Romney, Obama, the Economy and You

Election season is in full swing, a see-saw and 'bump' battle, ultimately resting on a few undecided voters in several key states. The dominant, opening agenda in the first Presidential debate was the Economy. Romney showed some spark after being on the ropes for the past month or two. Obama didn't counter with an effective argument, looking tired and listless. Advantage Romney. Return to the see-saw status.

In the weeks and months (and years) leading up to the big vote, I have been working with art director Minh Uong on a series of illustrations for the Economic View column of the weekend New York Times. I took a look back at them and most of the topics hold relevance today, affecting the policies in play and the decisions that will have to be made by the winning candidate.

There have been some rather weighty topics in the mix. Sometimes this can present an obvious visual solution, other times it takes a more nuanced approach, with a lot of back-and-forth, discussions over the phone and numerous tries to find the right balance. Minh is always great to work with.

I worked on this piece, for an article by Robert J. Schiller, 'Framing' Prevents Needed Stimulus. Laying off public employess in large numbers undercuts economic growth. Losing hundreds of thousands of public-sector employees to budget cuts has impacted the pace of the recovery.

Romney's 47%. OK, not really, but there is a huge discontented rabble out there and a lot of suffering. You can read the article 'Reviving Real Estate Requires Collective Action' by Robert J. Schiller here.

Romney presents the case that cutting taxes increases government revenue. This myth gets serious scrutiny in an article by Christina D. Romer. 'That Wishful Thinking About Tax Rates'.

Private equity has been squeezing profits from various corporations. What are the repercussions? Marc J. Leder is the head of Sun Capital, the company that Mitt Romney founded. He is also the campaign manager of Mitt Romney's presidential run. If elected, who will get the squeeze?

 

From Obama's side of the debate. Emerging from an financial crisis can be complicated and take a long time. For the article 'A Financial Crisis Needn't be a Noose' by Christina D. Romer.

And finally, medicare. Both parties may have more in common than their stances suggest.

Be sure to get out and vote!

Spring Glory

Inspired by the glorious morning, I decided to create this two-colour tribute to the season. Pardon my gushing, but I do love this time of year, even the rainy days. Don't get me wrong, winter is beautiful, but almost always overstays its welcome. This year has been spectacular, full of promise.

I have also been able to work on some great assignments as well. A recent piece for the New York Times. The cold reality of paying taxes also hits home, and my friendly little automaton is giving it up for the IRS.

 

And while we are still on the topic of spring, it's also a great time to tee off. Here's a recent full-page illo for Golf Digest.

TCOB

A busy fall session of business-related assignments. My piece about the lingering effects of a financial crisis ran in the Economic View section of Sunday's New York Times.

Assignments like these can be challenging. Economics-related articles can induce eye-glazing at the best of times. My job is to counteract that effect. When coupled with the disastrous results of the worldwide economic troubles, you have to resist the urge to go over the edge of the cliff. Although one of my sketches did just that.

Here's another piece for the same section, about charging fees for services that have been offered for free. Citibank suffered a huge backlash and ridicule after placing a $5 user fee on debit card usage.

Great to work with art director Minh Uong on these. 

Darwinomics

No, it's not the survival of the fittest analogy that springs to mind immediately. This piece for the New York Times Business Weekend section involves a more subtle interpretation of Darwin's writings.
What if we thought of the marketplace as adaptive, finding more efficient methods of wealth creation and distribution, and move beyond Adam Smith's 'invisible hand'
Food for thought. Makes for some good reading, you can see the article here. The article 'Darwin, the Market Whiz' is written by Robert H. Frank.
What a treat to draw Darwin! I worked with Minh Uong on this, sketches below.