Our current economic situation is grim indeed.The cost in terms of lost output and net wealth is already far beyond that which we have experienced in any previous post-World War II recession.And, the rate of decline is accelerating, even as some legislators debate whether or not a sizable fiscal stimulus is necessary to “kick-start” economic growth.In the third quarter of 2008, the Gross Domestic Product (GDP had declined at an annual rate of 0.5 percent.However, the release of preliminary GDP data for the final quarter of 2008 showed that the economy had shrunk at the fastest pace in more than a quarter of a century—3.8 percent.Were it not for a substantial involuntary accumulation of inventories as a result of failing to cut... ...more...
I must confess at the outset that I do not have the option of “caller ID” on my home phone.Thus, when either my wife or I have an incoming phone call, we have no idea whether the caller is familiar to us or not until we engage the voice at the other end of the line.And, we certainly do welcome calls from our many friends.At the same time, the sheer number of telephone solicitations associated with the recent election campaign aroused in me an almost intuitive and rather surly response when the phone rang and the caller was not familiar either to me or to my wife.Quite recently, as I was attempting to winnow down the mountain... ...more...
While living and working in Philadelphia many years ago, I enjoyed taking the opportunity at lunchtime to explore the neighborhood proximate to where I worked.Thus it was on a beautiful fall day in 1967 that I found myself observing a work crew that was in the process of demolishing an imposing, if foreboding structure.It was the site of the old Moyamensing prison, built in 1832-1835 to house some 400 inmates, with a separate attached wing that would serve as a debtor’s prison.As the outer wall had already been breached by the workers, I asked if I could examine the interior of the prison itself and was told I could.As I walked through the cell blocks, peering in to the inhospitable spaces that served to confine the... ...more...
In an earlier essay, I made the observation that, “All too often, we live our lives giving vent to one or another of life’s minor frustrations or insults that, at the time, take on far greater significance than they truly warrant.Such indignities that may befall us all-too-often serve to distract us from the recognition of the priceless gift that each new day affords us.”I was again reminded of this theme in connection with two examples of dealing with adversity that I recently came across.One dealt with the reality of having to confront a terminal disease that carried with it a prognosis of having only months to survive.The other tale was of a ten-year old afflicted with cerebral palsy that... ...more...
For most of us, I suspect, we have been conditioned over time not to expect much in the way of enlightenment from watching our television sets.After all, although it was nearly fifty years ago, on May 9, 1961, that Newton Minow then Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) delivered his remarks that were highly critical of commercial television to the National Association of Broadcasters convention, his words still resonate with relevance today.Appointed to his FCC position by... ...more...
The sport of professional baseball is well-known for its multitude of colorful characters associated with the game.Any list that purports to contain the names of those regarded as worthy of that descriptor would almost certainly contain the name of Leo Ernest Durocher.Nicknamed Leo the Lip, he was a controversial and abrasive character during his career in baseball, both as a player and a manager.And, as the above quotes associated with him convey, he hated to lose and made it amply clear that... ...more...
I am quite sure that for many readers of this essay, there have been occasions when they have chosen to dine in a restaurant that offered Chinese cuisine, or at least some dishes that purported to be of that ethnic extraction.In any case, for those who have had one or more such experiences, irrespective of the gustatory quality of the offerings, there was at least one aspect to that experience that was a constant.After the entrée had been consumed and the server deposited the bill for... ...more...
As is my wont to do each morning, as I was driving to the office, my car radio was set to our local affiliate of National Public Radio (NPR).For some time now, NPR has had a morning feature called “Story Corps: Recording America.”The premise is quite simple, namely to interview ordinary people and to record in their own ...more...
The current upheaval underway in the sub-prime mortgage market and in credit and financial markets more generally has revealed at its source an admixture of factors responsible for its onset and burgeoning growth.And, in recent weeks and months, as the “collateral damage” from the melt-down in the sub-prime lending sector has spread, sweeping aside earlier denials by such luminaries as... ...more...
Some time ago, I wrote an essay entitled, “Running in Midair” in which I questioned the sustainability of our growing reliance on debt to continue to underwrite our economic growth.Since that time, though the economy has grown, with few exceptions the rate of growth has been disappointing.And, despite a recently released preliminary estimate ...more...
Admittedly, the worldview of Hobbes paints a bleak and unforgivinglandscape in which civility has no place, and only the overwhelming power and authority of an all-powerful state or civil government can serve to restrain our inherent violent nature against one another.Although we may find ourselves far-removed from the Hobbesian model, from time to time, circumstances may come to light that serve to inform us of the extent to which we, as a society, have come to accept the ...more...
On a number of occasions, while pondering the choice of a subject for my writing efforts, I have found myself literally “at a loss for words.”Then, after a seemingly interminable period during which my “writer’s block” appears to have grown to an impenetrable barrier to any progress, I find myself confronted with several apparently disparate events that, when examined critically, come together to provide a focal point for exploration and elaboration.In this instance, in a single day I was privy to... ...more...
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