Reality Check continued

The odds are against you when you invest in high-tech stocks. The technicians are central in such companies. Consumers aren't. Here is a test. If the documentation isn't crystal clear -- in English, not techie -- don't invest.... keep reading

Paralysis is the killer. Successful people are noted for their ability to rebound rapidly and try something new. Eventually, something hits big.... keep reading

Spam is a social indicator. It tells us what people with not much common sense are buying. These people also vote. Politicians try to keep these people happy.... keep reading

Money isn't everything. Loyalty counts for a great deal. As it declines, crime will rise. Our lifestyle will therefore decline. Then could also be a major terrorist attack on an American city: a dirty bomb or anthrax. Choose your home town accordingly.... keep reading

Inflation is a monetary phenomenon. A country can have inflation (rising money supply) and stable prices. Japan does. But there will always be a return to inflation. Debt is subsidized by an expanding money supply. Bet wrong on this, and you'll lose wealth.... keep reading

Most people prefer to follow. Don't start a business if you are one of these people. What else does it take? Gind out here.... keep reading

The mania of the dot-coms pointrs to the blindness engendered by greed. The dot-coms will never come back. Now, what about the U.S. stock market? Why will the Dow go to 36,000? The mania-mongers have a lot of explaining to do.... keep reading

"He who dies with the most toys wins." That T-shirt slogan is ridiculous. Yet there are millions of Americans who act as though they agree with it. Let this report serve as a warning.... keep reading

Modern Americans do not perceive that they bear a burden of taxation that is twice what the Pharaoh imposed on the Egyptians in Joseph's time. Americans can't tell the difference between tax tyranny and liberty. So, taxes are never permanently rolled back.... keep reading

Latin American immigrants are going to change large sections of the United States, but nowhere near as much or as fast as Muslim immigrants are going to change Europe. Birth rate differentials will make all the difference, decade by decade.... keep reading

Free market economists love random-walk theory: the hidden genius of the unhampered market. They also love central banking: the closed-door genius of government-protected monopolists. They also accept as necessary "reasonable" price inflation, which central banking creates.... keep reading

Americans have always been a mobile bunch. From the day that the Puritans got off the Arbella, they started looking westward. But there has been a high price of this mobility: the loss of roots. Grandparents and grandchildren are divided. There are no free lunches.... keep reading

The grim statistical reality of the West's government-guaranteed retirement programs is this: the governments will default. All of them. Inevitably. There is no escape. This raises major issues of inheritance.... keep reading

Obituaries remind us: "This, too, will pass." Milton Berle's 5-second TV obituary reminded me of just how completely it passes . . . even for Li Chang Yun (1677-1933).... keep reading

A classic essay reminds us: We can be great winners yet still wind up as unknown as Aladar Gerevich and Steve Patterson. Legacy is what counts, not reputation. What about you? What will your legacy be? Let this be a lesson to you.... keep reading

There is nothing like avoiding death to prompt a reconsideration of one's life. Here is such a story, told by an old friend.... keep reading