The onset of a pandemic is exposing a lot of vulnerability in our society and economy. The stock market has been trashed in a couple of weeks. The bond market, usually a safe haven in times when the market is being wrecked has revealed how much it is over extended on near junk bond corporate …
Author Archives: Ed Pirie
Thinking About the Stock Market
I have been watching the run-up in the U.S. stock market very closely this fall and early winter. I was rather puzzled by it as a driver for such a run-up, namely earnings growth, did not seem to be there, or was not being presented. It seemed to me like some over blown speculation that …
Still Trying to Understand 2016 (And Beyond)
I suggest you read the above opinion piece from today’s “New York Times.” I have been trying for the last three plus years to understand the 2016 election, and also the changes occurring in the American electorate. I have bounced around a lot of opinion pieces and articles, even books, but I think this piece …
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Impeachment Does Overturn the Results of an Election – That’s the Intention of Impeachment
The Founding Fathers worried about a president like President Trump. They wrote about their fears, and they wrote about when impeachment would be a necessary remedy. Yes, it overturns the results of an election, and it has rarely been used in our history. We are at one of those times now when the acts of …
Got Some “Splaining” to Do
I was listening to “Vermont Edition” yesterday on VPR and the program was a panel response to the 3rd Democratic debates. The panel was comprised of a Dartmouth professor, a Middlebury professor, a Norwich professor, and Bob Kinzel from VPR. I picked up on a couple of points that resonated with me. One was made …
Baked Beans, Church Suppers, and a Pig in the Poke
My favorite season is upon us, the season of church suppers. Last night our church in Waits River had a Baked Bean and Ham Supper. If you like church suppers, this is one of the best, and I baked the beans. Yup, I did, and this is our church in Waits River in the picture. …
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What’s On My Reading Table
Yea, like I’m Bill Gates, and I am going to put out a summer reading list. Well, not exactly, and as you can imagine – “not exactly” is an understatement (that is, me being like Bill Gates). I am a great reader though, and I always have at least half a dozen books with bookmarks …
The Farm in Washington, Vermont
Sometime during World War II, my grandfather bought an old Vermont hill farm in the town of Washington. The farm was typical of the farms in this part of Vermont, mostly hills, small fields, a couple of apple orchards, and lots of woods, about 600 acres all together. There were a couple of small barns, …
A Country Man’s Journal: Values Are Not Transactional
My cynicism and skepticism with the American political system are no secret. I do not hold back my thoughts or keep my beliefs a secret – I put them out there. This morning I listened to another politician, the current Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, walk away from things he said four years ago. I have …
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“Sweet Dreams and Flying Machines…”
Thank you James Taylor. You wrote an anthem for many of us (“Fire and Rain”). This past weekend, my high school class (1969 – Spaulding High School) celebrated our 50th reunion. Fifty years – where did they go, and why aren’t we all here? Both, hard questions, and no easy answers – life happened is about …
A Vermonter Writes - A Pathfinder 