The source may be liberal but the graphs here are just that – graphs. They tell a depressing story about the rise of income inequality in this country. What they do not tell us is either the cause or the solution. As Ross Douthat points out in today’s New York Times increasing the tax rate on millionaires does not (by itself) solve the problem. Continue reading
Monthly Archives: October 2011
Steve Jobs
Maureen Dowd columnist for The New York Times plus a subsequent search of Wikipedia provided a series of surprising learning moments for me. It turns out that Steve’s birthmother Joanne had an affair with a Syrian man John Jandali who was in the states studying for his Ph.D. Her parents disapproved so she gave Steve up for adoption. Continue reading
Steve Jobs – Team builder
The passing of Steve Jobs yesterday brought forth a number of great tributes to his genius. He was the creator of Apple, they said. He was the mastermind at Apple, they said. He single-handedly brought Apple back from the dead. Every product passed through his hands, they said. And so it went — understandably. But what was missing in all these tributes was one that called him the great team builder. Continue reading
Global Warming: The lesson from Australia
I asked the question of whether we need to be afraid of economic issues in my last blog. I have just finished reading Jeff Goodell’s latest contribution to Rolling Stones “The End of Australia” in which he lays out the natural disasters that have hit Australia in recent years. If Goodell is right and the fires, the floods and the droughts that have ravaged Australia in recent years are indeed the result of global warming then economic issues rather pale into insignificance. Do not read this article just before bed.
michaelvanbreda 