Nobody Asked Me But…

Traditionally, this is the time of year when all assorted types of pundits and columnists weigh in with their annual predictions for the coming year.

And for the past two decades or so, yours truly has been no different.

Third Place is You're Fired!

Normally I view the holiday season much in the same light as a root canal with far too little Novocain.

The other 51 weeks of the year, my usual sunny persona (I can hear you laughing already) traditionally morphs into the screenplay for “Grumpy Old Men.”

Notes from the Front Lines

Now that my conference and CPE teaching schedule for 2012 has officially come to a close, I’m in the process of filtering through the notes I’ve compiled at each itinerant stop in an effort to  gauge just what were the most frequently debated topics and questions I’ve  fielded since my journeys began in earnest back in April.

Tossing aside some lighthearted Zen koans such as “why is college football’s annual Bowl Week actually 16 days long,” or “how come Hawaii has  interstate highways,” obviously the majority of inquiries centered in the timing of succession and transition such as when, where, why, and how.

For Execs at Fannie and Freddie, it’s Always Christmas

I, for one, was not saddened when I read over the weekend that some Wall Street bonuses in year-end 2012 would lag behind those of previous campaigns. I don’t know about you, but when someone receives a year-end largesse of $10 million as opposed to $15 million, somehow I find it hard to elicit even a morsel of sympathy.

Especially when my I opened my holiday credit card statements.

GRA Should Be Declared DOA

It’s often said that the nine most frightening words in the English language are “I’m from the government and I’m here to help.”

World-renowned  economist Milton Friedman once joked that you could take any three letters from the alphabet, scramble them in any order, and you'll end up with an acronym for a federal agency we could absolutely do without.