Three Cheers for South Park
After South Park was banned by China for criticism on censorship, creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone issued the following "official...
Talking to Strangers: Book Review
Talking to Strangers: What We Should Know About The People We Don't Know (2019), Malcolm Gladwell. Gladwell is on my list to read as soon...
Blinders for Economists
My blinders hypothesis is still alive and well. I'm an accountant, but much of my training is in economics (plus I have a masters degree...
Cheap Thrills: Mocking the Other Guy
Reading the Sunday editorials, I was struck by the gratuitous insults using a single modifier, usually an adjective. It started with a...
Phishing for Phools: Book Review
Phishing for Phools: The Economics of Manipulation and Deception (2015), George Akerlof and Robert Shiller (AS), considering behavioral...
George Will Goes After Chicago Restaurants
In today's column "The Land of the Free and the Home of the Rent-seekers" Will attacks Chicago restaurants as rent seekers, which he...
The Art of the Steal
"Scammers don't cheat because they need the money--they cheat because they're cheaters." Interesting article in the Austin-American...
Firefighting: Book Review
Firefighting: The Financial Crisis and Its Lessons (2019), Ben Bernanke, Tim Geithner, and Hank Paulson. The Big Three, in charge of...
People, Power, and Profits: Book Review
People, Power, and Profits: Progressive Capitalism for an Age of Discontent (2019), Joseph Stiglitz. Stiglitz takes aim at Republican...
It's All in the Storytelling
As writers know, stories impact imagination. Have an amazing story of why Christopher Marlowe wrote Shakespeare's play and people are...
The Science of Corruptology
Corruption, which is dishonest conduct, is widespread, tolerated by most and practiced by many. Behavioral economist Dan Ariely...
The Pioneers: Book Review
The Pioneers: The Heroic Story of the Settlers Who Brought the American Ideal West (2019), David McCullough. The tells the early story of...
Upheaval: Book Review
Upheaval: Turning Points for Nations in Crisis (2019), Jared Diamond. Six diverse countries (Finland, Japan, Chile, Indonesia, Germany,...
Are American Presidents Destined to be Mediocre?
Looking back over the post-World War II period, all the presidents seem deficient on various grounds and none stands out as exceptional....
Working: Book Review
Working: Researching, Interviewing, Writing (2019), Robert Caro. Taking a break from his fifth and last volume on Lyndon Johnson, Caro...