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“The kiddies would like to know what the excitement at your firm is all about,” said Mara, over waffle breakfast. And not one to pretend to have pursued a noble career path, I gave it my honest best. “Well, there’s this country called Japan,” I started. “It’s kinda like an island, but not exactly, right?” interrupted one of my little Einstein’s. “Yeah, it’s an island – anyhow, Japan’s filled with really old people th

“It raises fascinating ethical issues,” said the scientist, and just hearing his voice, I relaxed. You see, he’s the smartest person I know. And having survived a near-certain death sentence back at university, he’s devoted his life to helping others do the same. “Does the treatment of one justify the risk to others?” he asked. “In Africa now, they don’t perform CPR on victims, the benefit is so low, the threat to he

Hope all goes well… “A million thousand infinities all connected,” said Charlie, returning his thumb to gob for effect. It had started like these things do. “To the moon,” he’d said. I replied, “To the moon and back.” Inflationary illusions. Next came the sun, stars. Distant galaxies. Infinity and beyond. But all hyperinflations end abruptly. And keen to teach my kids economic principles so they’ll study subjects of

They lay moribund. Eyes rolled back. Puking. Spewing. Surrounded by doctors, hermetically sealed in hazmat, with more degrees than sense. Outside the bio-containment unit, media monkeys went bananas. Shrieking deflation, depression, destruction. Yet the plague spread unchecked. New Zealand released inflation numbers. Despite 3.7% GDP growth, record immigration, a housing boom, post-quake reconstruction bonanza, and 9

“Is this one for real?” asked Jackson. And of course it isn’t. It couldn’t possibly be. You see, he’d asked for a bedtime story, having graduated from ones I tell the younger three; fantasy interwoven with myth, legend. So I told him about Syria and Iraq. Where a barbaric army magically appeared, in old Toyota pick-ups, to conquer an area the size of Britain. Imposing medieval laws. Enslaving apostates. Beheading the

It’s gone viral. The nastiest crap inevitably does. And like all plagues, it’s not hard to discover its origin. This one didn’t start in Dallas. Where brave nurses endured things so horrifying they’d leave Stephen King quivering. You see, there are three things that make an existing crisis more terrifying; breaking effective protocols in panic, clinging to broken protocols in paralysis, or swinging wildly between unp

Hope all goes well… “Is there a goddamn adult in the house?” barked Bulldog. “First the Fed inserts after-the-fact comments into their meeting minutes, saying they’re concerned about dollar strength,” growled Dawg. “What the hell is that? They never discussed the dollar at that meeting, it wasn’t even strong yet.” In a world where the only meaty bone left is American, the dollar needs to rally. Lest others starve. “T

There it sat, for over a month. On the dock, in plain sight. Bureaucracy and political infighting froze its delivery. But as the devastation spread, and outrage at the ineptitude spilled over, back-room deals were done, red tape was cut, the cargo container magically opened. And desperately needed medical supplies were released; to Sierra Leone. Far too late. Anyhow, we’ve finally discovered the number – it tak

Hope all goes well… “What happens when everyone who wanted to buy a 10% correction is already long?” asked Yoda, high in the Rockies. “What happens when they start selling things that made money, to pay for things that lost it?” continued the mkt’s largest S&P trader. “What happens when that pushes stocks and bonds down together?” he asked, pausing. “Yes, what happens when the S&P trades 1,600 and 10yrs hit 3