Trans-Atlantic Ties Still Key to Renewing U.S. Global Leadership

My Comments: An attempt here to start the week with a more positive spin on what many of us see as the world in chaos. Yes, I’m supposed to see the world through the eyes of an investment specialist, and mostly, I do. But the role played by the US, and by extension, each one …

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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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Healthcare is America’s Real Problem

By Peter Orszag Improved value would have more fiscal impact than any policy change, says Peter Orszag Healthcare costs are the core long-term fiscal challenge facing the US – and yet also the best hope for cushioning workers from globalisation. This is why the recent deceleration of these costs is so encouraging – and why …

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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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Recession, Tech Kill Middle-class Jobs

My Comments: There is usually a disconnect between how the economy is perceived and how well the investment world is doing. There are three reasons why stock prices increase: earnings, earnings, earnings. If those are doing OK, then the price is going to increase since more people are buying stocks than are selling. Globalization, an …

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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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Roubini: Five Economic Risks for 2013

My Comments: Nouriel Roubini is one of those intellectual giants in the world of finance that I enjoy following. He's generally an optimist who is right perhaps 50% of the time. I'm more comfortable with that than a pessimist who is always preaching woe and gloom and is right 25% of the time. By Danielle …

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2012 Bulwer-Lytton Contest Winners!

Several years ago a college friend who lives in New Jersey but whom I have not seen in 50 years introduced me to Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest. Most of us are familiar with the the phrase “It was a dark and stormy night...”. What we aren’t familiar with is the rest of the sentence penned by …

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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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Physician Income Down

My Comments: Some of you will ask why in the world is Tony is bothering to talk about this. It’s because much of my time as a professsional financial advisor is directed toward physicians in private practice who are frustrated and fearful of what the rest of us call Obamacare. This legislation is going to …

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