Thoughts Before The Alarm Sounds

     The ideas presented here are excerpted from the book, “The Price Of Civilization” by Jeffrey D. Sachs. I highly recommend reading the entire book.       Not surprisingly, President Obama's recent State of the Union Address was his opening shot across the bow of the presidential campaign, but if examined from a high enough level of abstraction, it spelled out the requirements of a healthy economic system. I hate to think the whole thing was just campaign rhetoric, but based on his past performance I am inclined to take a “wait and see” attitude concerning progress in that direction.      Generally speaking, there are three major attributes of such a system: efficiency, fairness and sustainability.      Efficiency:      Ronald Reagan was partly right – too much government control of the economy causes problems, but he was also partly wrong – uncontrolled free markets also l...

    The Associated Press recently printed an article entitled “Positions of the Candidates” , which outlined the opinions of five Emmett Kelly understudies, Newt Gingrich, Ron Paul, Rick Perry, Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum, on various campaign issues. (For younger readers, Emmett Kelly, who based his sad faced “Weary Willie” on depression era hobos, was perhaps the most famous clown in circus history.)     The issues discussed were Abortion, the Economy, Education, Energy, the Environment, Health Care, Taxes and Terrorism. No mention was made of what is probably the most important of all presidential responsibilities: Foreign Affairs. Why would that be?      Here are a few possibilities: Not even one of the greatest group of comedians in history thinks that management of foreign affairs is as important as these other “hot button” issues. Newt understands the meaning of the word “affairs” only when it is not preceded by any modif...

     On October 24, 2011, I wrote about the ridiculous decision of the Supreme Court in the case of Citizens United v. Federal Elections Commission , “In January 2010, using a logic that defied common sense, in the case of Citizens United v. Federal Elections Commission five Supreme Court Justices suddenly transformed corporations into human beings, with a power that flesh and blood humans do not have: they can spend unlimited amounts of money in order to buy elections.”      Although most of the comments I have received have been favorable, I have been taken to task by “Pennsylvania's #1 Conservative Jungle Cat,” Phil Gruber. According to him, “American law has long held that corporations should be treated as people in the eyes of the law. After all, a corporation is just a group of people who use shared capital to make a profit. Grunenberger simply feels broadsided by facts he did not know.”      While it is true that from...

     Let's imagine for a minute that scientists discovered that the Mayans got it right – the world is going to end on December 21, 2012. How would you want to spend your time until that day? The answers would probably run the gamut from “party unceasingly” to “pray unceasingly.”      As for me, I would probably come down somewhere in the middle. I am pretty happy with the way things are now, and I would want to continue as is with one addition: my immediate family is spread across the country, and I would like to get them all together for a visit – kids, grandkids and great-grandkids. If I have wronged anyone over the years, I would ask for their forgiveness, and anyone who has done me dirty, I would forgive you. There is a saying, “The best revenge is to live well.” I've done that.      Come to think about it these are good ideas, at least for me, even if the Mayans are wrong.      I think it would be a...

Although 2011 was not a very good year for planet earth, at least for the humans living there, if I am going to be truthful, it was an average year for me personally. Except for climbing stairs, or even walking uphill, I do not think my physical condition is much worse than it was a year ago. (Of course, it's definitely not any better.) But I have been warm and well fed, and the fun times have outnumbered the other kind many times over. But as with most old accountants, in order to keep from losing my balance I need to formally close the books on the old year, and set things up for the new. Literally! We keep reasonably accurate financial records throughout the year, and I like to use them to get some idea what to expect in the new year. For example, the Social Security Cost Of Living Adjustment (COLA) amounts to 3.6%. That's not bad, although considering there has not been an increase since 2009, it's not really a world-beater. The government said inflation was not a fa...