Now that the identity of the President-Elect is no longer an uncertainty looming over the nation, the biggest issue the new administration faces is that of prioritization. The Obama agenda is so (necessarily) vast and there is so much that urgently needs to be done that it is nearly impossible...

On October 23rd, the world was presented with a single admission. It was remarkable both for the magnitude of the error to which it corresponded, and for the fact that it was being uttered at all during a time when political and business leaders know "fault" as "a word that...

Years before many of the investment bankers responsible for the financial crisis now gripping our nation were even born, an unprecedented event shook the world. On October 6, 1973, Egypt launched a surprise attack on the State of Israel.

Far from a coincidence, the date had been chosen to inflict...

Current economic conditions are nothing if not complex. Investment banks are disappearing and merging; massive insurance companies are floundering, trillions of dollars of mortgage debt is in question (and it's not even held by American companies). It's tempting to think that economics is just an inherently complicated discipline, and that...

A giant data brokerage firm exposes the records of more than 145,000 individuals, and 750 of those are confirmed victims of identity theft. A cell phone conglomerate admits that its system, used by Secret Service agents among millions of other people, was recently broken into. A respected senator discovers that...

Four years ago, in the summer of 2004, I decided to start writing a book. I knew it would take a while, and sure enough, it did. I was thrilled when I finally could hold a real copy in my hands a few weeks ago. The respective Battles of Spellcheck,...

It is certainly a depressing endeavor to read the business section of the newspaper these days. With the economy in truly serious trouble and so many other problems globally, it's hard to imagine how we'll ever get out of the hole we're in. Sitting in the heart of Silicon Valley,...

If I were an average American today, I might be worrying about the stock market reaching frightening lows. I might be worrying about the wildfires burning all across Northern California where I live. I might be worrying about the fact that I'll soon be without health insurance once more. I...

I learned recently that a book is being written. Rumor has it that the book will be a tell-all account of the origins of the company that TIME recently placed head-to-head with Google and Apple as one of the possible rulers of what it dubs "the new internet." The company...

As far as I'm concerned, the Government owes me a tax refund. It's not because I overpaid my taxes this year. It's because for the second time in my life, I've been forced to hand over money for something that wasn't my fault at all. In the process, I've learned...

A response to Glenn Beck's "Tax-free hypocrisy from higher education" on CNN.com

There's an industry out there, and it's making money hand over fist while you're barely able to cover your mounting credit card debt.

It's an industry where it's not uncommon for companies to make upwards of four...

I've watched a number of the debates now, both Democratic and Republican. As with so many things, the quality has gone down as the quantity has gone up. The notion of a real debate taking place on national television seems about as realistic as the prospect of all of the...

It's no secret that the smooth inter-operation of software applications written by different people can be a powerful force in business. Just about every software company wants to have its own "platform" these days. Generally, making independently crafted programs communicate is a difficult task that requires careful planning, which usually...

Time recently came out with its annual list of "the world's most influential people:" the Time 100. Though I tend to read newspapers more than news magazines, I took a glance through the names. Sadly, what I found was another manifestation of an insulated editorial mindset that pervades many media...

It's all too obvious that the college admissions process is more competitive now than ever. Whether it is derived from one of the Korean preparatory schools recently profiled in The New York Times or Horace Mann, the magic formula for a degree stamped "Harvard" is an extremely valuable commodity, regardless...