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...
America’s Forthcoming Foreign Policy CrisisLoading the Elevenlabs Text to Speech AudioNative Player… “We’ve got a health crisis and an economic crisis. The only thing missing is a foreign policy crisis.” – Robert Kagan, Washington Post, March 27, 2020. Not so fast, Mr. Kagan. All the
The First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution precludes the government from abridging Americans’ right to speak freely. By guaranteeing a broadly protected – and uniquely American – freedom of speech, the Constitution provides an essential base upon which America’s democratic society has thrived through the
The Federalism Wars: The Covid-19 BattleLoading the Elevenlabs Text to Speech AudioNative Player… America’s Constitution divides sovereignty between the Federal government and State governments. It creates a power-sharing system – a federation with both centralized and fractionalized powers. Like any joint undertaking, success requires a
One email, once per week. Unsubscribe anytime.
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.
