Globalisation in a Time of Transition

My Comments: For investors, being exposed to the global markets is a given. But it wasn’t so long ago that if you invested outside the US, you were either nuts or exceptionally aggressive. Early in my days as an investment advisor, I became associated with a firm in Winter Park, FL called International Assets Advisory …

Continue reading Globalisation in a Time of Transition

How the Mortgage Interest Deduction Could Change

My Comments: As someone who has a home mortgage, I’ve long enjoyed the abilty to write off the interest I pay against my taxable income. If these folks are right, I’ll be eligible for a tax credit instead of an expense item and I may very well enjoy a higher benefit. But if you think …

Continue reading How the Mortgage Interest Deduction Could Change

US Deficit Falls Faster Than Expected

My Comments: It would be easy to get overly excited about this. Certainly it’s good news but to believe it’s a fundamental shift in the economy is stretching things. For one thing, the sequester that happened recently simply means that the Federal government is spending less money. But for those of us looking for good …

Continue reading US Deficit Falls Faster Than Expected

Move Over, Saudi Arabia, and Let North Dakota Take Over

My Comments: How many of us saw this coming as little as five years ago? By Gil Weinreich, AdvisorOne | May 14, 2013 A buyer’s market in oil is in the making and will bring about disruptive market change that should benefit American manufacturers and consumers and prove challenging for Middle Eastern producers and European …

Continue reading Move Over, Saudi Arabia, and Let North Dakota Take Over

Stuck in the Mud: Beyond America’s Fiscal Trench Lines

My Comments: I recall a conversation I had some three years ago where someone asked me if I followed Keynes or did I follow the Austrian approach. Not knowing at the time just what this person was asking, I responded “Keynes” since I knew more or less how Keynes mind worked and had no idea …

Continue reading Stuck in the Mud: Beyond America’s Fiscal Trench Lines

Will Americans Work Forever?

My Comments: I’m an American and I intend to work until I drop. I enjoy what I do, I’m think I’m pretty good at it, I have people to talk with who want the skills I bring to the table, so why not? By Maria Wood Has the U.S. become the work forever society? According …

Continue reading Will Americans Work Forever?

Austerity Exposes the Global Threat from Tax Havens

My Comments: Unless you have been to the Cayman Islands, or happen to make far more money than you actually need to live your life, the idea of an offshore tax haven is pretty remote. You’ve heard about them, but since they are so far removed from your reality, they seem to stay under the …

Continue reading Austerity Exposes the Global Threat from Tax Havens

The New Deal for Europe: More Reform, Less Austerity

My Comments: There has been a disconnect in this country, typically along partisan lines, whether or not austerity is the way to solve the so called debt crisis at the federal level. As an economist, and a Democrat, my instinct has been to set the stage for growth, and as growth and increased economic activity …

Continue reading The New Deal for Europe: More Reform, Less Austerity

The Annuity Puzzle

My Comments: As a financial planner and investment advisor for the past 38 years, I recognize that we, that's me and you, are moving into uncharted waters. While the future is always an unknown, what we are dealing with now is how whether many of us are going to have enough money to live with …

Continue reading The Annuity Puzzle

This Train is Leaving the Station

My Comments: First, I’ve been a supporter of Obamacare since day one. Not because its a panacea for what ails us, but because without it, none of the stakeholders individually have enough leverage to effect meaningful change. By that I mean, doctors, hospitals, insurance companies, Big Pharma, and of course, patients like you and me. …

Continue reading This Train is Leaving the Station