David Friedman

During World War II, six or seven people would cram into a single car to save fuel and tires for the war effort. Families hoarded leftover cooking grease so factories could make glycerin, a chemical used in munitions. Coins were minted from iron so copper and nickel could be diverted to the military. Millions of Americans earmarked a portion of their meager paychecks to buy war bonds. Children held scrap aluminum drives and gave up their metal and plastic toys for the good of the country.

Sugar,… more

Every year, late February's warm, languid air and a sudden burst of flowers means the end of a Los Angeles winter and the start of baseball's spring training. The Dodgers trek to Florida, an odd, inconvenient remnant of their Brooklyn heritage, praying that they can build a championship roster in time for their April 2 season opener. In nearby Arizona, Disney's Angels dream of staying in a pennant race for a few weeks after having been utterly routed by last… more

For months the media has been full of troubling accounts about the intolerance spawned by Saudi Arabian-funded religious schools, or "madrassas."

"Government curriculum," said human rights advocate Ali al Ahmed, executive director of the Saudi Institute, in a PBS broadcast after Sept. 11, "inspired what happened in New York."

Once dismissed as backward fringe elements, Islam's anti-Western and intemperate anti-Semitic strains are now taken very seriously indeed. Free market advocates like economist Martin Feldstein and columnist Charles Krauthammer call for oil… more

Even as the Enron and Global Crossing bankruptcies further expose the spectacular waste fostered by the 1990s' Information Age bubble, an army of lobbyists in Washington is fighting to secure government support for broadband communications, the "next wave" of the "new economy." Subsidizing an ultra-fast Internet, it's said, will energize everything, from the stock market to our democracy itself. But if the unbalanced, profligate economy of the '90s has taught us anything, it should be the danger of granting any… more

My neighborhood has three gourmet coffee shops. Each offers its own blend of ironic artwork, freebie newspapers thick with movie and personal ads, and exotic beans from distant locales. Day in and day out, all are busy with healthy, literate patrons with one thing in common. None seem to work for a living.

Over the past several months, I thought I'd been seeing an awful lot of apparently talented people doing virtually nothing. My friends also noted the burgeoning numbers of the fashionably non-working. "It's odd," one said.… more

Reeling From Big-Gain Quackery

Americans, as Los Angeles' robust Jewelry District so vividly illustrates, are optimists. They buy beautiful rings and pendants in hopes of lasting love.

Immigrant diamond cutters and silversmiths come to our country from just about everywhere in search of a better life. I think most would agree such aspirations are part of our strength. We are not a nation where centuries-old class distinctions, parentage, race, gender or property are thought to limit personal achievement. A perfect home… more

First the good news: Unlike the last recession, Southern California is doing much better than most of the rest of the nation. Since 1995, the region had enjoyed one of the hottest economies in the world. The recession has slowed its sizzling growth, but once booming places like Silicon Valley, San Francisco, Portland, Phoenix and Atlanta are in far worse shape.

A recession "pain index" I recently compiled shows just how different the world is today from the early 1990s, when… more

Has American Life Really Changed Since Sept. 11?

My neighbor's son died on Christmas morning, 2001. He appeared out of nowhere one day last summer. Angry and sweating, he unloaded a yellow Ryder truck filled with all he had after a marriage of several years ended. In middle age, he was retreating to his childhood home.

We didn't get along at first. But as fall blended into winter, he would wander the neighborhood, often a little tipsy, looking for people to talk… more

No matter how interesting it can be to write for a living, at some moment the spin becomes insufferable. Sometimes it's just impossible to absorb yet another lament about the Florida vote, America's anti-terrorism policies, or blither about the "really really new" economy.

At such times I often turn to the stars. Despite the spoiling skyglow generated by our City of Lights, Los Angeles can often have surprisingly steady skies. Even a small telescope can reveal truly astounding celestial sights.

This December… more

As the Dow Jones industrial average peaked above 10,000 last week despite news of worsening consumer confidence and continuing job losses, the United States appears increasingly likely to return to the divisive politics of the 1990s' "jobless recovery." Then, extremely low interest rates drove money into stocks and brought about a largely paper economic recovery. Beyond Wall Street, jobs and wages stagnated. One result was a negative politics that even rejected a popular president fresh from a decisive military victory… more