The Predicament

In The Predicament, Dartmouth- and Stanford-trained economist and futurist David L. Smith reveals how the present domestic economic, financial and political dysfunctions emerged after the relatively balanced and prosperous Eisenhower years. In foreign policy, the author vividly describes the fulfillment of President Eisenhower’s warnings of the “grave implications” of a military complex committed to the Orwellian nightmare of perpetual war. His unsparing analysis provides liberals with compelling rebuttals to extremist conservative memes and open-minded conservatives with convincing reasons to reconsider positions antithetical to their best interests. Demonstrating how rising inequality of wealth created the economic crisis of 2008-2009, Mr. Smith makes a compelling case for a radical change of direction to forestall further calamities; to restore the solvency, prosperity and contentment of the middle class; to relieve the plight of the poor. He also proposes a reversal of course in the disturbing and dangerous escalation of violence between Islam and the West, concluding with an appeal for de-escalation, reconciliation and peace between the two cultures. Identifying the root cause of the American Predicament as the hijacking of the democratic process by a rich and powerful elite, Mr. Smith proposes a completely new democratic political process, bypassing Big Money and television, to reorient government to the service of We The People. George Santayana once sagely observed, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” In writing The Predicament: How did it happen? How bad is it? The case for radical change now! the author intends to assist younger generations and conscience-driven older generations to remember the past, and thus commute the sentence. After a successful career in the investment arena in securities analysis, mergers and acquisitions, investment sales, culminating as president and CEO of a nation-wide NASD-member firm, David L. Smith dedicated 25 years to speaking and writing professionally on economic, financial and political topics. He is the author of the Cyclical Investing and David L. Smith's Cassandra Chronicles newsletter and the Cassandra Chronicles blog and is frequently quoted in the print and broadcast press.

In The Predicament, Dartmouth- and Stanford-trained economist and futurist David L. Smith reveals how the present domestic economic, financial and political dysfunctions emerged after the relatively balanced and prosperous Eisenhower years. In foreign policy, the author vividly describes the fulfillment of President Eisenhower’s warnings of the “grave implications” of “unwarranted influence” and “misplaced power” of a military complex committed to the Orwellian nightmare of perpetual war. His unsparing economic, financial and political analysis reveals "where the bodies are buried," providing liberals with compelling rebuttals to extremist conservative memes and open-minded conservatives with convincing reasons to reconsider positions contrary to their best interests. Such reconsideration is illustrated in the author’s personal Odyssey from William F. Buckley Jr. conservative in college, to reform-minded liberal during the course of a varied and engaging career as both participant in and insightful observer of the events of the past 50 years. Demonstrating how rising inequality of wealth created the economic, financial and social turmoil of 2008-2009, Mr. Smith makes a compelling case for a radical change of direction to forestall further calamities; to restore the solvency, prosperity and contentment of the middle class; to relieve the plight of the poor – in essence a liberal counter to the “Reagan Revolution.” He also proposes a reversal of course in the disturbing and dangerous escalation of violence between Islam and the West, concluding with an appeal for de-escalation and reconciliation and peace between the two cultures. Identifying the root cause of the American Predicament as the hijacking of the democratic process by a rich and powerful elite, in Chapter 10 Smith proposes a completely new democratic political process, bypassing Big Money and television, to reorient government to the service of We The People. George Santayana once sagely observed, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” In writing The Predicament: How did it happen? How bad is it? The case for radical change now! (the-predicament.com) the author intends to assist younger generations and conscience-driven older generations to remember the past, and thus commute the sentence. _________ Biography: After a successful career in the investment arena in securities analysis, mergers and acquisitions, investment sales, culminating as president and CEO of a nation-wide NASD-member firm, author David L. Smith dedicated 25 years to speaking and writing professionally on economic, financial and political topics. He is the author of the Cyclical Investing and David L. Smith's Cassandra Chronicles (cassandra-chronicles.com) newsletters and the Cassandra Chronicles blog and is frequently quoted in the print and broadcast press.

Author, Speaker, Economist, Futurist, Market Strategist Born and raised in Argentina, David Smith earned his bachelor's degree with honors in economics from Dartmouth College and his master’s degree in finance with distinction from the Stanford Graduate School of Business. His broad perspective on the world economy and financial markets was gained through a 35-year career in the financial arena, including securities analysis, mergers and acquisitions, national securities underwriting and as author of the Cyclical Investing economics/finance newsletter for 24 years and later David L. Smith’s Cassandra Chronicles blending economics, finance, history and politics. He discontinued both newsletters in 2008 to dedicate his full attention to writing books and his blog. He recently published "The Predicament -- How did it happen? How bad is it? The case for radical change now!" explaining how the present economic, financial and political dysfunctions emerged after the relatively balanced and prosperous Eisenhower years. In The Predicament, makes the case for a radical change of direction to avoid further economic, financial and social deterioration; to restore the solvency, prosperity and contentment of the middle class; and to relieve the plight of the poor. Identifying the root cause of the American Predicament as the hijacking of the democratic political process by a rich and powerful elite, David Smith proposes a completely new democratic political process to bypass Big Money and television to return the government to the service of We The People. His second book, soon to be released, titled The Egyptian Solution -- And Other Lessons of History to Get Us Out of This Mess draws on Lessons of History to provide specific solutions for the American Predicament. He is widely quoted in the print and broadcast press, including national magazines such as Money and Financial Planning, The Financial Times of London’s The Banker and newspapers including The Wall Street Journal Online, television, including CNBC, PBS and numerous local television and radio stations.