Henry Kissinger, age 91, has just published his 17th book, World Order.  The book lays out a case he has made many times before; an effective foreign policy should be guided by a realistic assessment of national interests and aim to preserve a stable balance of power.  Idealism and morality must be promoted, but always tempered by the demands of realism–otherwise, idealism is likely to do more harm than good. In addition to this literary offering, we have the good fortune of hearing Ki...

While the announcement of Apple Pay may seem big for the Tech World and Apple fans, it will have huge impacts beyond the tech world and could move the needle on global GDP as a whole.  Wait a second, Global? Yup, global! And that is not just because there is a cool new way to shop (OK yeah it is cool) not just because it is fast-one click on your phone with instantaneous approval, not just because it offers a radical leap in security and privacy not even perhaps because  Apple has par...

With somewhat predictable frequency, the media, telecom and communications industries go through waves of consolidation every few years. Typically, such seismic events occur when interest rates are low, technology is changing rapidly (or even discontinuously) and valuations reach historic highs. Recently, a new wave has begun; a wave, however, unlike any in the past. The current wave involves the very biggest companies in the communications industries; and the logic behind the transactions range...

What do we talk about when we talk about financialization?  Wikipedia defines financialization as a “term sometimes used in discussions of financial capitalism in which financial leverage tended to override capital (equity) and financial markets tended to dominate over the traditional industrial economy and agricultural economics.”   For a further gloss, Wikipedia adds that financialization is a “term that describes an economic system or process that attempts to reduce all value t...

The sudden collapse of Northern Iraq has come as a shock to Americans – and that seems to go for just about everyone, from the common person right up to the President.  The question of what, if anything, we should do about it has produced mostly handwringing among the same group, especially including the President.  Perhaps the only clarity has come from General Dempsey, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.  When asked by a Senator what our interests were, he said, “It is in our...