Like most people, I have started a daily journal several times during formative periods of my life. Sudden adversity, unexpected opportunities, or boredom with day to day banalities have all inspired me to put pen to paper. Like most people, life gets in the way and seems to inevitably abrogate any previous interest in the endeavor.

Until now….

Dust covered books sit at weird angles on my matching book cases. Marked up, highlighted and annotated throughout, disorganized and illegible notecards litter the pages. Highlighted and cross referenced e-books linger forgotten in the short term memory of my Kindle Paperwhite. Unread for months or years, without continual study and review this knowledge fades from memory as surely as the sun rises in the East.

I will be including these marginal notes (granted, of centrally important topics and ideas) in this blog. This will be a journal of books and treatises I have either read or intend to read in the foreseeable future. Topics will include and are largely limited to political and economic history, financial markets and business, biographies and current events. This is not for my own aggrandizement but for the exploration of varied topics and continual questioning of commonly held views. I will avoid confirmation bias and subject my worldview to the criticism of others. Full credit will be given when needed and full disclosures will be provided. Discussion and dissent are welcome and encouraged. Respect is requisite.

Unaccustomed as I am to talk about myself, I am a young professional working in the financial services industry. I have a business and financial background and thereby dabble in nonfiction works of history, economics, business and politics. I am a skeptic of power, regardless of from where it emanates.

This blog is my attempt at discussions of a smoke-filled backroom nature full of half used cigars and empty scotch glasses. Inquire. Question. Research. Refine.

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