Of all the reasons adduced for Mitt Romney’s election loss, perhaps the most surprising is that the Republicans’ “get-out-the-vote” technology lagged the Democrats’. Look for the 2016 Republican nominee — Chris Christie? Jeb Bush? — not to make the same mistake. P.S.: Sputnik, of course, was the 1957 satellite launched by the Soviets that served...Read More
Grantham Embraces “Accounting for Earth” “The full replacement of our resources is somewhere between very expensive and impossible, so our measurement system simplified the issue by ignoring it completely.” –Jeremy Grantham I couldn’t have said it better myself. But I came close, in this post three years ago: “Just consider how GDP now accounts for...Read More
How Close to Minnesota is Pennsylvania? Take it from someone whose license plate reads, “MY RLTR” (as in, “There goes my Realtor!”) — I know a clever marketing slogan when I see one. Still, you’ve got to wonder if a company named “Nearby Eggs” isn’t pushing the principle a tad too, umm . . . far, in...Read More
Sartorial Secrets Confessions I favor (relatively) expensive button-down shirts, so it seemed like a shame to toss an otherwise perfectly good shirt on account of a dime-sized ink stain. The solution (at least until it goes through the laundry)? A little bit of white-out.Read More
The Existential Waitress My family doesn’t normally go to a restaurant for Thanksgiving. But, given some extenuating circumstances this year, we decided to bite the bullet and go out. So, let’s just say it was . . . umm, food for thought when — after everyone had been served — the waitress doubled back to...Read More
Going to the Mall, the Movies (& McDonald’s) With Black Friday (and Cyber Monday) rapidly approaching, much attention is now focused on how robust consumer spending will be. The premise is that holiday shopping reflects consumers’ moods (and pocketbooks) — and therefore is an accurate gauge (if not harbinger) of the economy’s strength. But what if...Read More
