The beating that the UAW took in the election at the Volkswagen (VW) plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee a month or so ago was nothing compared to the beating that unions took before and after that defeat. In the good old days of organized labor, it was "look for the union label." In these extremely trying times for them, it is look at the unions being labeled. In our opinion, this is bad for the American worker and the American economy. We'll explain why later in this blog. Let us begin, … [Read more...]
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Frank blogs regularly for the Huffington Post and writes occasional columns and articles for publications such as the International Business Times and The Economic Times of India.
Frank writes on a wide variety of topics that are critical to shaping the future of America and the American dream and to making the United States and the world a better place. These include: Business; education; poverty and inequality; politics and public policy; immigration; manufacturing; innovation; leadership; citizenship; and social commentary.
Frank’s most recent blogs are highlighted on this page. To read other blogs or articles by Frank, click on the categories or publications links on the left.
America’s New Poverty: The Poverty That Must Be Defeated
In this 50th anniversary year of the initiation of the War on Poverty (War), there has been much discussion about the war and its relative success and failure. There has been far too little attention paid, however, to America's new poverty. That is a poverty of compassion, a poverty of commitment, and a poverty of creativity. Before we examine the nature of those emerging dimensions of poverty, let's reflect on the history of the War on Poverty. On January 8, 1964, in his State of the … [Read more...]
Let’s Grow Wall Street and Main Street Together
In spite of a bumpy start in the financial markets in the first month of the New Year, we remain bullish on the potential for the growth of the economy at the macro and GDP level. We are bearish, however, on the potential for the growth of the economy overall at the micro or IEW level -- that's Individual Economic Well-being. For the American economy to truly recover in 2014, we need growth at both levels. We need to grow Wall Street and Main Street. And, that growth needs to be reciprocal … [Read more...]
Contrary to Popular Opinion: America Doing Well (Relatively) Economically and Competitively
President Barack Obama opened his State of the Union Address last night with a statement on the increasing strength of the American economy. He made a sound case by citing positive progress over the past year in a number of areas including job creation, American car sales, domestic oil production, the housing market and the stock market. There is only one problem. That is, in spite of the evidence, a number of American citizens may not share the president's perspective or assessment. In … [Read more...]
Word of the Year — Science: Fact vs. Fiction
In early December, Merriam Webster announced its selection of "science" as its word of the year for 2013. This choice stood in stark contrast to the selection of "selfie" announced in November by the Oxford University Press as its word for the year. When we first heard of the choice of "science" we were almost as enthused as we were dismayed by the choice of "selfie" in terms of what these apparently battling words of the year say about our times. Then, our "inner scientist" kicked in. We … [Read more...]
Modi will probably get a visa, but will he get a White House dinner invite? Quite unlikely
The arrest of Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade in New York, on December 12, for underpaying her former house maid and visa fraud may have overshadowed the longest-standing visa dispute between the United States and India. But in the wake of the current controversy, the Narendra Modi visa issue assumes even more significance. In fact, ever since the Gujarat chief minister was elevated by the Bharatiya Janata Party as its virtual "shadow Prime Minister" back in September, India watchers in the … [Read more...]
US-India Bilateral Relations Regress in 2013
At the beginning of 2013, even the most pessimistic analysts in New Delhi and Washington would not have predicted the depth to which the US-India relations have sunk now. The sorry state of ties at the moment reminds one of 1998, when the United States imposed sanctions against India, after New Delhi conducted nuclear tests defying the international nuclear regime. Unlike the nuclear test, which was a weighty policy decision made after a very careful consideration, the current impasse, which … [Read more...]
The Need to Build Virtuous Organizations
Over the past few years, various business publications and economists have cited the need for an economic virtuous cycle -- a condition in which positive results engender more positive results and help to grow the economy. As we approach the end of 2013, the economy should be moving strongly toward a virtuous cycle, because many large corporations have been, and are, reaping record profits. Instead, we are stuck in a variable cycle. That's because many of those corporations are doing little … [Read more...]
Saving Grace: Renewing the Promise of the American Dream
On December 4, Sotheby's sold "Saying Grace" -- one of Norman Rockwell's more famous paintings and "best loved scenes" -- at auction to an unidentified acquirer for $46 million. It is a sad sign of our times that this painting of "average" Americans bowing their heads in prayer before eating a meal in a restaurant can sell for such a stunning amount, while -- if the House gets its way on food stamp cuts -- there will be less food on the table for millions of our fellow citizens. We might … [Read more...]
Make 2014 the Year of Small Business
By all accounts, Small Business Saturday was a smashing success. Now, in order to kick the American economy into over drive, it's time to convert it from an annual event to a year-long one. That is why we are recommending making 2014 The Year of Small Business. We emphasized the importance of small business in turning the economy around in a blog titled, "Need to Start the Small Business Engines" that we posted early this year. In that blog, we drew upon reports from the Wells Fargo/Gallup … [Read more...]