John T. Reed’s news blog

I was a lieutenant in the US Army 6/68 to 6/72—82nd Airborne Division, ranger, and a tour in Vietnam. I was shocked at many of the low-rank troops—privates, spec 4s, corporals, buck sergeants. A sentence I used then was, “I did not know people that dumb existed.” .One example: most elite 82nd Airborne troops ate in the mess hall at the end of the month but ate at fast food places at the beginning of the month. Why? They got paid on the first of the month. .They also tended to buy stereos on pay day, then hock them with...

Wes Clark has an op-ed in today’s Wall Street Journal saying that Ukraine needs to do a D-Day invasion against Russian-occupied Ukraine. . When I was a freshman at West Point, Wes, then a junior, was my table commandant for a time. There were ten cadets to a table. The table commandant sat at the southern end of the table; other cadets in descending classes toward the other, north end. I thought he was movie-star handsome—not the only such cadet—and really smart. . He commanded the NATO Bosnia war which we won with just air power—a feat that armies and...

Theater, movies, TV sitcoms, TV dramas ALL fit the same format: Act 1: introduce characters and protagonist and his or her compulsion Act 2: Protagonist encounters multiple obstacles to satisfying his or her compulsion culminating in the final seemingly insurmountable obstacle Act 3: Protagonist surmounts the insurmountable obstacle and achieves his compulsion . When this cliche sequence happens in an athletic contest, fans, and media swoon. The winning protagonist—Mahomes in the Superbowl case—is treated as super human. . Bunch of BS. If you wish to measure the virtues of Mahomes or any other QB, there are plenty of metrics that...

I just heard Tony Romo who broadcast the Supebowl in a rebroadcast..With :26 left in regulation and the game clock running, Romo said Mahomes should spike the ball to stop the block.. No. You do not do that until :18 if you have four downs. He threw a pass at :16. That stopped the clock. Most teams spike too early..You only spike the ball when you have more downs left than time to use them. It was 2nd and 7. With :26 left, you can start, but not finish, five plays that last :06 each assuming each such play itself...

China has deflation. I wrote a book on both inflation and deflation. I called deflation depression because Americans do not understand the word deflation.Are they simply opposites?.In part, yes. But not completely. In inflation, the purchasing power of the USD falls. In deflation, it rises. The best thing to own in the depression was cash, post office savings accounts, US Treasurys. Those are the WORST things to own in inflation..In inflation, it is great to OWE, not own, fixed-rate debt. It goes down in real value. In depression OWING USD-denominated debt crushes you financially..US pennies and nickels protect you from...