Fresh Prose...
"Grant that we may never forget that our common life depends on each other's toil." Book of Common Prayer
On being pruned
To be deemed non-essential is like being pruned. It hurts, no doubt about it.
Take back your life
The act of creating regimen within regimen provides a sense of control in a time when life is anything but.
Dear country
Bear with me. I am drinking red wine. But I want to tell you a story. But first know, I love you very much. In the background is a TV documentary on the trials and triumph of the US space program. I was ten years old when Apollo launched and Neil and Buzz put feet on...
Do the right thing
Photo by Nina Strehl on Unsplash Searching for a single smoking gun to explain the financial crisis is a fool’s errand. So many hands, so many set-ups, so many agendas--combined with massive movements of capital from all parts of the world--puts this crisis in the...
The human toll
Photo by Tom Pumford on Unsplash The horrible news spread quickly, thanks to morning radio. I was preparing to take my daughter to the orthodontist when someone reached me with the news that our acting CFO, David Kellerman, was found dead from an apparent suicide. The...
2 hope
Photo by Vaory Photography on Unsplash I see you through the window through the rain outside on the sidewalk shifting from one foot to the other hesitant to knock. God dropped you off this morning, didn’t he? And you’ve never been here before (in my...
Political capture
Photo by Sabrina Mazzeo on Unsplash No book that deals with the GSEs is complete without mention of the steel-knuckled political charades Freddie and Fannie played when they were at the zenith of their powers. The supporting actors and thickening plot with its...
Are we happy yet?
Photo by Everton Vila on Unsplash Imagine you’ve just landed from Mars and you picked up a newspaper or created a Twitter account to learn about your new locale. You’d see passing mention of hurricanes, floods, violence, environmental degradation, trade wars and...
Skin in the game
For a safe mortgage system, every participant needs to have capital at risk, or what the industry calls skin in the game. When house prices began rising a lot in 2004—double digit annual growth in certain fast-growing markets—lenders pressed the GSEs to relax the...
A plea for those in harm’s way
Universe-making God who set the boundary of the seas and Jesus, Son of Man, who walked on them have mercy on the millions of people, animals and things caught in the path of destructive storms and floods. As Florence unleashed her trillion gallons on North...