E Pluribus Unum: A Conversation about the Past and the Future with Joseph, William III of England, Edmund Burk, Thomas Paine, and William McChesney Martin

King William III by an unknown artist, oil on canvas, c. 1690, 85.5 x 68.25 in, National Portrait Gallery, London. — Image by © Corbis

by John E. Charalambakis Ph.D., Chief Economist

I boarded the flight from Chicago to London. From the plane’s speakers I could clearly hear Tom Petty’s voice singing his song about “dancing in the zombie zoo”. “How appropriate”, I thought. “It seems that we have a zombie economy which dances around equities’ gains, paper/zombie assets, at a time when out-of-the-box solutions are needed that can revitalize the process of wealth creation which in turn will generate collateral assets.”  It is my deep belief that historically when economies face an impasse they need institutional surgery that can stimulate a rebirth.  However, like last year’s flight during the same period, I was about to become a witness to…

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