Original anecdotes, commentary, rumination, and occasional pontification.
DECEMBER 20, 2023 – At the front end of the day I read a report about how Houthi rebel attacks on commercial oil tankers in the Red Sea could disrupt global oil markets. The result of course, would be higher prices for a key commodity (still), thus giving the Fed little breathing space on the …
MARCH 1, 2021 – (Dedicated to the memory of my late brother-in-law, Dean Rhodes, tax accountant (etc.) extraordinaire) What finally tripped up the murderous gangster Al Capone was . . . tax evasion. He was convicted at the surprisingly young age of 32 and sentenced to 11 years in the Big House. After his conviction, …
FEBRUARY 5, 2021 – During my banking years, the “Best Practices” corporate fad worked its way into on-site drinking water. Senior management imposed quotas on lower management, and soon everyone was obsessed with generating “best practice” ideas just to mollify the Quota Police. The fad topped the agenda of my boss’s weekly direct reports meetings. …
SEPTEMBER 28, 2020 – The Sham Man has now been called out in the most definitive way possible—for all of us who pay income taxes. For us who’ve always seen the emperor’s nakedness, news of Trump’s zero tax bill in 10 of the last 15 years and such details as his $70,000 deduction for hair …