
The short answer is ‘no.’ At least, that is my opinion. We all agree that STEM courses (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) are vital to the world we live in. But today’s emphasis on those four disciplines presumes knowledge about the future that is impossible to know.
by Sydney Williams25 Sep 2015, 11:07 AM PST0

On December 17, 2008, in response to the financial crisis, the FOMC (Federal Open Market Committee) lowered the Fed Funds rate to essentially zero. (The rate, which had been coming down for more than a year, had been 2% in September.) When Fed Funds were set at zero, the financial crisis, which had reached its perihelion in late September-early October, was already on the mend. The recession, which had begun in December 2007, was two-thirds past. Nevertheless, Fed Funds have been kept at this unprecedentedly low level for almost seven years. The Federal Reserve has become entrapped in its own snare, with no clear exit.
by Sydney Williams8 Sep 2015, 6:45 AM PST0

First off, I have been wrong about Donald Trump. A few months ago, I thought that by now he would be gone. In terms of political ambitions, I have thought him a clown – not stupid, but neither funny nor nice. Now I fear he is a demagogue.
by Sydney Williams27 Aug 2015, 4:55 AM PST0

“Death to America!” scream Iranians who have just negotiated an agreement that has won them invaluable concessions from Americans, which includes the releasing of over $100 billion in assets that had been frozen. That deal assures that in fifteen years
by Sydney Williams30 Jul 2015, 9:55 AM PST0

By all accounts, the Pope is a man who cares deeply for the world’s poor. But he is less sound when it comes to matters of history and economics.
by Sydney Williams16 Jul 2015, 9:36 AM PST0

When asked how he planned to finance his retirement, a wag once responded he would rely on three sources – Social Security, law suits and the lottery. His answer was an expression of hope over experience. While it was bittersweet, his answer also reflected a cultural shift – a growing dependency and a belief that riches can come with no effort.
by Sydney Williams29 May 2015, 10:43 AM PST0

Nero, allegedly, fiddled while Rome burned. Today we have a Commander in Chief who seems equally unhinged from reality. In a world fraught with Islamic terrorists and muscle-flexing autocratic nations, the enemy on which he is focused is climate change.
by Sydney Williams26 May 2015, 11:35 AM PST0

In the spring of 1918, the influenza that would become pandemic was first detected. It was initially known as “three-day-fever.” Its effects were such that it caused few deaths. Nobody paid it much heed. That fall, however, it reappeared in
by Sydney Williams20 Sep 2014, 1:09 PM PST0

The only difference between acts of barbarianism shown by Islamic extremists today and those exhibited by German and Japanese soldiers seventy-five years ago is that today we see them in real time. What the Germans did to the Jews in
by Sydney Williams4 Sep 2014, 1:47 PM PST0

The claim by David Brat, an economics professor at Virginia’s Randolph-Macon College, that his victory in last Tuesday’s primary was because God intervened on his behalf, is obviously spurious. He won because 36,000 of the 65,000 people (13% of the
by Sydney Williams17 Jun 2014, 12:04 PM PST0

Thousands of graduation speeches have been held or will be held during ceremonies at the nation’s 7,000 colleges and universities this spring. Some of those speeches delivered were inspiring, most were repetitions of trite sentiments, and a few were simply
by Sydney Williams4 Jun 2014, 9:21 AM PST0

Historically, there were two ways to get rich: hard work and inheritance, apart from hitting the jackpot or robbing a bank of course. Now, in a world of ethically challenged public servants, there is another way – public service. Inheritance,
by Sydney Williams27 May 2014, 10:22 AM PST0

Intolerance of tolerance is certainly no virtue. But bowing to pressure from the intolerant is cowardly. That is what Brandeis President Frederick Lawrence displayed when he revoked the honorary degree the university had planned to bestow on Ayaan Hirsi Ali
by Sydney Williams14 Apr 2014, 10:24 AM PST0

Hornswoggle is a word I have always liked. It is a verb meaning to bamboozle or to dupe. While its origin is considered “unknown,” the word is generally thought to be native to America. The word is said to date
by Sydney Williams7 Apr 2014, 11:58 AM PST0

Mothers are revealing. Most people my age lived in households where the father worked and mothers raised the children. Fathers were seen during evenings and on weekends, sometimes to punish their offspring for misdeeds performed during the day. Children were
by Sydney Williams17 Mar 2014, 9:48 PM PST0

Three people died in riots in Caracas last Thursday. Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro predictably blamed the deaths on “neofascists financed by the United States.” Nothing was said about empty shelves in stores, food shortages, or an inability to buy a
by Sydney Williams18 Feb 2014, 3:36 PM PST0

Having just finished Willa Cather’s evocative novel Death Comes to the Archbishop, I have been thinking of how much the world has changed, not just in the past ten years, but over the past two hundred years, since the start
by Sydney Williams15 Feb 2014, 2:19 PM PST0

In a vivid example of the pot calling the kettle black, California Democrat Henry Waxman said he would resign at the end of this year because of the “extremism of the Tea Party Republicans.” There are few in Congress whose
by Sydney Williams4 Feb 2014, 1:09 PM PST0

We live in a in a pluralistic country. New York State, with a population of about 19.6 million people, encompasses people from across the political, economic, social, and religious spectrums. Governor Cuomo acted like an elitist and nativist when he
by Sydney Williams27 Jan 2014, 3:16 PM PST0

As Americans, we are all equal, yet unequal. Most world leaders preach equality but practice inequality. Exhibit number one is our president. Everybody realizes the presidency is taxing and the job demands periods of relaxation. Even so, the office is
by Sydney Williams8 Jan 2014, 3:03 PM PST0

While I am not a particularly religious person, I do know that Christmas is first and foremost a religious holiday. Next to Easter, it is the most important holiday on the Christian calendar – marking, as it does, the birth
by Sydney Williams24 Dec 2013, 10:08 AM PST0

Kim Jong-un’s killing of his uncle is a big deal. It is not as though Jang Song-thaek was one of the “White Hats” of North Korea. (There are none that we know of.) He was a notorious thug, a brother-in-law
by Sydney Williams20 Dec 2013, 4:13 PM PST0

As America was entering World War I, Joe Young and Sam Lewis wrote a song that became a huge hit at the time: “How ‘Ya Gonna Keep ‘Em Down on the Farm (After They’ve Seen Paree).” Something similar happened in
by Sydney Williams18 Dec 2013, 4:30 PM PST0

“Politics is the art of the possible,” so said Otto von Bismarck. He should know. He helped unify Germany, which had been a collection of states, into a single German empire in 1871. He served as Germany’s first chancellor, and
by Sydney Williams18 Dec 2013, 4:23 PM PST0

The Month That Was November, 2013 “November comes And November goes, With the last red berries And the first white snows.” Clyde Watson – (1947- ) Author of children’s stories The month debuted with Typhoon
by Sydney Williams2 Dec 2013, 8:07 PM PST0