1957

As I write this the House of Representatives has passed a balanced-budget amendment. Yesterday as I opened the mail I received a package from MartinAnderson describing his statement on the amendment before the subcommittee on the Constitution of the House Judiciary Committee. He started by describing his review of his file on the subject, a three foot long file he had been accumulating since the late seventies. "What struck me was the timelessness of the arguments on both sides. For the better part of two decades the arguments for and against have not changed. The only thing that is different is the size of our national debt." Marty concluded, "I can't think of anything that would do more to ensure the future economic prosperity of this country than to add a few simple, clear words to our Constitution that would mandate fiscal responsibility."

A. Robert Towbin made our column not long ago after he was named manager of the Russian/American Enterprise Fund and was armed with $340 million of U.S. tax money to bankroll small private businesses in Russia. The Wall Street Journal reports that 15 months into the effort only 2.4 percent of its assets have been committed. Of 8oo applications received so far, Bob has rejected more than 500, many for not having coherent business plans or a sufficient grasp of business fundamentals. He says the fund might lend $50 million over the next eight months but then hesitates, "The more I work on this enterprise the less sure I am of my projections." The first loan was to a small skirt factory which had previously been paying a Russian bank interest of 222 percent per year. Bob's fund replaced that ruble financing with a three-year dollar loan at 14-percent interest. Fascinating business.

Thomas A. Keller HI, along with his partners from the Minneapolis office of O'Connor & Hannan, have joined Moss & Barnett. Good luck with the new association.

The honorable John D.Austin is the president-elect of the Warren County (N.Y.) Bar Association. He has served as Warren County Family Court judge sincejune of 1984 and lives in Queensbury. For all of you who would like to understand what Mr. Pataki is going to do with the great state of New York, particularly upstate, I'll bet John has some opinions.

Prof. Paul Brockelman has been appointed to the newly established chair in religious studies at the University of New Hampshire. The dean of the college recognized Paul saying, "He has been a forceful advocate for religious studies and has carried the conversation concerning important emerging religious issues facing our world to a wide community beyond the University of New Hampshire."

Finally and sadly, I must report that Dr. Grover Fairish, an eminent cardiologist and former chief of medicine and chief of cardiology at Cape Cod Hospital, died at his home. I am sure Annie would like to hear from old friends. She lives in Hyannis.

I need your thoughts and news. Please drop me a line.

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