This week, in the wake of the capture of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, a debate has been brewing amongst the pundit class as to whether the media and the government rushed to judgment regarding the brothers’ alleged terrorist connections. Many liberal pundits believe that the labeling is raciall… Read full post »

Like so many once bland and unobjectionable topics in America, Columbus Day has tragically morphed into a battleground for ideological warfare. Adoration or scorn for Columbus is loaded with underlying symbolism. Some see him as a symbol of America’… Read full post »

In the span of two weeks Americans have been hit with two devastating public policy tragedies, both of which are the consequence of madmen wielding guns. Yesterday, the perpetrator of last year’s schizophrenic tragedy, Jared Loughner, was deemed coherent enough to plead guilty to… Read full post »

A few months ago Republican pundits were gleefully predicting a resurgent GOP that would dominate the 2012 election season. While some busied themselves with measuring new drapes for the Oval Office, others brazenly discussed the possibility of regaining both houses of Congress. 

And then the R… Read full post »

Conventional wisdom out of Washington is that the Iranian Revolutionary Guard is a professional and sophisticated intelligence corps capable of proxy-war making capabilities and coldly eliminating enemies. But if this week’s clumsy and ineffective attempts on Israeli diplomats are to be taken a… Read full post »

Prior to the 1980s, the investment-banking world was a simpler place. The bond markets did not yet exist. Derivatives were a theoretical concept. Trading in futures was a yet to be realized abstraction. Bankers advised clients on mergers and acquisitions, and floated securities for higher yields. I-b… Read full post »

Like many Americans, I have come to view Wall Street with a mix of bitterness and mistrust. I resent the incentive structure that individualizes gains but socializes risk. I no longer trust our leaders’ intentions to curb the excesses of the financial sector, and fear that the structures of gov… Read full post »

We Americans are delusional. There is a real problem with our economy, but no one wants to address it. Our politicians fear it. The media dodges it. It is the cause of many of our woes. But it is big, and complex, and requires acknowledging harsh truths.

This problem helps… Read full post »

In the years leading up to the Occupy Wall Street protests, I argued with Republican friends over the issue of the disappearing middle class in America. It was my position then, as it is now, that the fundamental differences between Republicans and Democrats lie in their conception of socio-economic… Read full post »