The Disclosure Paradox: How Much Information Is Too Much?

Too much information can be as harmful to retirement plan decisions as too little. My Comments: Somewhere along the way during my last 40 years in the world of financial services, I read or was told that at some point you have to make a decision. You cannot simply attempt to absorb more and more …

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Why an MRI costs $1,080 in America and $280 in France

My Comments: I spent time this morning with someone who is best described as a capitalist. He understands how money works, he understands the existing health care system, he understands the changes that are taking place, and he is actively looking for financial opportunities. He sees them everywhere. I’ve posted before about the need for …

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Austerity Obstructs Real Economic Reform

My Thoughts on This: This article comes from the Financial Times, a primarily English publication. If it has a bias, it is probably toward what we think of as liberal. And I’m usually forced to copy the entire post for those of you who are interested since to create a link forces the reader to …

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Obama Has a Deficit Reduction Plan and Republicans Don’t

My Thoughts on This: I'm not sure this is quite accurate. I'm not sure if anyone has a definitive deficit reduction plan. Clearly, no one in Washington seems particularly upset by the idea that there are going to be across the board cuts in the next several days that are going to impact the country. …

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The Easiest Way To Expand Access to Health Care Is out of The Federal Government’s Hands

My Thoughts on This: You've read my thoughts already about how ObamaCare, for better or worse, is going to change the health care delivery landscape in this country over the next decade. I've made the point that ten years from now you may not recognize the elements that were in the original legislation. That's because …

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Corporations Are Sitting on More Cash Because There’s More Cash To Sit On

My Comments: This is one of the reasons why so many people expect the markets, especially the stock market, to do well in 2013. One of the uses for all this cash is to buy back stock, which in turn reduces the supply, and if you know a little bit about economics, if you reduce …

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Intervention: the US Won’t, Europe Can’t

My Comments: Most of you know that I am a center left Democrat. And I want the Republican Party to become relevant in American politics. That’s what going to keep the Democrats from moving too far to the left. Which is where they will go if there isn’t a legitimate, electable force coming from the …

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The Robot-v-Worker Debate on Job Losses/Gains

My Comment: This is sort of a follow up to the blog post yesterday where the topic was how advances in technology tended to kill the opportunity for job increases. It’s clear that there is no definitive answer. Trying to stop the advance of technology is not unlike good king whomever who is remembered for …

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No US Peace Dividend After Afghanistan

My Comments: There is no getting around the massive drain on our treasury and our military for the two wars we have engaged in over the past 13 years. One can argue their merits or lack thereof but the cost has been in the trillions, the lives impacted in the hundreds of thousands, and one …

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Innovation and Sustainability Are Key to Recovery

While there are still challenges, there are opportunities for recovery My Thoughts About This: The older I get, the shorter my time horizon gets for convincing others of my success as an investment advisor. If I thought I would need the money fifty years from now, there is little question how it should be invested. …

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