Settling Estates in France
top of page
![](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/bf0924_2ab4150f72844147841e1de25b61ffeb~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_250,h_250,fp_0.50_0.50,q_30,blur_30,enc_auto/bf0924_2ab4150f72844147841e1de25b61ffeb~mv2.jpg)
![Settling Estates in France](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/bf0924_2ab4150f72844147841e1de25b61ffeb~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_506,h_380,fp_0.50_0.50,q_90,enc_auto/bf0924_2ab4150f72844147841e1de25b61ffeb~mv2.jpg)
Two of my distant French cousins died and I ended up being the heir of one estate and settling the other in the absence of a will...
![](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/bf0924_d70bb2a686c94e3ab73632b82e4127cc~mv2.webp)
![Saving Ukraine](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/bf0924_d70bb2a686c94e3ab73632b82e4127cc~mv2.webp)
- Jun 3
- 6 min
Saving Ukraine
In 2022, I joined a group of ex-US Treasury officials to advise the Ukraine
government on key issues in international finance.
![](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/bf0924_260cc2df5c9243d092a52a292ab40cee~mv2.webp)
![Myanmar Update June 2024](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/bf0924_260cc2df5c9243d092a52a292ab40cee~mv2.webp)
- Jun 1
- 6 min
Myanmar Update June 2024
There is only bad news in this update. The military junta started conscripting men for the army, plunging the country into chaos.
![Update on 21 May 2024: Yes, Elizabeth, banking needs to be boring again!](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/bf0924_2961d39f11104f5eb7b6cb11bbe8d283~mv2.png/v1/fill/w_506,h_380,fp_0.50_0.50,q_95,enc_auto/bf0924_2961d39f11104f5eb7b6cb11bbe8d283~mv2.png)
- May 21
- 3 min
Update on 21 May 2024: Yes, Elizabeth, banking needs to be boring again!
A few weeks ago, I stumbled across an ad from PNC Bank, perhaps embedded in a Google search. It featured the President of PNC Bank...
![](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/bf0924_6496e6980ee74e398574a6209acbedc5~mv2.jpeg/v1/fill/w_250,h_250,fp_0.50_0.50,q_30,blur_30,enc_auto/bf0924_6496e6980ee74e398574a6209acbedc5~mv2.jpeg)
![Stopping the Rich from Getting Richer](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/bf0924_6496e6980ee74e398574a6209acbedc5~mv2.jpeg/v1/fill/w_506,h_380,fp_0.50_0.50,q_90,enc_auto/bf0924_6496e6980ee74e398574a6209acbedc5~mv2.jpeg)
- Apr 17
- 6 min
Stopping the Rich from Getting Richer
The essay in The Atlantic proposes global wealth cap, resonating with my 2016 message to the President of Brookings on wealth inequality.
![We Think the Peace Corps Needs to be Fixed](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/bf0924_c6c0342c559b4ac1b6979981256f8a43~mv2.png/v1/fill/w_506,h_380,fp_0.50_0.50,q_95,enc_auto/bf0924_c6c0342c559b4ac1b6979981256f8a43~mv2.png)
- Apr 6
- 2 min
We Think the Peace Corps Needs to be Fixed
Kevin Quigley and I drafted a 3,000-word essay last summer on "The Future of the Peace Corps". A short op-ed version has just been posted on
![](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/bf0924_9fa0302d94f9409bab454601ff5946b9~mv2.jpeg/v1/fill/w_250,h_250,fp_0.50_0.50,q_30,blur_30,enc_auto/bf0924_9fa0302d94f9409bab454601ff5946b9~mv2.jpeg)
![Apologizing for My Absence](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/bf0924_9fa0302d94f9409bab454601ff5946b9~mv2.jpeg/v1/fill/w_506,h_380,fp_0.50_0.50,q_90,enc_auto/bf0924_9fa0302d94f9409bab454601ff5946b9~mv2.jpeg)
- Nov 10, 2023
- 3 min
Apologizing for My Absence
No new posts for more than two months because of my crazy life of travel and writing. I’m working on some topics of above-average interest.
![](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/bf0924_4ca80a5e26a743728afcf681126aa5bb~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_250,h_250,fp_0.50_0.50,q_30,blur_30,enc_auto/bf0924_4ca80a5e26a743728afcf681126aa5bb~mv2.jpg)
![The Termessos Phenomenon](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/bf0924_4ca80a5e26a743728afcf681126aa5bb~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_506,h_380,fp_0.50_0.50,q_90,enc_auto/bf0924_4ca80a5e26a743728afcf681126aa5bb~mv2.jpg)
- Sep 7, 2023
- 3 min
The Termessos Phenomenon
Termessos is a city in Turkey that held off an attack by Alexander the Great in 333 BC. This is a story about historical preservation.
![](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/bf0924_01b8016f7edf40b889e92e4125e4154f~mv2.webp)
![How to fix the World Bank--in 1981](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/bf0924_01b8016f7edf40b889e92e4125e4154f~mv2.webp)
- Aug 16, 2023
- 1 min
How to fix the World Bank--in 1981
In 1981, I had been working in the US Treasury Department for more than five years on issues related to the roles of the IMF and World Bank.
![](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/bf0924_f7f0923ad2854fbca767febb20453467~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_250,h_250,fp_0.50_0.50,q_30,blur_30,enc_auto/bf0924_f7f0923ad2854fbca767febb20453467~mv2.jpg)
![Jimmy Brown and the Toothpick](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/bf0924_f7f0923ad2854fbca767febb20453467~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_506,h_380,fp_0.50_0.50,q_90,enc_auto/bf0924_f7f0923ad2854fbca767febb20453467~mv2.jpg)
- Jul 25, 2023
- 2 min
Jimmy Brown and the Toothpick
Here is a favorite story from my youth. I told it to a friend in a conversation last week and he urged me to write it up and post it.
![](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/bf0924_522ec4e85093483489702960e17a2e57~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_250,h_250,fp_0.50_0.50,q_30,blur_30,enc_auto/bf0924_522ec4e85093483489702960e17a2e57~mv2.jpg)
![Spring Meetings of the IMF and World Bank](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/bf0924_522ec4e85093483489702960e17a2e57~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_506,h_380,fp_0.50_0.50,q_90,enc_auto/bf0924_522ec4e85093483489702960e17a2e57~mv2.jpg)
- Apr 10, 2023
- 7 min
Spring Meetings of the IMF and World Bank
The problems facing the world today seem endless and intractable. Don’t expect any breakthroughs at the IMF/World Bank meetings this week.
![](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/bf0924_a363b3407ae24e8d965294c0049ce12d~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_250,h_250,fp_0.50_0.50,q_30,blur_30,enc_auto/bf0924_a363b3407ae24e8d965294c0049ce12d~mv2.jpg)
![Yes, Elizabeth, banking needs to be boring again!](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/bf0924_a363b3407ae24e8d965294c0049ce12d~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_506,h_380,fp_0.50_0.50,q_90,enc_auto/bf0924_a363b3407ae24e8d965294c0049ce12d~mv2.jpg)
- Apr 9, 2023
- 2 min
Yes, Elizabeth, banking needs to be boring again!
Last Oct, the Financial Times published my Letter to the Editor suggesting that banking needs to be boring again. Now Senator Warren agrees.
![Corporate Social Responsibility is a Rip-off](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/bf0924_ecead0e5eca04d32b1e9881821cdba27~mv2.png/v1/fill/w_506,h_380,fp_0.50_0.50,q_95,enc_auto/bf0924_ecead0e5eca04d32b1e9881821cdba27~mv2.png)
- Mar 13, 2023
- 4 min
Corporate Social Responsibility is a Rip-off
Here’s why “corporate social responsibility”, often simply CSR, is a reflection of a
broken political/economic system.
![](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/bf0924_8a593e5e5b394dd3a6362c0763f99b7c~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_250,h_250,fp_0.50_0.50,q_30,blur_30,enc_auto/bf0924_8a593e5e5b394dd3a6362c0763f99b7c~mv2.jpg)
![Get Ready for Central Bank Digital Currencies](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/bf0924_8a593e5e5b394dd3a6362c0763f99b7c~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_506,h_380,fp_0.50_0.50,q_90,enc_auto/bf0924_8a593e5e5b394dd3a6362c0763f99b7c~mv2.jpg)
- Feb 23, 2023
- 5 min
Get Ready for Central Bank Digital Currencies
If you came across references to Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC), did you wonder if it is like cryptocurrency? Good CBDCs are very diff
![Universal Basic Income is Not a Crazy Idea](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/bf0924_d3728b4002a54bc8991089bffa55e602~mv2.png/v1/fill/w_506,h_380,fp_0.50_0.50,q_95,enc_auto/bf0924_d3728b4002a54bc8991089bffa55e602~mv2.png)
- Feb 7, 2023
- 4 min
Universal Basic Income is Not a Crazy Idea
Universal Basic Income sounds crazy but it has been tested and might be adopted in the USA before the end of this century.
![](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/bf0924_d65ef01ba92840b280f4151cef7d12a3~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_250,h_250,fp_0.50_0.50,q_30,blur_30,enc_auto/bf0924_d65ef01ba92840b280f4151cef7d12a3~mv2.jpg)
![Yes. My Great-Grandfather Was Sultan Hamid II’s Doctor](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/bf0924_d65ef01ba92840b280f4151cef7d12a3~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_506,h_380,fp_0.50_0.50,q_90,enc_auto/bf0924_d65ef01ba92840b280f4151cef7d12a3~mv2.jpg)
- Feb 1, 2023
- 2 min
Yes. My Great-Grandfather Was Sultan Hamid II’s Doctor
During my one-week visit to Istanbul, I met two Turkish history professors who are experts on the Ottoman Empire. I have hard evidence now.
![](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/bf0924_ba5f7af91264441d9443f79d52fed5ab~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_250,h_250,fp_0.50_0.50,q_30,blur_30,enc_auto/bf0924_ba5f7af91264441d9443f79d52fed5ab~mv2.jpg)
![My Great-Grandfather, Doctor to the Sultan of Turkey?](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/bf0924_ba5f7af91264441d9443f79d52fed5ab~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_506,h_380,fp_0.50_0.50,q_90,enc_auto/bf0924_ba5f7af91264441d9443f79d52fed5ab~mv2.jpg)
- Jan 4, 2023
- 2 min
My Great-Grandfather, Doctor to the Sultan of Turkey?
The father of my paternal grandfather, Alexis SORLIN-D’ORIGNY, lived in Constantinople and died there in 1884. But what was he doing there?
![](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/bf0924_2ee84006979b4146bed0568a8bf27bda~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_250,h_250,fp_0.50_0.50,q_30,blur_30,enc_auto/bf0924_2ee84006979b4146bed0568a8bf27bda~mv2.jpg)
![Urban Youth Unemployment: A Problem Getting BIGGER](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/bf0924_2ee84006979b4146bed0568a8bf27bda~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_506,h_380,fp_0.50_0.50,q_90,enc_auto/bf0924_2ee84006979b4146bed0568a8bf27bda~mv2.jpg)
- Dec 3, 2022
- 5 min
Urban Youth Unemployment: A Problem Getting BIGGER
Youth unemployment is rising in countries at all income levels. If the trend continues, it could become seriously socially destabilizing.
![Japan’s Shrinking Population](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/bf0924_f9abd77a5b6442c9a7e4f4609d1fd1c9~mv2.png/v1/fill/w_506,h_380,fp_0.50_0.50,q_95,enc_auto/bf0924_f9abd77a5b6442c9a7e4f4609d1fd1c9~mv2.png)
- Nov 29, 2022
- 4 min
Japan’s Shrinking Population
Japan’s population is shrinking, but this is not a catastrophe as portrayed in many news reports and commentaries.
![](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/bf0924_0d8f9dc82caa4a1d8b1495c971184c48~mv2.jpeg/v1/fill/w_250,h_250,fp_0.50_0.50,q_30,blur_30,enc_auto/bf0924_0d8f9dc82caa4a1d8b1495c971184c48~mv2.jpeg)
![Myanmar Update November 2022](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/bf0924_0d8f9dc82caa4a1d8b1495c971184c48~mv2.jpeg/v1/fill/w_506,h_380,fp_0.50_0.50,q_90,enc_auto/bf0924_0d8f9dc82caa4a1d8b1495c971184c48~mv2.jpeg)
- Nov 13, 2022
- 4 min
Myanmar Update November 2022
There is good news about Parami U, but the Mess in Myanmar has gotten messier.
bottom of page