Warren Buffett’s political pronouncements are intellectually vacuous hot air. Yet I suspect he retains excellent investor’s instincts about the future trajectory of the U.S. economy. So when he manifestly overpays in a $28 billion acquisition of the food producer H.J. Heinz, we should listen, and ponder what the deal tells us about where we are […]

There’s no question that the U.S. economy of 1970 was less than rigorous in its use of management and workforce. The regulated commercial banking sector had a very easy life; the famous “borrow at 3%, lend at 6%, be on the golf course by 3 pm” quip was pretty close to reality except in the […]

The City of Detroit is teetering on the edge of bankruptcy, with a team of auditors expected to report this month, after which Michigan Governor Rick Snyder may appoint an emergency financial manager. The reasons for Detroit’s decline are no secret: excessive taxes and spending led to an exodus of population, which was exacerbated by […]

We were told this week that Myanmar had paid off its $6 billion debt arrears to the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank and the Paris Club of official creditors, with the help of $3 billion in debt forgiveness from Japan. This has already released $1 billion in new money from the Asian Development Bank […]