Articles Archive - Page 91 of 156 - Pittsburgh Quarterly

The core problems with central bankers, which have led directly to the catastrophes of the Tech Bust, the Financial Crisis, the pathetically weak recovery from the Great Recession of 2008-09, and the near-destruction of the asset management business, are: groupthink, arising out of the fact that every central banker in the world went to the …

Squeezing out the Investment Experts Read More »

Events

The Frick Pittsburgh Opens “Undressed” with Gala

by PQ Staff

The Frick Pittsburgh marked the opening of “Undressed: A History of Fashion in Underwear” with a gala held on the evening of October 19. The sold-out “Undressed” gala provided four hundred guests the opportunity to experience the blockbuster exhibition before it opened to the public on Saturday, October 21. Gala co-chairs were Ina Gumberg, Peggy …

The Frick Pittsburgh Opens “Undressed” with Gala Read More »

Creative Capital

The Fed and Friends

by Greg Curtis

We are talking about the traumatizing events that rocked the asset management business, to say nothing of the world, beginning in 2008, a calamity brought to us courtesy of the world’s central bankers. I’ve discussed elsewhere the bizarre strategies of the U.S. Fed and its various doppelgängen at other central banks around the world. But …

The Fed and Friends Read More »

Events

Washington & Jefferson College Inaugurates Knapp as 13th President

by PQ Staff

Washington & Jefferson College inaugurated John C. Knapp, Ph.D., on Oct. 19, 2017 as the institution’s thirteenth president. The ceremony was held at Olin Fine Arts Center on the W&J College campus. Dr. Knapp began his appointment at W&J on Aug. 1, 2017, following the retirement of former W&J President Dr. Tori Haring-Smith in June. …

Washington & Jefferson College Inaugurates Knapp as 13th President Read More »

Events

Big Brothers Big Sisters’ ILLUMINATION Ignites the Senses

by PQ Staff

Big Brothers Big Sisters’ ILLUMINATION ignited the senses: guests reveled in the multi-sensory environment of light, sound and taste held at LUXE Creative Studio TWO on the evening of October 7. ILLUMINATION raised $324,109 for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Pittsburgh. The evening sparkled with designer cocktails, delectable bites and an expansive silent auction. …

Big Brothers Big Sisters’ ILLUMINATION Ignites the Senses Read More »

PQ Poem

Miscalculations

by Milena Nigam

I. Through my in-laws’ breakfast window in the country, the nuthatches roll and bounce and shake spiny winter brambles. Their breasts puffed round as if to fit in the hand of a child. I scrape rings of hardened milk from my coffee mug while I confuse the birds for chickadees and search for spring. II. …

Miscalculations Read More »

Creative Capital

Investing in a Rigged Market

by Greg Curtis

The asset management business as we know it today got started in the mid-19th century. The impetus for investment management firms separate from banks arose out of the awkward fact that banks often fail, while asset management firms hardly ever do. According to Nigel Edward Morecroft, who has studied the history of asset management, firms …

Investing in a Rigged Market Read More »

Creative Capital

To Experts: a Few Words of Wisdom

by Greg Curtis

“I would rather be governed by the first 2,000 names in the Boston phone book than by the Harvard faculty.” –William F. Buckley I began this series of posts by focusing on the annoyance ordinary people experience when they are constantly being told what to do by an ever-proliferating series of experts in almost every field …

To Experts: a Few Words of Wisdom Read More »

Nature

Pittsburgh Quarterly Readers’ Top Garden Photos

by PQ Staff

We asked our readers and the Pittsburgh community to submit photos of their gorgeous gardens and unique backyards. The results are in! Below is a selection of our favorites. Fox Chapel Golf Club’s Tennis Bed The Tennis Bed at the Fox Chapel Golf Club borders the front lawn and tennis courts, providing an explosion of …

Pittsburgh Quarterly Readers’ Top Garden Photos Read More »

Events

Meet Me at the Station Event Supports Community Revitalization

by PQ Staff

On the evening of September 30, the Wilkinsburg Train Station lit up with performances of many kinds to promote the revitalization of Wilkinsburg through the Wilkinsburg Community Development Corporation. “Meet Me at the Station” featured live performances by DEPAC Contortion and Attack Theater. Acclaimed artist, Norman Brown, live painted a rendering of the train station. …

Meet Me at the Station Event Supports Community Revitalization Read More »

Events

Allegheny Health Network Holds First-Ever Gala

by PQ Staff

The Allegheny Health Network “In the Spotlight” Gala was held on Wednesday, September 27 at Stage AE. The Network’s first-ever gala included a cocktail reception, dinner, and entertainment by The Elite Show Band. Emcee Bob Pompeani from KDKA-TV also led the nearly 500 guests through a brief program which highlighted AHN’s range of capabilities, as …

Allegheny Health Network Holds First-Ever Gala Read More »

Creative Capital

Back to the Middle Ages: A Century of “Expertism” in America

by Greg Curtis

The vast Federal regulatory apparatus that we know and love today got its start early in the 20th century under President Woodrow Wilson. Appropriately, Wilson was the only President in U.S. history to earn a PhD–he’d been president of Princeton University. At that time the world still believed that Great Britain was the globe’s most powerful …

Back to the Middle Ages: A Century of “Expertism” in America Read More »

Creative Capital

It was a Good Idea in Theory…

by Greg Curtis

Back in 1986 I launched a wealth management firm I conceitedly called “Greycourt”—it’s an anagram for my name. The firm met with modest success and in 1988 I incorporated it. I was probably the most hopeless, bumbling entrepreneur in the history of private enterprise, but somehow I’ve been with Greycourt for 31 years. For the …

It was a Good Idea in Theory… Read More »

Events

Diamond Horseshoe Ball Kicks Off Pittsburgh Opera’s season

by PQ Staff

Pittsburgh Opera officially started off its 2017-18 season with the Diamond Horseshoe Ball at the Omni William Penn on Friday, September 22. The gala was chaired by Dr. Vonda Wright, a renowned orthopedic surgeon with UPMC, and her husband Peter Taglianetti, a Stanley Cup winner with the Pittsburgh Penguins. Over 200 attendees enjoyed a cocktail …

Diamond Horseshoe Ball Kicks Off Pittsburgh Opera’s season Read More »

PQ Poem

Blue Bra

by Liane Ellison Norman

She was out in Cairo’s Tahrir Square saying no to the theft of her future, her blue bra cupping young breasts, exposed when soldiers bludgeoned her for defending hard-won revolution, ripped off her concealing abaya, stomped her slender chest. The bright blue bra shining out went viral, proclaimed that under the heavy layers men hide …

Blue Bra Read More »

Opinion

Don’t mess with Mel Messmer

by Bruce Zewe

My buddy Bill Downes and I were in good spirits. It was 1960, and after enjoying a light movie at the theater, we were strolling along California Avenue, the main street of Avalon, a small suburb north of Pittsburgh. It was a steamy, red-sky summer evening. We were chattering away, when we suddenly heard a …

Don’t mess with Mel Messmer Read More »

American Spirit

All Quiet on the Ohio—Just the Way He Likes It

by Kate Benz, photography by John Altdorfer

There’s a lot of sitting and waiting, on a day like this. The water in the Ohio is calm, running chocolate-brown like something out of Willy Wonka’s Factory. Clear, blue sky. A handful of cottony clouds skirting by. Nothing like the winter, when the damned ice ensures you can barely move. When you worry about …

All Quiet on the Ohio—Just the Way He Likes It Read More »

Events

Harvest Celebration Commemorates From Slavery to Freedom Garden

by PQ Staff

The Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy’s Harvest Celebration on Friday, September 15th commemorated the first season of plantings in the From Slavery to Freedom Garden at the Frick Environmental Center. The new, beautifully curated planting space is an extension of the From Slavery to Freedom Exhibit at the Heinz History Center. The garden highlights plants that sustained …

Harvest Celebration Commemorates From Slavery to Freedom Garden Read More »

Events

Rock ’N Soul Gala Remembers The Stanley Theatre

by PQ Staff

The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust’s 2017 Rock ‘n Soul Gala raised $458,000 and 450 seats were sold. Lead sponsor of this year’s Gala was KeyBank and Presenting Sponsor, UPMC and UPMC Health Plan. Gala guests enjoyed dinner on the Benedum stage with live entertainment by Vintage Trouble, followed by a dessert buffet reception and dancing to …

Rock ’N Soul Gala Remembers The Stanley Theatre Read More »

Events

The Children’s Institute of Pittsburgh Welcomes New President & CEO

by PQ Staff

On the evening of Thursday, September 14, the Board of Directors of The Children’s Institute of Pittsburgh hosted a community reception at The Pittsburgh Golf Club to introduce new President & CEO Wendy Pardee to community leaders and stakeholders. View the event photo gallery below. Wendy comes to Pittsburgh from Ohio, where she was president …

The Children’s Institute of Pittsburgh Welcomes New President & CEO Read More »

Creative Capital

Democracy, Populism, and the Tyranny of the Experts, Part XI

by Greg Curtis

As far as reigning in annoying experts is concerned, Congress and the judiciary are a bust, albeit with a few tiny bright spots on the distant horizon, twinkling away like dying lighthouses on a storm-tossed sea. But what about the Presidency? As noted earlier in this series, Donald Trump was the candidate of people who …

Democracy, Populism, and the Tyranny of the Experts, Part XI Read More »

Nature

Hornets’ Nest

by David Macpherson

Anyone looking at the back of my house would see it—the lamp just outside my back door stuffed with hornet accretions, the nest shaped like a rugby ball but twice the size. “What the hell is that?” “Hornet’s nest.” “Jesus.” Yes, what would Jesus do? Some days, I stand a few yards away, safe, and …

Hornets’ Nest Read More »