I wish I could say that this holiday season has felt as cheerful as usual. But the emptiness in New York’s streets and stores both on December 24th and 26th merely amplified the depressing retail statistics. Eager sales assistants hawked their marked-down wares with an enthusiasm bordering on desperation. “I can hold any item for […]

“What recession?” shouted the front page of the New York Post last week, beside a picture of a blonde Swedish countess, Marie Douglas-David. Douglas-David, a former banker at Lazard, is divorcing her husband of six years, George David, former CEO of United Technologies and worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
She is reportedly refusing to accept […]

It began with the names of corporate victims who had lived high on debt, such as Viacom CEO Sumner Redstone, casino king Sheldon Adelson and Lehman president Joe Gregory. They lost houses, planes or boats worth millions. Who knew they financed their mansions with debt?
Now it’s our turn. Friday’s unveiling of Bernie Madoff’s alleged $50 […]

The mass hysteria surrounding Bernard Madoff’s alleged $50 billion ponzi scheme just leaves me with one question. When are we going to stop talking about Madoff’s “victims” or “foolish investors” and instead ask investors to take responsibility for their own actions? Madoff’s scheme was alluring. The guy was low-key and likeable; he […]

So, just when I’d hoped Sarah Palin would disappear from public consciousness, it seems we can’t get rid of the former Republican Vice Presidential candidate. She’s everywhere and so too is the ongoing controversy over her ultra-expensive Hollywood style “make-over”. This weekend New York Times revealed details of the $165,000 the Republican party had spent […]

Just when I’d hoped Sarah Palin would disappear from public consciousness, it seems we can’t get rid of the former Republican vice-presidential candidate. She’s everywhere and so, too, is the controversy over her ultra-expensive Hollywood-style “makeover”. This weekend, the New York Times revealed details of the $165,000 the Republican party had spent on three stylists, […]

On the eve of Thanksgiving, just as I was about to go on TV to deliver a light-hearted spoof about what life would be like for Barack Obama without his BlackBerry, the screens filled with the terrible footage of the attacks on Mumbai. While we watched the gruesome spectacle, ticker-tape warnings at the bottom of […]