Holiday Road
Forty years ago this week—July 29, to be precise—Clark Griswold loaded his wife Ellen and children Rusty and Audrey into their brand-new Wagon Queen Family Truckster and set out on the great American road trip. National Lampoon’s Vacation saw the Griswolds touring the highways and byways from Chicago to Walley World, with hijinks, shenanigans, and […]
My Deduction Was Thiiiiiiiis Big
Today’s millennials and Generation Z have hit some speed bumps on their path toward financial independence—the dotcom crash of 1999, the Great Recession of 2007-08, and the COVID pandemic among them. Many seek whatever security they can find in traditional employment, then launch a side gig. Some of those side gigs feel a lot like […]
Planning Lessons from William Faulkner
Why did the rocket scientists who designed the space shuttle choose to make its solid rocket boosters smaller than they really wanted? Because those boosters would have to be shipped by train from the factory to the launch site and pass through a tunnel that was barely wider than a standard gauge railroad track. Why […]
Unintended Consequences
This week, we celebrate the 247th anniversary of America’s Declaration of Independence—a milestone of human imagination and courage. The 56 men who mutually pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor wound up launching the world’s greatest experiment in democracy. And they hoped Independence Day would become something special. John Adams wrote that “It […]
AI Fails to Predict…The Future?
If you had “Russian uprising” and “Titanic-related disaster” on your 2023 bingo card, congratulations! You’re either a time traveler from the Edwardian Era or very, very prescient. But the news is full of stories that could never have happened 100 years ago. Crypto prices are inching back up, despite the fact that so many promoters […]
Tax Whack-a-Mole
Our beloved internal revenue code currently runs 4,968 pages. That’s a lot of fingers and toes! But you can reduce the whole exercise to three simple steps. First, Washington writes the rules to ensure that Uncle Sam collects an “appropriate” amount of tax from the income we earn. (Reasonable people can disagree on what’s appropriate, […]
The More Things Change
Dealing with bureaucracy is rarely easy and never fun. Back in the 1980s, future NBA Hall of Famer Karl Malone earned the nickname “the Mailman” because he delivered. Today, that would be a cruel joke. But nobody in government is as hard to deal with as the IRS. Erin Collins, the National Taxpayer Advocate, reports […]
What’s Tax Got to Do with It?
Tina Turner’s death last month at age 83 leaves an enormous hole in the soul of rock and roll. Turner cut her first record in 1958 on her way to becoming a star with husband Ike in the 60s and 70s. Then, at age 44, she launched a solo comeback. Turner’s passing also sadly reminds […]
Flying Friendlier Skies
In 1748, Benjamin Franklin published an essay called “Advice to a Young Tradesman,” where he wrote, “Remember that time is money.” Back then, a trip from Philadelphia to New York could mean four or five days bouncing up and down over muddy dirt roads and three or four nights sharing straw beds with strangers. (Deodorant […]
Action!
When you think of a labor strike, you probably picture a line of blue-collar workers carrying picket signs in front of a coal mine or factory. The Writers Guild of America, which represents 11,500 entertainment writers, hardly fits that mold. Yet the WGA strike, which began May 2, is already rippling through Hollywood. It’s going […]