players

Hope all goes well… “I’ve been to three meetings, but I couldn’t tell you the club’s name,” confessed Jackson, my 16yr old. “Something to do with battling domestic abuse,” he continued, “The more clubs you have, the better your college app.” Club inflation has arrived, the Phillips curve finally kicked in. “My other club is SADD or something like that.” I asked what it meant. “Students against dumb decisions, or drun

“Why do people call ‘upstate’ New York upstate?” asked my Uber driver, grinding, we all are. “It’s a different country,” I answered. “I always like asking New Yorkers the question, and that’s usually the answer,” he said. Couldn’t quite place his accent, southern but not thick. “I was born upstate, Troy, New York, but never once been back,” I explained, surprised to hear it come out that way, another nomadic American

Hope all goes well… “The US is experiencing a remarkably positive set of economic circumstances,” said Jay Powell. “There’s really no reason to think this cycle can’t continue for quite some time,” continued the Fed Chairman. “We’re a long way from neutral Fed Funds at this point, probably.” Unemployment returned to the 1969 low of 3.7%, spurred by an unprecedented late-cycle fiscal stimulus. Q3 earnings are expected

“I remember imagining what I would’ve said to the police if he’d done something to me, and how it would’ve seemed I was to blame,” said Mara, my wife. “I woke up in a fraternity, still in my bra and underwear.” She’d never told me the story, but the Kavanaugh hearing brought it out. “I’d been at a party. The football team’s quarterback was cute, we kissed. I drank too much. He did too. And it was hot, so we stripped

Hope all goes well… “I was trying to preserve the institutional credibility of two institutions,” said Jeff Flake, the Arizona Republican. “One, the Supreme Court is the lone institution where most Americans still have some faith. And then the US Senate as an institution – we’re coming apart at the seams,” continued the Senator, having managed to buy a week for the FBI to investigate the Kavanaugh allegations.

“Trump represents authenticity,” said the Australian investor, reflecting. “Childish, self-centered, misogynistic, money-focused, bullying, full of shit – but authentically so,” he continued. As an American abroad, you discover most discussions weave their way back to The Donald, what his presidency says about the state of our union, our world, humanity. Nearly every foreigner I meet is appalled. But intrigued, perpl

Hope all goes well… “I’m not like the investors you’re meeting here in Sydney,” he said. “I live 40km inland, to the west. My friends and neighbors feel left behind, the elderly struggle to keep the heat on in winter. It’s a different world.” Australia has a new prime minister, its 5th in 5yrs — Scott Morrison is the socially conservative architect of Australia’s hardline anti-asylum seeker policies. “My peers

Hope all goes well… “Just keep swimming, just keep swimming,” said Olivia, my 15yr old, ready to roll. I’d asked what she thinks about during morning laps. “That’s what Dory tells herself, in Finding Nemo,” she explained. I remembered watching that movie with her, years ago, they fly so fast. Another summer gone, back to school. We pulled up to the pool, 5am darkness, cool pre-dawn energy. “What doesn’t kill you make

“I’m fortunate to live in a time where the political system allows my kind of work,” said the Physicist. “Historically, it’s not always so.” Below us particles raced around CERN’s 27km subterranean track, held in precise formation, accelerating toward collision, obliteration, observation. We discussed magic, mysteries, the sublime wonder all around. “It’s incredible that we’ve been able to learn so much about nature,