I’ve long been fascinated with Argentina, which was once one of the richest countries in the world. Argentina: An Economic Chronicle. How One of the Richest Countries in the World Lost Its Wealth is the memoir of Vito Tanzi, who was a staff member at the International Monetary Fund who worked on Argentine issues in… [Read More]
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Antigua and Barbuda: Annie John
The Caribbean islands of Antigua and Barbuda were British colonies until 1981. Jamaica Kincaid’s novel Annie John in 1985, although it originally appeared as a series of short stories in The New Yorker. Annie John is a coming of age story about a girl who lives on Antigua. The exact time is never specified, but… [Read More]
Andorra
Andorra: A Novel is not set in the real Andorra, which is disappointing. It’s set in a fictionalized version of it that takes some liberties with geography. The real Andorra is a land-locked country situated between Spain and France. It has 77,000 people who live in its capital, Andorra La Vella, or in the surrounding… [Read More]
Day Trading May Be for Dummies, But That Doesn’t Make It Right for You
The leading criticism of Day Trading for Dummies is that I discourage people from day trading. That’s intentional. Day trading is not for everyone. There are people who day trade successfully, who enjoy it and make money at it. They are few and far between, however. Most people who take up day trading lose many…. [Read More]
On Irish Immigration and Slavery
Periodically, social media blows up with stories about how the Irish were slaves, too. There’s some truth to that story; the English sent many Irish people to the American colonies as convict labor. In other cases, people were conscripted because of debt, and some people just wanted to try something new and agreed to work… [Read More]
