Friends: As we approach 2024, I don’t know if it’s anticipation or dread, but I get the definite sense that the new year will be momentous for our country and the world, topped by what figures to be the wildest and craziest election year ever.  Let’s hope and pray that we can find some leadership […]

In last month’s edition in “The Importance of Words”, I omitted one of George Orwell’s most often quoted passages, as follows: “Those who would change a culture corrupt its language, particularly by hiding the reality of an evil they desire behind a less revealing name.” It seems we see increasingly more of this practice by […]

In the 20 years since I have been writing this monthly letter, I have never found it so difficult to cut through the maze of current events to find threads that enforce my theme that “ideas have consequences”.  I have refused to become beholden to the zeitgeist, the overnight news cycle, and the “who’s up, […]

In the current issue of Chief Executive magazine, there is a report on a recent study by Tim Kane of the Hudson Institute which analyzes job creation and finds that almost all net new jobs come from newly formed firms as opposed to small firms.  Using data from the Commerce and Labor Departments, he adds […]

A few odds and ends on the domestic front: *  The Economist reports that the gap between the Hispanic and African-American out-of-wedlock birth rate in the U. S.  is narrowing considerably.  In the past 10 years the birth rate among unmarried Latinas has risen from 89 to 100 per 1,000.  It is now much higher than the rate […]

Events and currents overwhelm, and much has happened since the last issue, so here’s a quick survey of a few that caught my attention: The War: The Iraq Study Group report was nearly worthless as a strategy document, an embarrassment, but the situation on the ground there combined with the unfortunate condition of attitudes at […]

A few random thoughts on the passing scene: • World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz is rightly concerned that the Doha Round of trade talks will be a failure unless the proposed rollback of subsidies and expansion of markets for agricultural products is approved, with dire consequences for world trade and economic growth in underdeveloped countries. […]

My wife and I just returned from a hectic, but delightful two-week visit to London, which was the first visit to that city for both of us in over forty years, a fact which qualified us as virtual first time guests. Given that status, the usual round of sights, sounds, and tastes was mandatory, and […]

Thoughts on random issues in the public square: How quickly Bush began a turnaround with the Miers withdrawal, Alito nomination, Bernanke Federal Reserve appointment, and Iraqi voter approval of their constitution. Now if he can get really tough on domestic spending and much bolder on immigration policy, he will have turned the corner. The best […]