Mind Over Money

We have a game we play when we head back home for a visit. How long before my mother starts railing against the immigrants? Personally, I don’t know what the fuss is all about. Of course, my job is not in danger due to these outsiders. I’m not bothered by Spanish exit signs in Wal [...]

Augusta National Golf Club accepted its first African American member in 1990. Here we are, 22 years later, and there are still no female members. I’m a terrible golfer. I only play occasionally, and it’s never pretty. I don’t actually consider golf a sport — riding around in a cart while stopping at intervals to [...]

I don’t like guns. My father had an old shotgun he kept in the closet, unloaded of course. He was a country boy who never took to hunting, so I had no experience with firearms and the sport surrounding their use. Two husbands, no hunters. When I married Ken, he had a small handgun. He [...]

Our annual CFA Forecast Dinner is always a delightful event: good food, good dinner companions, and good discussion about the economy and financial markets. This year was no exception. Kathleen Hays, popular Bloomberg radio host, was our moderator. The panel consisted of Kenneth Taubes of Pioneer Investment Management, Mark Freeman of Westwood Holdings Group, and [...]

Davy Jones died. I know that may not mean much to you, but he was an integral part of my growing up years. It was the Monkees. It was the transition to the 70s, and I was just a kid watching each Saturday morning as that zany foursome sang and schticked their way through a [...]

Mississippi is in the middle of a conversion from a two-party system to a one-party system. Currently, all but one statewide office is occupied by a Republican. The citizens of Mississippi went to the polls, and this was their decision. Democracy in action. Apparently, “all but one” is not enough. Now, the Republican House is [...]

I grew up on the Coast of Mississippi — before the casinos. Ingall’s Shipbuilding anchored the industrial business in that part of the country, but there was little else. Tourism was important to the area, but it was small-time tourism: souvenir shops, sno-cone shacks, and seafood restaurants. The people of the Coast are an eclectic [...]

So, I wondered how much my average or effective tax rate was. All this talk of Gov. Mitt Romney’s millions and his low tax rate of 14 percent made me pull out my tax returns from the last two years. We have a good income, better than most in the state, but we’re not even [...]

Turn off your television, and look out the window. When it comes to television and print media, pessimism rules the day. Natural disasters, political scandals, and gloomy economic forecasts make for good media play. Rubbernecking is the ultimate spectator sport, as we flock to the source of the sordid, sad, and ugly. Technology allows us [...]

Mississippi is a paradox. On the one hand, our history is littered with the horrors of racial strife. On the other hand, we really are the hospitality state, welcoming all kinds to our fair country. We talk bad about illegal immigrants, then invite them in for coffee. We sing about Jesus on Sunday, while we [...]