Insights

Fourth Quarter 2007|Jim Williams| In a world where there is a highly precise mechanism to allocated scarce resources among competing uses. It's called price.

Third Quarter 2007|Jim Williams| It's difficult to turn on the television or open a newspaper lately without seeing a headline about the subprime mortgage "crisis," and how it is enveloping more and more of America.

Second Quarter 2007|Jim Williams| For those of us who feel that we've been blessed in some way, thoughts turn to how we might share these blessings. A big hurdle to fulfilling these intentions is the challenge in finding a suitable and deserving charitable organization. I've found such a place.

First Quarter 2007|Jim Williams| March 30, 2007 - The date that witnessed a remarkable convergence in the ethics landscape for providers of financial planning services.

Fourth Quarter 2006|Jim Williams| I recently came across an interesting article in The New Yorker magazine written by Malcolm Gladwell, the author of “The Tipping Point” and “Blink." A central point of Gladwell’s article is the distinction between puzzles and mysteries. So, what do we care whether Enron was a puzzle or a mystery? It has to do with what lessons might be learned. Mostly what seems to have been learned is based on the model of puzzle, not of a mystery. What else might we learn?

Third Quarter 2006|Jim Williams| Buried in the various arcane and esoteric provisions of tthe Pension Protection Act of 2006 is a provision that allows the exclusion of up to $100,000 of income for contribution of IRA assets to charity for contributions made in 2006 and 2007, provided the donor has reached age 70½ (and other requirements are met).