Daily Archives: July 17, 2005

The risk of rising U.S. debt

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foreign debt.gifAwhile back, this post made the point that, rather than focusing on CNOOC’s bid to overpay for a second tier U.S. oil & gas company such as Unocal, the real issue that needs to be addressed is that American society is currently impoverishing future generations of Americans by accumulating more debt.
Picking up on that issue, James D. Hamilton provides this insightful analysis that explains why the issue is not the amount of debt that foreigners hold, but the low U.S. saving rate. As noted earlier, the effect of Unocal’s bid on Chevron and Unocal is a much narrower issue.

More on the criminal investigation of Milberg Weiss

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Milberg Weiss2.jpgThis New York Sunday Times article provides the most detailed report to date on the three-year investigation into whether prominent class action securities plaintiffs lawyers — William Lerach and Melvin I. Weiss — and their former New York law firm — Milberg Weiss Bershad & Schulman — paid illegal kickbacks to class representatives in connection with various class action cases over the years. Earlier posts on the matter are here and here.

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The Robertsons of Houston

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crobertson.jpgThe late Corbin Robertson, Sr. was a bright business mind when he came to Texas as a young man from Minnesota in the 1940’s. After marrying Wilhelmina Cullen — the daughter of famous Houston wildcatter Hugh Roy Cullen — Mr. Robertson ultimately became the brains behind the investment of the Cullen Family oil and gas fortune, a role that Richard Rainwater successfully emulated decades later for Ft. Worth’s Bass Family. Houston benefitted greatly from Mr. Robertson’s business acumen as both the Cullen and Robertson families became among Houston’s greatest philanthropists, contributing huge amounts to institutions such as the University of Houston and the Texas Medical Center.

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