It was late August of 1998 when I arrived in my first class of graduate microeconomics at George Mason University. I arrived early, and waited with eager expectation for the professor, who was one of the two professors that had drawn me to GMU–Walter Williams. When he walked in, it was clear who the dominant […]

I keep reading headlines about different plans to eliminate student debt. Unfortunately, most of these plans seem to be attempts to buy votes from the college educated instead of working to fix the problem. It seems that Biden’s plan is to cancel $10,000 of everyone’s debt and more if you work for the Federal Government. […]

Just two weeks ago I woke up seeing what looked like a surprising Donald Trump victory start to slip away. I always thought it would come down to Pennsylvania, but I really thought he would pull off Michigan and certainly Georgia. I also thought that AZ was called too early, and that Mr. Trump had […]

Deutsche Bank recently conducted a study and proposed a new tax.  Whenever you tax something, you get less of it.  If you subsidize something, you get more of it.  Deutsche’s central desire is to tax people working from home (WFH) to redistribute that money to people who cannot work from home along with reducing the […]

Early on in the lockdown, probably April, I read an article that pointed out the mob related issues created by the pandemic.  Essentially, the Italian government is concerned that the mob will take advantage of the distressed businesses.  Later on, the mob will come back and ask for favors that the business owner can no […]

Well, it’s election day again…or, rather it’s done. I think; not really sure anymore. Has it been a week already? My how time flies; I’m not really sure anyone can keep track at this point. But, the important thing is that you’re here now, so you’re obviously interested in what I have to say. That […]

As the election has finally arrived, there will almost certainly be an increase in unrest on our nation’s streets, no matter who wins. To report on the upcoming headlines in a more chipper and upbeat way, we here at the Diatribe will strive to deliver messages of calm and serenity amid a sea of pandemonium. […]

Most people I know are pretty anxious about this week, with the election as well as possible reactions to election results (or lack of results). Given it’s in both parties’ interest to suggest the end of the world if the other side wins, it’s not surprising that the level of angst is amped up around […]

In Nov. 2016, I blogged about my “Trumpotheses,” which were my own core beliefs about leadership as applied to Donald Trump’s oncoming presidency. They were: Experience Matters. Leaders with practical experience in their field perform better than those without such experience. Character Matters. Leaders with strong character (defined as truthfulness, integrity, fairness, and consistency) are […]

Four years ago, we questioned, to the effect, of “how did it come to this?”  How were we left with a choice of a very corrupt Hillary Clinton and a vulgar Donald Trump?  While extending the Obama administration (effectively) with a Clinton presidency was unthinkable, voting for Mr. Trump would mean an effective endorsement of […]