*** Listening to Bill Buckley give a speech was a painful experience. It was like watching an old cow give birth. The words came out so slowly…and then you were inevitably disappointed. You expected more. A man who took so long to choose his words ought to come up with something better. But Buckley’s words were always a little slimy. (more…)

DETERMINING HOW TO respond to the terrorist challenge has become a major public policy issue in the United States over the last three years. It has been discussed endlessly, many lives have been changed, a couple of wars have been waged, and huge sums of money have been spent — often after little contemplation — to deal with the problem. (more…)

So do stock markets.

Day after day, there is bad news from the banking sector in Europe and America. There is bad news from the housing markets all over the world. There is bad news from the Institute for Supply Management, which reports on the state of suppliers. The service sector in January fell to 41.9%, with 50% as the borderline between contraction and expansion. In December, it was 54.4%. This is a very sharp decline.

The drip, drip, drip of bad news has a cumulative effect. It undermines investors’ confidence in the economy. This calls the stock market into question. (more…)

Suppose that every day, ten men go out for beer and the bill for all ten comes to $100. If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this:

The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing.
The fifth would pay $1.
The sixth would pay $3.
The seventh would pay $7.
The eighth would pay $12.
The ninth would pay $18.
The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59. (more…)

An afternoon spent snooping around Oxford’s second-hand bookshops uncovered ‘a magnificent compendium of wit and humour’ entitled ‘Life and Laughter.’ As you can perhaps guess from the title this was published in the 1960s, and proved to be a good escape from these angst-ridden times. (more…)

On a recent Saturday morning, the anesthesiologist looked down at me and said “It’s time to give you medicine now.” I responded, “Can you put me out until the market gets better in 2009?” Alas, forty-five minutes later, the nurse woke me and told me to leave. My colon evidently is fine the real estate market in Las Vegas – not so much. (more…)

Ambac and MBIA are world leaders in providing financial guarantees and credit enhancements for bond issuers (e.g., municipalities), asset managers, financial institutions, and insurance companies. Both companies are traded on the New York Stock Exchange. Holders of bonds and securities, “insured” by Ambac and MBIA, are provided irrevocable guarantees of timely payment of interest and principal should there be a default or other triggering event. (more…)

Angelo Mozilo is the Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer of the failed Countrywide Financial Corporation. Mr. Mozilo co-founded this company, nearly 40 years ago, in 1969. To be in business for almost forty years, and to become America’s top private home-mortgage lender, are testimonies to genuine business acumen. However, success can breed arrogance, and a sense of supreme power, to the point where a corporate chieftain believes his personal will can override the free market and reshape society according to a grand vision – which, for Angelo Mozilo, entailed making America a better country by bringing home ownership within reach of all and sundry. For Countrywide Financial, unfortunately, Mr. Mozilo’s dream of social engineering demanded that sound credit-underwriting principles be abandoned. And now, Countrywide Financial Corporation’s failure stands as a monument as to how integrating egalitarianism and political correctness, into a business plan, is downright poisonous. (more…)

Winter is here. The little squirrels look to their hoard of nuts to see them through the cold times. But what’s this? The sorry squirrels of North America hunt around…where are the nuts? Uh oh…they forgot to put any away! (more…)

When I lived in New York a decade ago, I was amazed to see how many Mexican immigrants were employed to cycle up and down Manhattan’s streets delivering pizza, salads and even fried eggs to residents who were either too busy or too idle to get it themselves. (more…)