At summer’s end, we can only be sure that economic ups and downs will continue
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It’s the end of the third quarter of 2012, which is a decent time to look back and see where we are. Continue Reading
A blown call shines light on the importance of collective bargaining rights, for the NFL and beyond
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Sports analogies are a mainstay for business – both reporting and motivational development. What is a company but a team, focused on scoring against the competition? Continue Reading
Globalizing the depression
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One of the great features of this global economic slowdown, which I call a Depression, is that it has not been genuinely global. Continue Reading
A tale of two job reports
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It was the best of reports, it was the worst of reports. Continue Reading
Convention(al) wisdom: RNC and DNC each get a shot at pageantry, with a lot of people watching
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Why do we still have political conventions? There is a legal requirement that they actually sit down and have the formal vote on who their nominee will be, but that does not take days of speechifying and pageantry. If another political party like the Greens or Libertarians tried to get their conventions on prime-time teevee night after night they’d be laughed at. Continue Reading
Gaps and gaffs along the way to the presidential election
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The long season that leads up to an election is more like a basketball game than any other sports analogy – you make your shots, stay with the plan, and stay focused in the last few seconds. That is why campaigns are often defined by gaffs and mis-statements.
Examining the appeal of Ayn Rand
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Ayn Rand is one of the most influential authors of American thought in the late twentieth century. It’s hard to find any college educated person under 40 years old who hasn’t had at least a brush with her works and the philosophy of Objectivism. This is fascinating given how little serious critical attention has been paid to her work and how largely unknown it is in other nations. Continue Reading
The Ryan gamble: Romney’s VP pick creates dangerous potential, and the possibility of more open dialogue
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The choice of a running mate can easily be over-stated. Did anyone vote for Obama because they like Biden? How about Dick Cheney? Or, for that matter, Joe Lieberman? Continue Reading
Attacks on Romney’s business experience are turning into this election cycle’s “swift boating”
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If there’s one irrevocable law in politics, it’s that whatever works will be done and re-done until it fails completely. The stakes for a Presidential include the most powerful office in the world and total expenditures of $10B. Continue Reading
A new beginning: Let’s start with the fact that we’re in a Depression, and work from there
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Barataria stands as a blog with a purpose. Most of the time, that purpose is to tell the stories lost in the jargon of economics and finance that have come to define our recent lives far more than most people are comfortable with.