Good news, Canadians – the president does not think you are scary. You have become a bit of a “bogeyman,” however, in regard to the growing din over U.S. healthcare reform. And a Canadian style government-run system wouldn’t fly in the United States.

When it comes to healthcare reform, people believe some very strange things. Or so says Cliff Asness, founder of AQR Capital Management. Today, the seven biggest “myths” are exposed…

Did Goldman Sachs get too greedy this time? If so, the gravy train could be coming to an end…

For two decades, the Japanese economy has been dead as a doornail – in spite of hefty Japanese consumer savings. Why?

If there’s anyone worth listening to in Washington these days, it’s Paul Volcker. So why is the great man nowhere to be found? When it comes to the ups and downs of the economy, there is only one man who can claim to have seen it all – Paul Volcker. At six-foot-seven, Volcker towers over all other policy makers in both the literal and figurative sense.

Does “stimulus” really work? Does quantitative easing work? The historical record suggests not. So what brought us out of the Great Depression? The answer might surprise, even though it shouldn’t…  A grumpy President Obama says that the $787 billion dollar stimulus package “has worked as intended.”

If you’ll forgive the indulgence, today I’d like to respond to an interesting – and personal – reader inquiry. The question may not have been intended as personal, but it wound up inspiring a fair bit of reflection. Here it is:

Some of China’s stockpiling may well have been due to speculative excess, rather than any rational plan on the ground. That realization played a role in the market carnage seen this week.

The most profitable business in the world isn’t big oil. It’s organized crime. And the global financial crisis has unleashed more opportunity for the kings of crime than ever before…