“Sex or Sleep?” ponders Barron’s. I was a little surprised to see the venerable Wall Street weekly ask its readers such a personal question, but this was the title of the May 14 cover story. The question is not directed at how Barron’s readers choose to spend their evenings  but rather on what type of...Read More

Last week, I announced to the world what a momentously bad investment I had just made (see “I just made a horrible investment”). Yes, dear reader, I was dragged kicking and screaming against my will into homeownership by my wife and two-year-old son.  My days of enjoying my Saturday mornings as an urban yuppy, drinking...Read More

The February 13 issue of Barron’s made a statement that caught my eye:  Americans are paying down their mortgages.  (See “Paying Down the Mortgage.”) 50% of all refinancings now result in smaller loans that the previous mortgage.  Rather than using their homes as a virtual ATM machine, extracting equity (if you have any) to meet...Read More

I read a fact this week that I never expected to read in my lifetime: “The Japanese government is expected to announce Wednesday that the country recorded its first annual trade deficit since 1980″ (see ” End of Era for Japan’s Exports “). Trade deficit? Japan? Japan’s economy has been a slow-motion train wreck for...Read More

“Look around you. From now on, it gets worse. In ten years’ time, there will be no American Dream, any more than there’s a Greek or Portuguese Dream. In twenty, you’ll be living the American Nightmare, with large tracts of the country reduced to the favelas of Latin America, the rich fleeing for Bermuda…. “For...Read More