In March, 2022, a few weeks after Russia invaded neighboring Ukraine, Western countries began sanctioning the Russian economy. The sanctions were designed to hurt the Russian war machine and provide “severe and lasting economic costs” to the Russian population. A year after the initial impact of the sanctions, the Russian economy has not been crippled, […]
IS RUSSIA’S WARTIME EFFORT SUSTAINABLE? Read More »
During the 10th Century, a group of Vikings landed on Greenland and in time developed settlements there. About 400 years later they vanished from the island. No one outside of Greenland even knew that they were gone until 1721 when some missionaries arrived at the sites and found only the ruins of their settlements. Their
WHY DID THE VIKINGS DISAPPEAR FROM GREENLAND? Read More »
If the politicians are asked this question, the democrats will complain that corporate power and inequality of wealth have geared the economy to benefit and protect the rich. Ask the republicans and they will contend that the entrepreneurial spirit has been stifled and the public debt is completely out of control. What then is the
IS THE U.S. ECONOMY STRONG OR WEAK? Read More »
It’s that time of year again when spring is in full bloom, and the boys of summer begin to play ball. What’s new this year for the major leagues is a pitch clock. Designed to help move the game along, the pitch clock penalizes a pitcher for failing to deliver his pitch within a certain
BASEBALL AND ITS IDIOSYNCRASIES Read More »
In the last several weeks a few regional banks in the U.S. have made headlines by facing a financial crisis. What has not yet made headlines are the number of other banks in the system that have major issues. All in all, it appears that the banking system is sound, but to what extent has
THE EXTENT OF THE LATEST BANKING TURMOIL Read More »
In 1877, France colonized the land in southeast Asia now known as Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. With this occupation came Catholicism, Western Culture, and some economic growth and industrialization. It also brought about a movement of groups of the local population to seek a removal of these Western influences. Here is a timeline of pertinent
A TIMELINE OF EVENTS THAT MARKED THE VIETNAM WAR Read More »
In Ancient Rome in the year 68 A.D. the emperor Nero committed suicide. A civil war followed, and Titus Flavius Vespasianus rose to the top and became the emperor Vespasian. One of Nero’s generals, Vespasian was the first of a dynasty of three emperors including his two sons: Titus and Domitian. The rise of the
WHAT WAS THE ARCHETYPE OF TODAY’S FOOTBALL STADIUMS? Read More »
In 1803, President Jefferson negotiated a major land transaction with the First French Republic and its First Consul, Napoleon Bonaparte. Known as the Louisiana Purchase, the land acquisition nearly doubled the territory of the United States, stretching from the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains. Jefferson sent a military expedition to explore this territory and
WHAT WAS THE MOTIVATION BEHIND THE LEWIS AND CLARK EXPEDITION? Read More »
Is inflation over? Will interest rates be coming down soon? Some economists reading their stat sheets and perhaps their tea leaves are pointing to future trends that will be bringing inflation in many of the G7 countries under control by the end of the year. However, central bankers have thrown a damp towel over investor
INFLATION AND HIGH INTEREST RATES MAY BE HERE FOR A WHILE Read More »
Since the famous ship sank in April, 1912, there have been at least seventeen attempts to put together an expedition to find the wreck. Many of these attempts seemed credible at the time, but most of them failed owing to a lack of funding. Finally, after failing to find the sunken ship in a 1977
THE TITANIC PART II: DISCOVERING THE WRECKAGE Read More »