The democratic republic known as the United States of America is fragmenting. The storming of our U.S. Capitol by insurrectionists on January 6, 2021 highlighted elements and some of the consequences of this fragmentation. The January 6 Committee, in its series of eight hearings, which began on June 9, is providing new and important insights into what caused and who precipitated and contributed to that assault. Unfortunately, however, January 6 is only the tip of … [Read more...]
Articles
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.
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Runaway inflation is a global problem. It needs global solutions
The United States (US) is in the throes of debilitating inflation. From March 2021 to April 2022, the inflation rate in the US increased from 2.6% to 8.5%. The situation is no different in India, Europe and other parts of the world. Inflation in the US, the worst in four decades, is proving to be damaging for President Joe Biden, whose Democratic Party is projected to lose control of the House of Representatives and possibly the Senate in the November mid-terms. Recognising that … [Read more...]
Is Amazon Near Flood Stage?
In the 20th century, Amazon was known as a river in South America with numerous tributaries. It was and still is by far the largest river in the world in terms of the discharge of water. In this 21st century, another Amazon has become known as one of the largest businesses in the world. Amazon is a diversified enterprise with numerous components. In its 2021 annual report, Amazon states that it seeks to be “Earth’s most customer-centric company.” It defines its primary customer … [Read more...]
Free Speech and Disinformation: Democracy in the Crosshairs
If there ever was a misnomer, social media is it. When social media first came on the scene in 1997, it was supposed to be an electronic platform for bringing us closer together — a way for friends, family, and like minds to network. As it evolved, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and others were going to be the means for elevating our communications. In many instances it has achieved those ends. Unfortunately, in many instances it has not, and a segment of what transpires in the … [Read more...]
Inequality Abounds in America’s Conflated Economy
From March 2021 to March 2022, wages for the American worker grew by 5.6%. Juliana Kaplan and Madison Hoff of Business Insider state, “Over the past year, wages have been skyrocketing as employers try to staff up…” For the week ending March 19, jobless claims fell by 28,000 to 187,000. According to Matt Ott of the Associated Press (AP), that is “the lowest since September of 1969.” On April 12, AP business writers Paul Wiseman, Anne D’Innocenzio and Mae Anderson … [Read more...]
What the successful completion of the 2+2 Dialogue signifies
The 2+2 Dialogue between United States (US) secretary of state Antony Blinken and secretary of defense Lloyd J Austin and India’s defence minister Rajnath Singh and foreign minister S Jaishankar on April 11 provided a platform for the two countries to reaffirm the strength of their “partnership” at a time when the India-US relationship has been under pressure due to India’s neutral position on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The 2+2 Dialogue between United States (US) secretary of state … [Read more...]
America’s Crumbling Human Infrastructure
The Critical Shortage of Teachers, Truckers and Tradespeople. The first quarter of 2022, provided conflicting signals regarding the condition of employment in America. 678,000 new jobs were added in February according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). This far exceeded the expected job growth of around 400,000. Nonetheless, the BLS also reported that “The number of job openings was little changed at 11.3 million on the last business day of … [Read more...]
Entrepreneurs & Edupreneurs Creating Start-Up America
2021 was a trying year in the U.S. The COVID-19 pandemic and political polarization persisted. The economic divide between the wealthy and others widened. Inflation skyrocketed. One other thing that skyrocketed in 2021, which received far less media coverage, were business start-ups. Start-ups went up so much in comparison to past years that 2021 might be called the Year of the Business Start-up. The U.S. Census Bureau’s Business Formation Statistics showed that almost 5.4 million … [Read more...]
Russia’s misadventure: Will it herald a setback for populists and return of liberal democracy?
Nearly a month into his unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, the war does not seem to be going the way Vladimir Putin envisioned when he ordered Russian troops to march into that neighboring country. While it is too early to term the invasion a quagmire, the fierce resistance Ukrainian soldiers and citizens have offered to date has prevented Russia from achieving its military and political objectives. In the run-up to the war, there were two major assumptions in the … [Read more...]
Can Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine become a Pivot Point for Uniting America?
On January 6, 2020 a secessionist mob invaded the U.S. Capitol and unsuccessfully tried to overthrow a free and fair election. That should have been a pivot point for concerned Americans of all stripes to unite and put their country first instead of their party. Sadly, it was not. On, February 24, 2022 Russia invaded Ukraine in a to-date unsuccessful attempt to overthrow the legitimate democratic government of that nation. Unexpectedly, that outrageous act caused Americans … [Read more...]