Dana Barfield

And the corollary is, be careful who you let align with you. In this day and age there is constant discussion and effort a bout partnerships, high performance teams, the team approach, and alliances. The rationale is one can accelerate or maintain one’s position more effectively by teaming up with others. While partnering with others has its benefits (at least in certain cases), it also has real draw backs. There is an old saying a bout a chain being “only as strong as its weakest link”. Anyone seeking a partnership of any kind needs to keep this wisdom in mind, especially regarding economic or investment decisions. This seems particularly relevant as it pertains to the European state of affairs. Over the decades, the French strategy has been to tie Germany into a network of relationships and commitments to keep its future inextrica bly linked to Europe's.1 Germany is... (more)

Financial Advisor Due Diligence (by Dana Barfield) Book Quotes

“You can spend two hours reading this book to make sure you hire the right kind of advisor, or risk spending a lifetime wondering how your net worth was destroyed.” - Craig Duhon, MD “This book is well written, concise, easily understood and very informative. Most physicians are happy when their patients select them by carefully evaluating their training, experience, and ethical considerations. I have watched many of my colleagues and friends seriously imperil their retirement life by not doing the same due diligence when selecting a financial adviser. To me this book is a must r... (more)

Finding an Advisor Who Really Works for You

Dallas, Texas—(Business Wire)—TBG Publishing LLC announced today the debut of Dana Barfield’s latest book: Financial Advisor Due Diligence: Seeing Through the Smoke and Mirrors. What Greg Smith revealed in his New York Times Op/Ed about Goldman Sachs and the financial advice business generally, Mr. Barfield does in specific, showing readers the clear ways “the interests of the client [are] sidelined” and subordinate to many financial firm’s priority of making money for themselves and their companies. More importantly, Barfield shows readers the steps necessary to distinguish betw... (more)

Western Civilization: Decline or Fall?

By Niall Ferguson As a freshman historian at Oxford back in 1982, I was required to read Edward Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. Ever since that first encounter with the greatest of all historians, I have pondered the question whether or not the modern West could succumb to degenerative tendencies similar to the ones described so vividly by Gibbon. My most recent book, Civilization: The West and the Rest attempts an answer to that question. The good news is that I do not believe that Western civilization is in some kind of gradual, inexorable decline. In my view, civi... (more)

European Union Economy Hard Numbers

Eurozone unemployment hits record. The biting austerity and debt crisis across the Euro-zone continued to hit hard in December, with unemployment coming in at a euro-era high of 10.4%, which was unchanged from revised November figures. At 22.9%, Spain clocked in with the greatest unemployment, followed by Greece and Lithuania. At the other end of the scale, Austria had a 4.1% rate, while Germany's jobless figures fell more than expected; the rate was 6.7%. Eurozone banks to tap ECB for even more money. In further evidence of the liquidity squeeze among eurozone banks, several of ... (more)