U.S. multifactor productivity trends for 2001, for the private non-farm business sector, released with the minimum possible publicity April 8, show a drop in productivity of more than 1 percent in that year. Where then is the “productivity miracle” so beloved of Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan and others?

In the last 20 years, the term “risk management” has come into general use, reflecting a belief by financial sector managers that a business’s risks can be “managed” by appropriate mathematical techniques. Regrettably, the techniques are faulty, and reliance on them increases risk rather than managing it.

“The next big thing ain’t computers,” said Oracle Chief Executive Officer Larry Ellison in a Wall Street Journal interview recently. Is he right? If so, what is the next Big Thing and when can we expect to see it?

Tony Blair has gained enormous prestige and goodwill in the United States by his staunch support of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq and by British troops’ substantial and superbly executed participation in it. But admirers of the Anglo-American alliance should beware: Economically, the weasels are taking over, and their political takeover cannot be far behind.