Oct 1, 2020Do I Deserve What I Have? Part IIIIn part I of this series, I argued that I do not deserve my standard of living. Though I’ve worked hard and had a few good ideas in my career, it can be argued that much if not all of my material success comes from things I had no part…Socialism12 min read
May 28, 2020Poems of My Father — a seriesMy dad, who passed away in March of 2020, gave me many gifts; one of the most precious was a love of poetry. He loved Keats and Shelley, Frost and Dickenson, Teasdale and St. Vincent Millay, Kipling and Eliot, Hopkins and Tennyson. …Poetry1 min read
May 28, 2020Poems of My Father — #5At Grass The eye can hardly pick them out From the cold shade they shelter in, Till wind distresses tail and mane; Then one crops grass, and moves about - The other seeming to look on — And stands anonymous again. Yet fifteen years ago, perhaps Two dozen distances sufficed…Poem3 min read
May 27, 2020Poems of My Father — #4Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening Whose woods these are I think I know. His house is in the village though; He will not see me stopping here To watch his woods fill up with snow. My little horse must think it queer To stop without a farmhouse near…Robert Frost4 min read
May 26, 2020Poems of my Father — #3The First Snowfall The snow had begun in the gloaming, And busily all the night Had been heaping field and highway With a silence deep and white. Every pine and fir and hemlock Wore ermine too dear for an earl, And the poorest twig on the elm-tree Was ridged inch deep with pearl…Poetry4 min read
May 25, 2020Poems of My Father — #2The Writer In her room at the prow of the house Where light breaks, and the windows are tossed with linden, My daughter is writing a story. I pause in the stairwell, hearing From her shut door a commotion of typewriter-keys Like a chain hauled over a gunwale. Young as…Poetry6 min read
May 25, 2020Poems of my Father — #1There is no Frigate like a Book To take us Lands away Nor any Coursers like a Page Of prancing poetry — This Traverse may the poorest take Without oppress of Toll — How frugal is the Chariot That bears the Human Soul — — Emily Dickinson (1830–1886)Poetry2 min read
Published in Marker·May 4, 2020Price Gouging Could Actually Fix Our Face Mask ShortageIf we don’t let prices for essential goods rise, we can’t incentivize making more of them — The fear produced by Covid-19 has created unexpected shortages in our lives, from toilet paper at home to masks for health care workers. Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz argued that this is a market failure—that markets work poorly in a crisis: No country in times of serious war turns to markets…Coronavirus8 min read
Mar 12, 2020Eulogy for my FatherThis is an expanded version of what I said at my father’s funeral. He passed away on March 2, 2020 at the age of 89. May his memory be a blessing. My dad never wore his heart on his sleeve. I can’t help but do so today. …Family14 min read
Jan 30, 2020The Economist as ScapegoatA lot of things are thought to be wrong with America these days. A rising suicide rate. Opioid addiction and deaths. Unaffordable housing in America’s most prosperous cities. Rising inequality. Pockets of poverty in the Rust Belt and elsewhere. Steadily declining jobs in the manufacturing sector. A falling marriage rate…Free Market11 min read