” If you’ve only experienced Hugh Laurie as Dr. Gregory House, you’re in for a wonderful surprise:
No offense to Robert Samuelson, but I’m won’t be asking him to run the Treasury Department anytime soon.
Samuelson, a Washington Post columnist, calls Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac “economic mongrels” whose “losses stemmed from unrealistic ‘housing affordability goals’ [and] lax lending in pursuit of higher profits.” Not only is this statement factually incorrect, but nowhere in the entire op-ed does he explain why Fannie and Freddie exist in the first place. If you’re trying to criticize their policies and resolve the “question of what to do about” them, that’s kind of important.
In June 2009, I wrote one final op-ed for my most loyal readers. This one didn’t make it into the Hazleton Standard-Speaker, for which I had stopped writing a couple weeks earlier. Since there seems to be a lot of ignorance about the issues I discussed, let’s make it public: Read more…
No offense to David Streitfeld, but I won’t be asking him to manage my investments anytime soon.
Streitfeld, a New York Times reporter, declares, “Real Estate’s Gold Rush Seems Gone for Good.” He interviewed several economists who warned that “home ownership will never again yield rewards like those enjoyed in the second half of the 20th century” — or, at least, that’s the conclusion he drew from the interviews.
Streitfeld asked all the right people. Dean Baker told him, “People shouldn’t look at a home as a way to make money because it won’t.” Robert Shiller said, “People think it’s a law of nature” that home prices must go up, but it isn’t. Barry Ritholtz warned, “People shouldn’t be holding their breath waiting for it to happen again.”
All three of those guys predicted the housing crash. They know what they’re talking about…but does Streitfeld? Read more…
Yesterday, The New York Times profiled Harvard professor David A. Moss, who is researching the relation between income inequality and financial crises. Apparently, this connection just “came to Mr. Moss about a year ago.” The usually-savvy financial commentator Yves Smith thinks Moss is putting forward “a bold thesis” because inequality is more likely “a secondary contributor.”
I have to admit my surprise that Moss and Smith are, well, surprised.
I wrote about this dynamic in December 2008 (and again in October 2009). Hey, can I be a Harvard professor too? Read more…
A federal court ruled that Utah must remove crosses planted alongside highways to remember state troopers killed in the line of duty. They concluded that the crosses violated the law by implying that “the state prefers or otherwise endorses a certain religion.” Many Christians are, predictably, outraged.
I addressed this issue back when the Christmas-vs.-holiday debate was raging. I referred to Steven Waldman, author of Founding Faith: Providence, Politics, and the Birth of Religion, who pointed out that the cross-defenders are destroying the meaning of the very symbol they’re trying to save: Read more…
Life has been moving fast lately.
A month ago, I finished my studies at the London School of Economics and Political Science and returned to the United States. Today, I submitted the final draft of my dissertation. Assuming they approve it, I will have a Master’s of Science in Economic History.
Tomorrow, I’m moving to Los Angeles. In the evenings, I’ll be taking screenwriting classes at the University of Southern California in their Master of Professional Writing program. In the day, I’m looking for a job in the entertainment industry.
I will continue to write on this blog, as well as occasional op-eds for the South Florida Sun-Sentinel and Hazleton Standard-Speaker. I’m still working on my second book, which is now in its third draft. I hope my dissertation won’t be the last economics paper I research; I have several ideas to advance the field, and I plan to dive into them once I’m settled in L.A. I also have other books to write and, of course, screenplays that will absorb my new life.
I hope you continue to read it all.
I want to write an investment newsletter, but I don’t like the pay-and-email model. I want it to be transparent, and like everything I write, I want the information and analysis to reach as many people as possible. So here it is. I wrote this first edition last Monday, but it took a week to get some feedback and rejigger the format. If any of it is out-of-date, now you know why. I most regret that I didn’t post it in time for you to take advantage of this. — AWO
It’s a stupid time to start an investment newsletter.
Economists are worried about a “double-dip” recession, public and private debt are at record levels, the world has just escaped two financial crises in three years, and the Chairman of the Fed says the future is “unusually uncertain.” With record-breaking temperatures outside, a smart person would work on their tan until the economy returns to normal.
Trouble is, I don’t know what “normal” looks like. Read more…
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