Eyes on the Prize “It will fluctuate.” –Financier JP Morgan, when asked what the stock market will do. “It’s tough to make predictions, especially about the future.” –Yogi Berra Regular readers of this blog know that I’m chary of making predictions — about the housing market or anything else. But, here’s a relatively safe one: ...Read More
High and Dry — and Light “Goldman Sachs is good at disaster preparedness ” too good.” –Jessica Pressler, “Goldman Has the Power“; New York magazine (11/3/2012). The word last week from some reliable sources — my sister, brother-in-law, and sister-in-law — was that, in the wake of Sandy’s storm surge, Manhattan was light above 30th...Read More
Are Natural Disasters Partisan? Every time the wire services publish a photo of President Obama comforting a victim of Hurricane Sandy, it’s hard to imagine jaded citizens (and potential voters) not being touched, at least a little bit (and no, I’m not attaching political motives to Obama’s humanitarian actions). In fact, a broader principle seems to be...Read More
“Exotic” Minnesota “I was debating whether to go to the Turkish-Syrian border this week or to visit my old high school in Minnesota. I decided to make the exotic foreign trip and go to Minnesota.” –Tom Friedman, “Minnesota Mirror“; The New York Times (10/31/2012) You may not agree with everything New York Times columnist (and...Read More
As the Nov. 6 general election approaches, regulars readers of this blog may have noticed some political ads popping up on this site. The explanation? Google’s software is placing them, based on key words that the advertisers — incumbent politicians and their challengers — are bidding for. If political spending is trickling down to little blogs...Read More
