We tabulate our national debt to the penny but we never add up the nation’s assets. That understandably causes confusion. Take this reader, who recently asked, “I hear the United States called the world’s richest nation. How can that be…
Fed policy sent stocks, real estate soaring
Tuesday’s news of the Dow hitting a record high and the Census Bureau announcing that real median home values increased 32 percent in five years made me exclaim, “Boy, old Irv was a pretty smart guy.” Irving Fisher is the…
Voters just don’t care about the budget
The leaves are turning color, farmers are harvesting, mornings are crisp and we are starting yet another federal fiscal year without a budget. This is such a regular occurrence, the public is more likely to comment on a particularly cool…
Savvy investors know hedge funds don’t
When news of the hedge fund Amaranth Advisors’ big losses came out, I thought of British satirist Oscar Wilde. Describing Charles Dickens’ most maudlin scene in “The Old Curiosity Shop,” Wilde said, “One must have a heart of stone to…