POLITICS

At the end of the classic Western, “Rio Bravo,” when the bad guys came running out of a blown-up house holding up their hands in surrender, John Wayne’s sidekick couldn’t help but exclaim “Look at ’em quit!”. These days,...

Have you ever noticed how little you hear about the Philippines market in these days? When was the last time you heard about a hot stock tip from that country? The Philippines contains a lot of people, about 72 million in fact, and it also has reasonably good...

Back in 1998, the big question in Japan was which, if any, of Tokyo’s big banks could escape collapse. Burdened by massive, non-performing loans, and holding assets (like Tokyo real estate) that had plunged in value, Japan’s big banks were in a serious...

Last Wednesday, 15 March 2000), a Thai bankruptcy court declared that Thai Petrochemical Industry Plc., (TPI) was insolvent. Thai investors, while hardly jubilant, were likely to be relieved about one thing: a Thai company can no longer refuse to pay back creditors...

Do not interrupt. Allow your partner to finish what he is saying. When there is a pause, politely ask, “Are you finished?” Actively listen. In other words, think about what she is saying. Look for evidence of honest misunderstandings. They are almost...

Elian Gonzalez’s story continues to unfold like an opera: The daring escape from Cuba, the treacherous sea storm, and his mother’s heroic struggle to fasten the 6-year-old to an inner tube before she drowned. As a brutal snowstorm brought the congressional...

Alan Keyes [a candidate for the Republican nomination for president] is correct in stating, in his March 4 op-ed, that “national service is an obligation of citizenship” — in a totalitarian dictatorship. All life in a dictatorship belongs to the...

In my last I covered seven principles of Stress Management. Here are seven more: 8. Process your feelings, and introspect, regularly. When you encounter a dilemma or issue, discuss it with a close friend, a professional counselor, or yourself (e.g., in the form of a...

At Christmas, $1.25 was the average price for a gallon of regular unleaded fuel. It is now more than $1.50 and is expected to be as high as $2.00 within four months. With no end in sight to the rising prices, Republican politicians, sensing an election-year issue, are...

John McCain is not shy about expressing his moral vision for America. When he officially announced his candidacy, he said, “I run for president because I want the next generation of Americans to know the sense of pride and purpose of serving a cause greater than...

Covering International equities over the last decade has been an interesting experience. Emerging markets in Asia and Latin America have gone through a couple of rounds of boom and bust, compressing into a few short years as much euphoria and desperation as most...

America dodged a bullet on Super Tuesday. G. W. Bush, governor of Texas and candidate for the Republican presidential nomination, swept seven of the eleven primaries held on March 7, winning such delegate-rich states as California, New York, Ohio, and Georgia. In one...

The past arrest of Peng Cheng by the Chinese Government, and the more recent “strong” statements against Taiwan, shows how little has changed in that country. Take the case of Mr. Cheng. Mr. Cheng was sentenced to three years in a labor camp on...

Environmentalists — notorious for making doomsday predictions about man’s industrial activities while appealing to “science” — are now turning to religion to halt the “sins” of industrialization and development. Over a year...

A lot of friends who dabble in the stock market have been calling me lately to pick my brain about this or that Internet stock. Of course, any word of caution or concern I express over lofty valuations invariably falls on deaf ears. God forbid I actually say anything...

Have you ever suffered from any of the following symptoms? Poor concentration. Forgetting to do important tasks. A pervasive sense of helplessness or hopelessness. Nervous behaviors (shaking leg, biting nails). High blood pressure. Blowing up or snapping at loved ones...

When Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan speaks, markets listen. But Mr. Greenspan doesn’t create wealth, as E.F. Hutton did when he spoke. Mr. Greenspan’s speeches tend to destroy wealth. Last week, for example, Greenspan told Congress that...

Q. If you do not think libertarians are taking the correct action, may I suggest that those of us who are interested can join together to form a new country? A. This amounts to the idea that it is time to follow John Galt’s advice and strike from the world....