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. 

  • TLR earlier this week engaged in the following Q&A: Q:           I understand, Mr. Realist, that you recently repeated that “Iran and Israel have been dancing with war for decades.” Could you explain what you meant? REALIST:           Since the rise to power of Ayatollah Khomeini...

  • “Political extremists are dictating America’s agenda dialogue and, ultimately, government policy.” – The Lonely Realist Congress is the beating heart of American democracy. “Democracy is based on the notion that a people should be self-governing and that the representatives of the people should be held...

  • “Fear and greed cut two ways.” – The Lonely Realist The predictions Cassandra made two years ago were prescient. She said that the Fed’s successful management of America’s economy has proven it to be “a highly capable economic general [whose] creative policies avoided depression following...

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More by TLR

An Interview with Cassandra

You may have read about Cassandra – the young (and, I should add, quite beautiful) priestess who the Greek god Apollo granted the power to accurately prophesize the future …, and then cursed so that her prophesies would not be believed.  TLR spoke with her

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The Fracturing US Dollar

Goldman Sachs issued a stern warning on July 28, 2020: There now are “[r]eal concerns around the longevity of the US Dollar as a reserve currency,” noting that “expanded balance sheets and [America’s] vast money creation spur debasement fears.” Are those fears warranted? Is the

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The Times They Are A’Changin’*

The Times They Are A’Changin’ Most of us have not lived through a “force majeure” event: a hot war … or a horrific natural disaster … or an epidemic … yet alone a pandemic. There have been at least three cataclysmic economic Crashes over the

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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.