Dear William,

And now a word from someone I wish was actually in the Obama Administration, Joe Stiglitz. Contrary to common knowledge the government is not stacked with socialist ideologues looking to take over the country. In fact, it has made a point to deny access to those practical few like Mr. Stiglitz whose policy proposals even closely relate to the Keynesian or demandside based mechanisms that previously alleviated the nation from the Great Depression providing the framework that served us so well until Reagan began the dismantling that has once again culminated in our current . Prior to the crisis Stiglitz, a Nobel prizing economist, wrote "The Three Trillion Dollar War" a real account of the true costs of war and an important reference for those now so concerned with our escalating national debt His most recent book "Freefall" identifies the flawed perspectives and incentives that lead to the 'Great Recession' and how failure to deal with them will prolong the d...

In a continual effort to highlight the individuals that enlighten my thinking I bring you George Soros. Soros needs no introduction for those even remotely concerned with finance and it is a shame that policy makers failed to appreciate the value of his warnings regarding market fundamentalism and general critique of financial market regulation. His life's story, writings, philanthropy and continual work and perspective at 80 are incredible and worth studying. Please do wiki his remarkable life and see for yourself. There is so much that he has written and lectured it is hard to know where to start. His philosophical and investment philosophy of reflexivity and open society will be increasingly valuable and his endowment of CEU with an entire department will no doubt continue its development. I will continue to follow everything happening at the Open Society Institute, www.soros.org, where you can find podcasts of his 5 part lecture highlighting the concept and meaning of ...

Jeremy Rifkin is the President of the Foundation for Economic Trends( www.foet.org ). "The foundation examines the economic, social, environmental, and cultural impacts of new technology introduced into the global economy." His most recent book The Empathic Civilization: The Race to Global Consciiousness in a World in Crisis draws conclusions from studies that suggest that we are not the naturally aggressive and self interested species we thought we were. But that there is a direct correlation between the historical rise of civilization and the development of human empathy. Just when I had begun to give up on empathy Jeremy Rifkin offers hope for its return. Agreeing with his premise and argument especially in light of events this summer in Iran and the response to the earthquake in Haiti. Cynicially, I fear it is a bit premature at least in America where we do not have the political will or progressive leadership to adjust to a changing world. It is possible in a cou...