I don’t wear much jewelry, costume or otherwise.  When I was in public life, I bought a few nice pieces, mostly turquoise, which I picked up during my visits to Arizona.  At the time I started collecting, the stone was semi-precious.  Now, with dwindling quantities, it’s become

In October a change goes into effect concerning money market mutual funds.  From an earlier blog (9/9/16), you may remember mutual funds are counted as  runnable debt, accounts not insured by the FDIC but are part of a bank’s debt obligations. To shore up a bank’s ability to wit

Warren Buffett, the second richest man in America, says  if he dies before his wife, she should  invest her money in Vanguard’s Index Mutual Funds.  That’s a conservative investment that isn’t likely to go far wrong but is it advice for everyone?  A danger exists in being to

In politics, people want access to their elected officials but when they get it, others are tempted to wonder what goes on behind closed doors.  As a former public servant, I am aware  of the opportunity for distrust.  When I served, everyone wanted to see me, it seemed.  If they

While making calls for Hillary Clinton recently, I encountered a man who complained that when president Bill Clinton signed the measure repealing the Glass Steagall Act, he created conditions that made the Great Recession of 2007-2008 possible.  Because of it, the man refused to supp

Today I received a call from a college I attended, thanking me for my charitable  gift.  As I am grateful for the education I received, a gift to the President’s fund seemed a natural way to show my appreciation. I’ve written several blogs about the good, bad and ugly of colleg

During an election campaign, candidates often talk about freebies, fee health care, fee higher education and the like, but how can we afford it and pay down the national debt, (Blog 6/30/16) a black hole that threatens the solvency of our nation?  This season both Democratic candidat

I had an enjoyable lunch the other day with Jane Vogel, President of Age & Gender Equity in the Arts, (AGE) an organization dedicated to challenging stereotypes about aging and gender in the arts and theater in particular.  The group awarded $30,000 this year to organizations tha

More than once, I’ve shared concerns that technology is reducing the number of jobs in our society and allowing money to pool in the hands of billionaires who use it to make decisions  better left to the community.  My solution is to disrupt the money pool and allow it to flow to

This campaign season, the voter hasn’t heard much about government debt, probably because, not only is the subject boring, but it is also depressing.  According to an article in Bloomberg Businessweek, “The U. S. government is the world’s biggest debtor…”   (“Why the U.