Most Recent Posts
Real Deductions for an Imaginary Beach House
Originally Published on forbes.com on October 7th, 2011 ______________________________________ In the good old days, you could pretty much deduct any interest that you...
Occupy Wall Street – Let’s Have a Student Loan Bailout – But We Need to March on the Colleges
So here is my proposal. Anyone with a student loan should be allowed to have an appraisal done on the monetary economic value of whatever credential they have received. They should have their debt written down to that amount or alternatively be permitted to surrender the credential in exchange for total debt forgiveness. The woman with the degree in Minority Womens studies would still have the education just not the credential and the associated debt.
We have laws to protect unsophisticated investors from certain types of investments. In order to invest in them you have to show you have net worth to spare. There should be similar protections for unsophisticated 18-year-olds being encouraged to go into debt that they will have no prospect of getting out of. Will this mean that all the degrees in Gender Studies might end up being gobbled up by the children of the wealthy? Maybe. So let’s require the professors to publish the reading lists since that’s where most of the real education will come from. Should we stick the banks with this bailout or the taxpayers? No. It should be funded by an excise tax on university endowments. There is probably a lot to blame “Wall Street” for, but this part of the mess, I don’t think so.
Occupy Wall Street – The Unfinished Business of 19th Century Reform
Originally Published on forbes.com on October 5th, 2011 ______________________________________ I have two consuming intellectual interests. Title 26 of the United...
Declaration of the Occupation of New York City – Thomas Jefferson is Tough Act to Follow
Originally published on forbes.com on October 5, 2011. Picture is of me at the Women's Rights Museum in Seneca Falls. T-shirt was a gift from my friend Tom Cahill....
Occupy Wall Street – Forget Carried Interest – Here is How to Really Stick it to the Hedge Funds
Originally Published on forbes.com on October 4th, 2011 ______________________________________ I have done a couple of “Occupy Wall Street” posts and I think I will...
Chief Counsel Warning -Watch the Detail on Form K-1
Originally Published on forbes.com on October 3rd, 2011 ______________________________________ I review a lot of partnership K-1s that my firm prepares. I also see a...
CPA to Tax Policy Wonks – Can You at Least Look at Our Numbers ?
Originally Published on forbes.com on October 2nd, 2011 ______________________________________ Also, as you know, it’s very hard if not impossible to figure out a...
Occupy Wall Street – Veteran Activist Speaks Out
Originally Published on forbes.com on October 2nd, 2011 ______________________________________ To the extent I have been an activist, it has been in the company of Tom...
Occupy Wall Street In Boston
Originally published on forbes.com on September 30,2011. Some of my Occupy coverage on forbes.com was close to breaking. There was a lag between the heavy social...
Occupy Wall Street in Boston
Originally Published on forbes.com on September 30th, 2011 ______________________________________ I just received this press release. So it looks like I may not have...