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Charles Ortel

Charles Ortel became a lapsed member of the silent majority in August 2007 when he began alerting the public to dangers posed by structural changes in the global economy. Since then, Mr. Ortel has appeared in the print, radio and television media with increasing frequency. Brass Tacks will attempt to offer nonpartisan perspective on factors contributing to the unresolved, burgeoning crisis and discuss potential solutions. Mr. Ortel graduated from Horace Mann School, Yale College and Harvard Business School.

Articles by Charles Ortel

CHARLES ORTEL: Help Obama concentrate on faltering economy, rising foreign threats

On Wednesday, the White House reached out on social media, asking for questions and comments concerning the best way forward for America.

January 21, 2015

CHARLES ORTEL: Under Obama, a perilous state of the union

The State of the Union is perilous, as you can tell for yourself by considering the information available online published by the Obama administration itself.

January 18, 2015

CHARLES ORTEL: Jihad v. cartoons: Obama administration remains on wrong side

What is it about cartoon images and radical Islamist jihad that makes it so difficult for educated men and women in the Obama administration to embrace informed reasoning, make sensible choices, and defend the best interests of America and of our long-standing allies?

January 15, 2015

CHARLES ORTEL: President Obama is not prepared or inclined to avert the looming global meltdown

As restorative pageantry unfolds in Paris following an horrific week, tectonic plates that underlie global commerce and international security continue clashing. This new year in which we commemorate the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II is already fraught with peril.

January 11, 2015

CHARLES ORTEL: Will Egypt show America how to win the war on radical Islamic jihadism?

The biggest story not yet covered appropriately in mainstream media plays out now in Egypt, where President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi attacks the root causes of continuing conflict between certain adherents of Islam and freedom-loving secularists, in defiance of President Obama and of fierce critics.

January 8, 2015

CHARLES ORTEL: Brazil stock equities risky bargain even at low market value

Each January, investors start scouring for bargains, and, at first blush, the beaten-down Brazilian stock market seems to offer some fertile hunting ground.

January 5, 2015

CHARLES ORTEL: Putin’s ominous moves along Obama’s road to global war, economic collapse in 2015

That was quick. Less than one week following latest warnings that President Obama is instigating conflict with Russia replete with profound dangers for America and for our dwindling coterie of allies, Vladimir Putin is hardly bowing to accentuating pressures.

December 30, 2014

CHARLES ORTEL: As Obama vacations, Indonesia has the advantage

As working people close out another year in economic purgatory, President Obama defiantly promotes tales of progress on numerous fronts that fall apart under inspection — the American economy is not out of danger, the gulf between the wealthy and the dispossessed is not narrowing, and global peace is certainly far from hand.

December 28, 2014

CHARLES ORTEL: Obama’s current and future Russia quandary

The American economy surges, while stock market indices soar higher, and the U.S. dollar remains the currency of choice for global investors. Not so fast.

December 24, 2014

CHARLES ORTEL: Technology won’t solve our debt mess

After creepy elements inside North Korea suddenly humbled a Hollywood powerhouse via cyberspace, Americans should think more clearly about how technology will affect our highly leveraged nation in the months to come.

December 21, 2014

CHARLES ORTEL: Under Obama, economic growth withers

When stock market investors demand dividend yields that are substantially higher than interest rates, they are screaming out a message the wider public should note well — financial sophisticates do not believe the economic-growth story that the Obama administration so ham-handedly still tries to sell.

December 14, 2014

CHARLES ORTEL: Obama has no right to impose ‘regime change’ upon Israel

Weeks away from reaping consequences of the past November election bloodbath, President Obama and tone-deaf partisans signal they may do what they can to tip power away from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in national elections that will be held inside Israel on March 17, 2015.

December 10, 2014

CHARLES ORTEL: Obama jobs report relies on media to hoodwink Americans

The latest exercise in deceit and in journalistic malpractice began Friday morning when the Bureau of Labor Statistics trumpeted unexpected "success" on the challenging employment front — in theory, 321,000 jobs were created during November, a number far above analysts' expectations

December 7, 2014

CHARLES ORTEL: Obama administration standing may be sullied in a Cairo trial

The stage is set for one of the last acts defining President Obama's foreign policy legacy — with the opening of the long awaited trial against Egypt's ousted leader Mohamed Morsi Thursday morning in Cairo, soon the world may learn in stark detail just how duplicitous the Obama administration has been in pretending to work assiduously against radical jihadist Islamists since Jan. 20, 2009.

December 3, 2014

CHARLES ORTEL: American dream crushed by big government

Gigantic, centrally administered organizations do more harm than good to households that struggle to contend with threats posed by the rapid pace of technological change.

November 30, 2014

CHARLES ORTEL: Examining the economic delusions of Mad King Barack the Last

The current occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. needs care little about "those who did not vote" and even less concerning foreign citizens who persistently break American immigration and employment laws.

November 23, 2014

CHARLES ORTEL: Will Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping humiliate Obama and humble America?

Russia and China might enable and facilitate the overthrow of Mideast monarchs and other backward-looking states, all of which offer rich economic prizes that seem ripe for the plucking.

November 20, 2014

CHARLES ORTEL: For new investors, is Twitter a treat or a turkey?

Unscathed after Halloween in Manhattan's West Village, and starting to make preparations for Thanksgiving, I cannot stop thinking about twinkling Twitter. Are common shares of this 2006 vintage startup delectable candy or spoiled fowl?

November 16, 2014

CHARLES ORTEL: Obama in China: Lame duck is served

How things have changed since that heady evening in November 2008, when President-elect Barack Obama beamed hope globally.

November 12, 2014

CHARLES ORTEL: Facebook owes investors a little detail

A friend once hid an elephant in plain sight for months. Are Mark Zuckerberg, management, venture capitalists, investment bankers, stock market analysts, traders and securities' market regulators all concealing a different kind of animal underneath the facade presented in Facebook's public financial disclosures?

November 9, 2014

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