This personalized recollection from the retired Hamptons publisher Dan Rattiner in the current issue of his old magazine, Dan’s Papers, sets the historical scene for one of eastern Long Island’s most unusual preserves: Camp Hero near Montauk Point. Now an ocean-facing state park on nearly 280 acres, it was a secretive military base during theContinue reading “A Tale of Montauk’s Camp Hero”
Author Archives: timwferguson
Will State Pensions Pay Off?
This Bloomberg article captures the growing worry about state pension promises, and the resistance to reforming them, such is evident on the streets of France. In the U.S., we call these benefits Social Security, and efforts to contain its taxpayer cost are said to touch the political “third rail.” The authors here speculate that onlyContinue reading “Will State Pensions Pay Off?”
Socialized Medicine a Dream? NY Is Nearly There
Vermont notably tried a form of socialized medicine a few years back and had to give up on the program for fiscal reasons. But the dream endures and New York State is coming close to realization: This New York Post article reports how 9 million residents are due to participate in Medicaid this year, perContinue reading “Socialized Medicine a Dream? NY Is Nearly There”
40 Years Later in $alt Lake City
The snow in Park City, Utah, was the best in decades for an end-of-January ski trip that also inspires these observations: *Utah was a cheaper and sleepier alternative to Colorado mountain resorts when I started going there 40 years ago. It has ceased to be that, for the most part. And not just at luxuriousContinue reading “40 Years Later in $alt Lake City”
A Chinese Banquet Where I Needn’t Eat My Words
Along about 2012, I began telling audiences in Greater China that I thought the GDP growth trajectories of the U.S. and the PRC would cross. These were groups composed mostly of family business principals who were making good coin off China’s rise, and had they not been enjoying a nice meal from the business magazineContinue reading “A Chinese Banquet Where I Needn’t Eat My Words”
Nonfiction: Populace Asked to Pay for Public Spending
It’s remarkable how often contemporary Danish politics has mirrored the action in “Borgen,” a serial drama from that country that has been popular with American streaming audiences. If only the U.S. could learn something from a recent attempt at sane governing by the real-life female prime minister, Mette Frederiksen. Faced with expected increases in Denmark’sContinue reading “Nonfiction: Populace Asked to Pay for Public Spending”
L.A.’s Loosening Grip on the Golden Goose of Trade
California’s middle class, a mainstay of the state’s prosperous growth in the mid-20th century, is due to suffer another pinch. Already pressed between the high land costs driven by a technology and entertainment elite and the galloping social costs of large poverty pockets and tight environmental and legal strictures, this median economic sector is beginningContinue reading “L.A.’s Loosening Grip on the Golden Goose of Trade”
Trade Divides the D.C. Parties Internally
Among the issues continuing to split the majority (Democrat) party in America is global trade, especially in goods. Today’s report in the New York Times about warnings within the Biden administration of inordinate harm to blacks and the poor from freer trade is further indication that a return to the national party’s international commercial bentContinue reading “Trade Divides the D.C. Parties Internally”
Where Trump Took the GOP Down
One notable casualty of the Donald Trump deadweight that burdened Republicans on Tuesday was a previously safe GOP seat in Michigan that had been held by one of the most libertarian members of Congress, Peter Meijer. The incumbent was defeated in a party primary by a Trumpist after having voted for an impeachment article againstContinue reading “Where Trump Took the GOP Down”
Petrol Defies the Dirges
It’s been said for a few years now that gasoline sales in the U.S. would retreat as better mileage standards applied to combustion-engine vehicles and hybrids and EVs steadily took their place anyway. This has been a frequent rationale for increasing the fuel excise taxes that federal, state and local governments apply on petrol: TheyContinue reading “Petrol Defies the Dirges”
Tim W. Ferguson 