It was 7:30 in the morning and I was suffering from both jet lag and a terrible gin hangover but I was still thankful to be back in the United States.  I hadn’t slept, afraid that I would awake again in the desert.  Cheering the sunrise, my unit […]

Amidst the activity of the lame-duck Bush presidency, the incoming Obama administration, the global economic, banking, and credit crisis, the war in Iraq, and an escalating effort in Afghanistan, there exists an opportunity. It exists immediately, and in some ways we should not wait until the Obama presidency commences on January 20, 2009 to address […]

It is widely known that the U.S. Treasury is funneling money to commercial banks through what some economists and analysts call a bank nationalization effort. The Treasury has, in some instances, taken an equity stake in an outright takeover and, in other instances, offered an availability of funds in exchange for preferred shares and […]

While Hank Paulson, Ben Bernanke, and the Bush Administration push its $700 billion financial crisis bailout package, Barrack Obama and John McCain posture, and appear to inject their input. The U.S. Congress wrestles with itself, watches the U.S. credit markets deteriorate, and meets the constituents’ reactions to the wild fluctuation of the stock market. The […]

September 17, 2008
Henry Merritt “Hank” Paulson Jr.
Secretary of the Treasury
United States of America

Dear Hank:
 

I hope you don’t mind me calling you Hank. You seem to be such a nice guy and so friendly with businessman types that I thought I’d be rather informal with you right from the start and be your […]

As taxpayers watch news of the federal government’s takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, they realize that their taxes are being spent again, and, further, this unfolding mess is the fault of distant executives, lobbyists, and government regulators. They may begin to question the bits and pieces of the information that is streaming out […]

What do Neil Young and T. Boone Pickens have in common? In many aspects of their lives, not very much. One is an icononic acoustic rock musician, who has been writing creative material for over forty years, and is widely known for his liberal political stances. The latter is a well established oil tycoon and […]

In three days, one million units have been sold, and 10 million downloads of the software have been performed from a host of 500 applications. All of this activity occurred for a product that did not even exist 14 months ago. What will this lead to?
Apple announced that in the first three days of the […]

The phrase “thinking outside the box” refers to a process in which individuals and groups disregard outside limiting parameters of the norm, and generate ideas to solve problems. Often in this process, thinking patterns are different and unconventional, almost always the participants enter in from a new or different perspective. In some instances this […]

The economic relationship between Venezuela and the United States is centered around oil. Venezuela produces 3.8% of the world’s oil and the U.S. imports 10% of its oil from Venezuela. Of the amount of crude oil that the country exports, the U.S. purchases 44% of it. In 1998, Venezuela democratically elected Hugo Chavez as its President. In 2002, a political coup forced Chavez to lose power for nearly 48 hours; massive protests and a lack of military support for the coup’s leaders assisted Chavez’s return to power. The political relationship between Venezuela and the U.S. has been contentious. President Chavez recently denounced the Bush administration at a United Nations meeting. The relationship has been on a collision course for many years, with increasing oil profits fueling Venezuela’s growing political power in the South American region.