Some years ago my cousin Jim was hired by a local restaurant owner to serve as a “mystery shopper” in his own restaurant. Each week Jim would go to this restaurant, sit down for a meal and then report back to the owner on his experience. Not surprisingly, this restaurant, whose owner takes quality [...]
The name Irving Fisher is not widely known, but maybe it should be. In his day, Fisher was a renowned economist. He graduated first in his class from Yale, received the first PhD in Economics ever issued by Yale and then went on to join the school's faculty. Despite all that, however, [...]
For those who keep score — namely, the financial news media — last Thursday marked a milestone: For the first time in a long time, Bill Gates was no longer the richest person in the world. Instead, that distinction went to Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon. This probably doesn't come as any [...]
Sometimes the most surreal things happen. For example, anyone who remembers the 1980s tennis prodigy Boris Becker may be shocked to learn that last month, in a London courtroom, Becker was declared bankrupt. After winning Wimbledon and countless other tournaments, Becker's personal fortune was [...]
Yesterday saw an odd juxtaposition. In Washington, the Senate conducted hearings into allegations of misconduct inside the White House, with potentially serious implications. Meanwhile, on Wall Street, no one seemed to mind very much. In fact, the market hit a new all-time high on Thursday [...]
