Author Archives: daves1001

In April 2022 the U.S. Office of Management and Budget published a report estimating that climate change could cost the country $2 trillion per year by 2100.    In the same month, the U.N. issued a report warning that global greenhouse emissions must level off no later than 2025 to cap the increase in global temperatureContinue reading “The Effects of Climate Change on the U.S.”

Remember when Bill Clinton was President and he placed a sign on his desk that read “it’s the economy, stupid”? He was right. It is all about the economy. Jobs, standard of living, a greater distribution of income, discretionary purchases, moving up, the American Dream, investment in new technology, foreign aid to poor countries…they allContinue reading “What’s Happening (and How to Invest) in This Economy.”

A Street With Character With a Few Characters It was a street lined with multi-unit dwellings in a working-class section of Amsterdam, New York.  Back in the 1950s we would have called the houses two-family, three-family or four-families.   The street had them all.  In length it covered a rather short distance.  From Betz’s Funeral HomeContinue reading “Jackson Street”

Russia has now invaded Ukraine.  Soldiers and civilians have been killed and the human toll is not yet calculable.  President Zelensky of Ukraine, a former stand-up comedian who turned to politics, has done an impressive job acting as the commander-in-chief during the crisis. The U.S. offered to provide transportation to evacuate Zelensky from Ukraine andContinue reading “Sanctions Smackdown”

In a recent interview, Jeremy Siegal, Ph.D., Professor of Finance at Wharton School of Business, said he thinks the market will continue on its historic uptrend during 2022 but at a slower pace than in recent years. Professor Siegel has been a market watcher since the 1970s. Many would call him a permabull, meaning hisContinue reading “What the Heck Is Going On with the Stock Market?”

Janet Yellen, Secretary of the Treasury says that the escalating prices we’ve experienced lately are a temporary blip caused by the reopening of the economy.   Jerome Powell, Chairman of the Fed, more of less agrees but tends to hedge a bit more.  Jack Dorsey, multi-billionaire and CEO of Twitter, recently tweeted that he thinks weContinue reading “Yellen vs. Dorsey – Who’s Right?”

Those of us who are old enough to be Medicare-eligible grew up believing that the country was invincible.  After all, we were the country that accomplished impossible feats like storming the beach at Normandy and succeeding in defeating the Nazis.  We were the country that avenged the sneak attack on Pearl Harbor by crushing theContinue reading “The Afghanistan Debacle: When Did the U.S. Become So Incompetent?”

We’ve been hearing the term “Jim Crow” a lot lately. Jim Crow this, Jim Crow that. Here a Crow, there a Crow, everywhere a Jim Crow. President Biden said that a voting law passed in Georgia was like ‘Jim Eagle’. Eagles are bigger than Crows, get it? Others have used terms like Jim Crow 2.0Continue reading “Who was JIM CROW?”

Since the Bretton Woods Agreement in 1944 the U.S. dollar has been used as the world’s reserve currency.  When a company in Brazil wants to purchase goods from a company in Uruguay, they probably do the transaction in dollars.  Why?  Because both parties trust dollars.  They know that, unlike what’s happened to some banana-republic currenciesContinue reading “The $US – How long will it remain the world’s reserve currency?”

His hand will be against everyone, And everyone’s hand will be against him.  – Genesis 16:12 As Donald Trump is scheduled to leave office in a little over a week, Nancy Pelosi, other Democrats on Capitol Hill and many in the press are calling again for his impeachment.  His four years in office have beenContinue reading “Donald Trump…On His Way Out”

Imagine, if you will, a utopian land in which the needs of all residents are provided by the ruling authority. Consider further that the government of this land has at its disposal an unlimited supply of funds to serve its residents even without imposing taxes. No, this isn’t an old episode of the Twilight ZoneContinue reading “Modern Monetary Theory– A Utopian Vision”

It was August 27, 1970, a hot, humid day in Amsterdam, a small, working-class manufacturing town that straddles the lazy Mohawk River, named after the Indian tribe that once inhabited the river valley in upstate New York.  The town was over two hundred and fifty years old and there were still families whose ancestors wereContinue reading “Kelso, the flutist”

In the 1985 movie “Lost in America” Albert Brooks plays David Howard, a yuppie advertising executive who saves $180,000, quits his job and buys a Winnebago to tour the country with his wife.  When they visit Las Vegas, his wife loses all of their money playing roulette.   In the funniest scene in the movie, aContinue reading “OK, Boomer…Where’s Your Nest Egg?”