My friend, Greg Barsh, and I were discussing Social Security and Medicare. These entitlement programs are running out of money. None of the politicians that I know of are tackling the issue. No one, Republican or Democrat, wants to be…
Nancy and I attended the Berkshire Hathaway (BH) annual shareholder’s meeting the first weekend in May. This was the 4th time we’ve attended, and the first time post-COVID. We and thousands of others came to hear Warren Buffet, 92, and…
I am fortunate enough to sit on two boards that provide loans and grants for college students. It is an honor to be able to help young people further their education. The concern that I have is that people barely…
Long-term bond purchases and the subsequent increase in interest rates short- circuited Silicon Valley Bank. Who else might have bought them? In a report (March 2020) by the Congressional Budget Office, treasury bonds (the long-term ones) represented 14% of the…
I have heard lots of commentators on what happened with Silicon Valley Bank (SVB). Many of the commentators have weak banking credentials. For example, I heard Robert Reich expounding on the situation. Reich was Secretary of Labor in the Clinton…
In December, there was a horrible accident- two people driving at the edge of a steep canyon in a Hyundai Elantra, hit gravel, lost traction, and plunged over a 300-foot cliff. Miraculously, the people survived without major injuries. Cloe Fields,…
Every year in the last quarter of the old year/first quarter of the new year, I receive invitations from banks and brokerage firms to seminars about where the economy is headed. This has happened through COVID, virtually of course, as…
Lots of times in my career I meet people in business that are good at what they do, whether its installing plumbing or operating a restaurant, but they don’t like to “do numbers”. JP Morgan once said that he could…
GreenPrint commissioned an interesting survey that says 64% of Americans are willing to pay more for sustainable products. “Willing to pay more” (amount unspecified) is one thing, but how does this fit with current increases in energy prices? A side…
I read Breaking Rockefeller by Peter Doran recently. John D. Rockefeller was perhaps the richest person ever, adjusting for inflation. Rockefeller was from Ohio and got into the oil business in the late 1800s. Recall that nearby Pennsylvania was the…
