The Lonely Realist is a bridge across the partisan gap, raising questions and making pointed observations about politics, economics, international relations and the markets. Its goal is to raise awareness and inspire thought on controversial issues that impact America and Americans, highlighting issues that should be, but rarely are, the focus of bipartisan discussion.
In seeking to promote dialogue, The Lonely Realist is not an advocate of conclusions or remedies. To the extent perceived biases leak into these pages, as they sometimes do, please ignore them. They are inadvertent missteps.
“History doesn’t repeat itself, but it often rhymes.” – attributed to Mark TwainLoading the Elevenlabs Text to Speech AudioNative Player... TLR earlier this month addressed three possible outcomes for the Iran War. The first is the one sought by America and its allies: America and Israel...
“Wars are messy, their consequences unpredictable.” – The Lonely Realist “The implications of developments in the Middle East for the US economy are uncertain.” – Jerome Powell (March 18, 2026) Loading the Elevenlabs Text to Speech AudioNative Player... History teaches that wars are disruptive. They...
“It’s about energy.” – The Lonely RealistLoading the Elevenlabs Text to Speech AudioNative Player... Today’s TLR is a brief follow-up to this past Thursday’s “The Iran War”: One month ago, writing about whether the US Dollar might surrender its reserve currency status, TLR noted that...
“Is the Iran War a terrible mistake or a brilliant geopolitical gambit?” – The Lonely RealistLoading the Elevenlabs Text to Speech AudioNative Player... Thomas Paine in 1776 said: “These are the times that try men’s souls.” Wars do that. What happens to Iran and the...
Foggy EconomicsLoading the Elevenlabs Text to Speech AudioNative Player… Where are those neat crystal ball predictions that students of economics used to rely on? Why is it that so many of today’s analysts, historians and financial industry pundits – including the Federal Reserve – are
Elbridge Gerry’s SalamanderLoading the Elevenlabs Text to Speech AudioNative Player… Did you ever wonder where the term “gerrymander” comes from? (It means the redrawing of electoral maps in order to obtain a partisan advantage.) Its derivation is a combination of Elbridge Gerry’s last name (he
The Free Speech CycleLoading the Elevenlabs Text to Speech AudioNative Player… The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution (together with the Fourteenth Amendment) provides that neither Congress nor the States can pass a law that abridges Americans’ right to speak freely. It therefore guarantees a
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William (Bill) Natbony is The Lonely Realist, its author and originator. The opinions expressed in TLR are solely Bill’s opinions, have not been edited or reviewed, and do not reflect the views or opinions or any other person.
