Joseph Giglio

Once again we are reminded that nothing is forever; not now, not ever, never. On June 23 Great Britain’s electorate voted to quit the 28-member European Union despite threats that economic Armageddon will follow. The Brexit vote represented the sort of populist victory over establishment politics that give elites, few of whom have the scars […]

Today, revisionist historians contend that the battle, while costly and flawed, put an end to German hopes at Verdun, badly weakened the German army and helped the British learn new tactics for successfully prosecuting future offensives. Traditionalists believe this interpretation airbrushes reality. They say the battle achieved nothing but untold misery and loss. It was […]

Since the end of the recession, economic growth has been lackluster despite the Federal Reserve putting the pedal to the metal by pursuing zero interest rates and engaging in bond purchases known as quantitative easing. The rationale for this policy is that artificially suppressed interest rates and easy money are required for the Fed to […]

There have been few signs that the three remaining presidential candidates seeking to capture the nation’s commanding heights are willing to confront the subject of America’s public debt, which has grown to over $19 trillion, more than the gross domestic product. It is estimated that by 2023, entitlement payments, military spending, and interest on the […]

CEO compensation took off in the 1990s because activist shareholders, board members and academics, all mating like alley cats, pushed to better align management’s interests with those of shareholders. So corporations began to award stock options to senior managers. Executive stock options have been a controversial topic for some time because of the fortunes executives […]

The aphorism “A rising tide lifts all boats” has become entwined with a basic assumption that free trade results in economic wins for all players in the global economy. Of course this assumes you are lucky enough to have a boat that has not run aground. The classic case for free trade was made nearly […]

It is political popularism, but Trump and Sanders have a point: it is time to rethink free trade and advocate for quotas and tariffs that protect and defend American interests and values rather than those of special interests such as multi-national corporations.

This month marks the anniversary of the collapse of Bear Stearns, once Wall Street’s fifth-largest investment bank. The demise of the 85-year old institution signaled the real start of the 2008-2009 financial crisis. Eight years later, we can only hope our leaders learned something from the experience. The collapse and Bear’s subsequent bailout by the […]

Every terrorist attack on a Western target presents the self-styled saints in Washington and other western capitals with an opportunity to engage in perfectly staged grandiose rhetoric. Employing borrowed words, identical sound bites, and first-cousin clichés designed to curate their images, conceal their ignorance and ignore realities on the ground, world leaders’ pontificate about destroying […]

How many times do people ask themselves “what if,” consciously considering what has happened and what might have been? What if you had taken a different job, or married someone else? These questions are a fundamental feature of the human condition. They are also a good exercise in understanding the world and suggesting alternative approaches […]