Dana Barfield

There was the speech and then there are the numbers... ... (more)

Will Dropouts Save America?

The following article articulates a significant portion of a conversation taking place in the Barfield home over the last several years. "What are we getting for our money?", I ask, as our daughter contemplates college, and the future of employment, college debt and income production. By MICHAEL ELLSBERG Michael Ellsberg is the author of “The Education of Millionaires: It’s Not What You Think and It’s Not Too Late.” http://www.ellsberg.com/ The following article appeared in various publications over the last week. I typed these words on a computer designed by Apple, co-founded by the... (more)

Effect of High Taxes

What do California, New York, Illinois, Michigan, and New Jersey have in common? Each is by a major body of water: Pacific Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, Lake Michigan, three Great Lakes, and the Atlantic Ocean. Each is a beautiful state with rivers, beaches, and wonderful outdoor resources. In the past, each was in the top 10 states in terms of manufactured output. You can gather from the title, that each is a high tax state. And finally, as reported in USA Today, each has lost a tremendous number of residents between 2009-2010. In order of highest resident losses: California -1,965,599 New Y... (more)

U.S. Economic Recovery: Obama Effect

In Tuesday’s Wall Street Journal the following graphic appears. In it, the IMF analyzes this period of “economic recovery” as compared to all other U.S. economic recoveries since World War Two. The dark green indicates the strongest recovery with the dark orange indicating the weakest recovery. What the data shows for (this) the recovery period from 2009-2011 is the strongest business and financial sector recovery of any previous recession. Moreover fixed investment in equipment and software is the strongest of any previous recession/recovery. The data further shows the weakest e... (more)

U.S. Economy: It’s No Longer Bush’s Fault…

Let’s say, just for argument sake, the recession that began in 2008 was the fault of the previous administration. After all, the entire U.S. security apparatus had to be altered under his watch as a result of 9/11. The prior head of the Fed either was clueless or ignorant about the volume of sub prime mortgages, and kept interest rates overly low. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were able to stave off Bush attempts to privatize them, and led the U.S. down the path to excessive toxic debt. Nevertheless, let’s say the recession was George Bush’s personal fault and failure (even though I... (more)