Forbes: If US isn’t careful there will be another crisis

Steve Forbes, chairman of Forbes Media and former presidential candidate, joined Boston Herald Radio's "Trending Now" yesterday to discuss his new book "Money" and the state of the American economy. Here are excerpts:

Q: How is this book going to help people?

A: It strips away all the confusing jargon of the high priests of the Federal Reserve and others in Washington. Money simply is a measure of value, the way, say, clocks measure time. Money makes it easy to do transactions ... but it must have a fixed value. Imagine what life would be like if we changed the number of minutes in an hour. It would be very confusing, but that's what they do with money. What we advocate in the book ... when we have unstable money you get the kind of crisis we have today. We should go to what we did for the first 180 years of our existence when we had the dollar linked to gold. If we had maintained the growth rates in the last 40 years, our economy today would be 50 percent larger than it is now.

Q: Why are they so resistant to doing this?

A: Because of the way they've been taught economics. It's also a power game. If they're not allowed to print money out of thin air, that means they have to exercise more restraint. They have to be more honest with people about the cost of things. If you're in politics, who wants that?

Q: You warn in your book that if we don't change we're heading for another economic disaster.

A: If they don't know what they're doing, it's like doctors in the days of old who would bleed patients. These folks today are guilty of economic malpractice and as a result, it's just a matter of time until they lurch into another crisis.

Q: Do you think things would have changed if Mitt Romney was president?

A: I think it would have been a very positive change. In 2016 we have a lot of exciting candidates who are going to come up with a lot of Reaganesque positive platforms to run on ... I think we're going to have a very healthy debate going in 2016, which will be good for the country and the world.

Q: Do you see yourself entering politics again?

A: My role now is that of an agitator. I'll get my exercise another way.

Listen to the complete interview at bostonherald.com.

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Trial starts for ex-hedge fund owner's brother

NEW YORK — An insider trading trial is set to start in New York for the brother of an imprisoned one-time billionaire hedge fund founder.

Rengan Rajaratnam goes on trial Tuesday, three years after his brother was convicted in Manhattan federal court on insider trading charges. The brother, Raj Rajaratnam, is serving an 11-year prison sentence. The Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear further appeals of his case.

Rengan Rajaratnam has pleaded not guilty to securities fraud charges. The charges against him are an extension of charges brought against his brother and two dozen other defendants who pleaded guilty or were convicted at trial. Prosecutors made extensive use of wiretaps in an insider trading case for the first time during the federal probe, which began over six years ago.

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Hate Cape traffic? Join the (Bay) Club

Like the Cape but hate the bridge traffic?

Waltham builder/developer Paul Abelite has a solution.

He's building moderate-sized single-families priced in the mid-$500,000 to mid-$600,000 range on the grounds of the toney Bay Club at Mattapoisett, a 625-acre enclave in this quaint, unspoiled town on Buzzards Bay, with no need to cross the Sagamore or Bourne bridges. Houses at the Bay Club are normally custom built and larger — up to 8,000 square feet — with the club selling the lots for $250,000 and up.

Abelite and business partner Lisa Nickerson say their 36-home subdivision, called The Preserve, is bringing a price point to the gated golf club that will draw middle-class buyers — those looking for a vacation house or a full-time residence.

"We're offering a chance to get something above and beyond your typical sub­division house," said Abelite, president of Aerie Homes. "You can have the lifestyle of a golf community in an area also surrounded by a town forest and a nature reserve that's also just down the street from Buzzards Bay."

The Cape-style homes at The Preserve come in three different styles, from traditional to more loft-like, with cedar-shingle exteriors, outdoor patios and attached two-car garages. All homes are three-bedroom, ranging from 1,900 square feet to 2,550 square feet, with master suites on the first or second floors. Owners can customize their homes with a wide variety of wood flooring, cabinets and granite counters. Upgrades include everything from a custom sunroom to a golf cart bay attached to the garage.

We took a look at the completed "Hawthorn" model unit, a three-bedroom, 21⁄2-bathroom house with 2,550 square feet offered at $650,000. It features an open living/dining/kitchen area with wide-plank oak floors and a gas fireplace, and a granite counter, dark-stained oak cabinet and stainless-steel kitchen. The first floor has a carpeted master bedroom suite with a ceramic-tiled bathroom. The second floor has a vaulted ceiling family room and two additional guest bedrooms and tiled bathroom. There's a full basement and attached two-car garage.

"We're building more modest-sized homes that buyers are looking for, but using high-quality materials and craftsmanship," said Nickerson, a partner in the project who also owns a Waltham-based public relations firm that is handling the sales and marketing. "Owners are free to join the club or not."

Homeowners can join the Bay Club as social members for $10,000, which provides access to tennis courts, a junior Olympic pool, fitness and racquetball facilities, club restaurant and cultural activities. A golf membership for the 18-hole parkland-style course designed by Brad Faxon costs $30,000.

"This club was designed from the ground up to appeal not just to golfers, but to those who want family and cultural activities," said Bay Club general manager Craig Fleming, citing a recent cooking demonstration by a Boston chef and a lecture by a Harvard professor.

Dave Andrews, director of sales and membership development at Bay Club, said 80 percent of the club's 54 custom-built homes are primary residences, with a number of residents commuting to work as far away as downtown Boston.

"We think The Preserve houses are high quality and a great buy, considering the amenities we offer." Andrews said. "And you're surrounded by green space, which takes up 90 percent of the club site."

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Firm fixing Health Connector site says it’s on target

The head of the company brought on to fix the Bay State's failed Obamacare website told the Herald he's sure his company can get the Health Connector portal ready for a crucial fall relaunch — but stopped short of a guarantee.

"Our confidence level couldn't be higher," said Sanjay Singh, CEO of hCentive, which developed the software the state hopes to use. "I've never seen so much progress in four weeks in any other state we have worked in."

Health Connector officials demonstrated parts of the software at a board meeting yesterday. They are scrambling to meet a June 30 deadline to finish the website's foundation.

"We are very, very, very, very high probability that we will hit that," Singh told the Herald.

State officials also yesterday allowed the 227,374 Bay Staters who were moved to temporary Medicaid coverage — they pay no premiums — to stay on through the end of the year. It has cost $90.5 million to keep people on the temporary insurance, as of June 5, according to Secretary of Administration & Finance Glen Shor.

Critics have pointed out that just about anyone could sign up for the temporary coverage. New state Obamacare czar Maydad Cohen, however, insisted few actually did so.

"Right now, our initial estimate is under 1 percent would be potentially ineligible for that," said Cohen.

The health insurance plans are concerned about how long the temporary coverage may stretch.

"They're not in the right coverage," said Lora Pellegrini of the Massachusetts Association of Health Plans. "It could have the impact of folks who haven't paid a premium of 'Why am I suddenly paying a bill?' That's going to be the challenge, and something we all need to work on."

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Let’s Face it, selling your data beats fee

A big fat cry-me-a-river to all the outrage over Facebook's announcement that it will sell your web-browsing data to advertisers. Did people think Facebook was collecting data about your every move on the Web just to keep itself warm at night?

Either way, here are five reasons that privacy advocates need to calm down over Facebook and start worrying about more serious threats to personal liberty:

5) You have more control than you think. Facebook is also allowing users to see why they are being shown certain ads. You can click through your full marketing dossier — your likes, web browsing history and interests — and add or change the information Facebook uses for advertisement targeting.

4) You're going to see ads anyway, so why not keep them relevant? If you long for an ad-free world, then the World Wide Web just isn't for you.

3) You can opt out of online ads at the Digital Advertising Alliance (aboutads.info/choices) or sign up for services like Ghostery that keep your browsing private. It's really not that hard.

2) There are bigger fish to fry. Please direct all this privacy outrage toward a preemptive strike on the next frontier of invasion: wearables and implantables. That's where the real threats to liberty and security lie. Facebook ads are a lost cause, but how about pharmaceutical ads that target whatever ailment is registering on those fitness wristbands of the future? Not only is that invasive, it's actually a hazard to your health.

But there's still time to act. So let's talk about that instead.

1) It's either you or the ads. Because Facebook is a public company, it has to make more and more revenue each quarter (as Wall Street demands). It can either do that by stepping up its ad game or by instituting a steadily increasing membership fee.

If Facebook wanted to keep to its current schedule of revenue, it would have to charge $4.10 per user per quarter right now. And that's assuming it doesn't lose any of its 609 million active daily users by instituting a fee.

So unless you want to pay $12 this year, and more next year and the year after that, thank Facebook for finding a way to make money that doesn't take dollars from your pocket.

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Gun groups want to block AG from stopping pistol sales

Gun rights groups are trying to block the state attorney general from enforcing a state regulation barring the commercial sale of certain semiautomatic pistols.

Bellevue, Wash.-based Second Amendment Foundation and Boston's Commonwealth Second Amendment Inc. say the regulation requiring a "load indicator" on a semiautomatic handgun is "unconstitutionally vague and ambiguous."

It affects the sales of third- and fourth-generation Glocks to civilians, said Alan Gottlieb, founder of the Second Amendment Foundation, which filed a lawsuit yesterday in U.S. District Court in Boston.

"We have members and people in Massachusetts who would like to buy these types of firearms, and dealers who would like to sell them," he said. "The Massachusetts regulations are unique."

The regulation on the sale of handguns without childproofing states it's "unfair or deceptive" to sell semiautomatic handguns that lack a load indicator or magazine safety disconnect. A load indicator shows that a cartridge is in the firing chamber.

The regulation dates to 1998, but the release of Glock Gen4 handguns shed more light on its "arbitrariness," Gottlieb said.

An attorney general spokesman said they hadn't received the complaint and declined comment.

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MGM set to get panel OK

The Massachusetts Gaming Commission is expected tomorrow to designate MGM as the state's first casino operator, but would not officially award the license until the state's highest court rules on a proposed November ballot question to repeal the state's gaming law.

The commission took a preliminary vote yesterday that it is prepared to award the license to MGM's $800 million Springfield casino if it accepts all of its conditions, including paying $85 million in licensing fees within 30 days of the award. But MGM doesn't want to do that if the law is ultimately repealed.

Under an MGM counter-offer, it would pay the licensing fees within five days if the Supreme Judicial Court next month votes not to allow the repeal question on the November ballot. But if the SJC does allow the ballot question, MGM would only pay the fees if the repeal referendum is defeated.

Gaming Commission Chairman Stephen Crosby said MGM's concerns about paying the non-refundable fee were "perfectly reasonable" given the uncertainty around the court case.

In other casino news, Boston remains the only municipality still negotiating surrounding community agreements with Mohegan Sun, which wants to build a casino at Suffolk Downs in Revere, and Wynn Resorts, which wants to build one in Everett.

"The city continues to review documents and hold meetings," Kate Norton, a spokeswoman for Mayor Martin J. Walsh said.

Spokesmen for both Wynn and Mohegan Sun described the talks as "productive."

Herald wire services contributed to this report.

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The Ticker

Bain, Goldman Sachs 
settle antitrust suit

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Bain Capital Partners LLC agreed to pay a total of $121 million to settle claims they suppressed competition in some of the biggest deals of the leveraged buyout boom before the financial crisis.

Goldman Sachs will pay $67 million under the agreement to settle the antitrust lawsuit while Bain Capital will pay $54 million, according to the preliminary settlement filed today in Boston federal court.

Shareholders of companies that were acquired accused Goldman Sachs, Bain, and banks and private-equity firms of conspiring to carve up the market for large leveraged buyouts, suppressing prices and depriving investors of billions of dollars.

Alex Stanton, a spokesman for Bain Capital in New York, declined to immediately comment on yesterday's settlement. Michael DuVally, a spokesman for New York-based Goldman Sachs, didn't immediately respond to an email seeking comment.

Legislature strikes minimum wage deal

State House and Senate negotiators have reached a compromise on a bill hiking the minimum wage in Massachusetts.

The bill would increase the current $8 per hour minimum wage by $3 over the next three years. The hourly minimum for the state's lowest paid workers would go to $9 on Jan. 1, 2015, to $10 the following new year, and finally to $11 on Jan. 1, 2017.

The measure would not tie future increases to inflation.

The bill — a compromise between a Senate bill calling for an $11 minimum wage indexed to inflation, and a House-passed bill calling for an increase to $10.50 per hour, without indexing — must be approved in both chambers. It also seeks to rein in unemployment insurance costs.

Today

• Commerce Department releases retail sales data for May.
• Labor Department releases weekly jobless claims.
• Freddie Mac releases weekly mortgage rates.
• Commerce Department releases business inventories for April.

TOMORROW

• Labor Department releases the Producer Price Index for May.
• The American Red Cross of Massachusetts has announced the appointment of Ralph Boyd, left, as its new CEO. Boyd has previously served as chairman and CEO of the Freddie Mac Foundation and been a U.S. assistant attorney general.
• Waltham-based AMAG Pharmaceuticals Inc., announced the appointment of Melissa Bradford Klug as senior vice president of business development and strategy. Klug joins AMAG from Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals.

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Drones fly with Mass. users

Some Bay State businesses are already putting drones in the air to boost their bottom line as the Federal Aviation Administration hints it may be open to some commercial uses of the hovering craft.

"It's a novelty now, but I think it will become more of a mainstay," said Missy Cummings, a drone expert at MIT. "These drones can really improve business processes."

Lexington Realtor Jonathan de Araujo has been using a drone to take aerial shots of properties he is listing since last summer, and the birds-eye view has quickly found a place in de Araujo's real estate arsenal.

"The end result is just unparalleled," he said. "Everything we can do to give a more positive impression means more people at the open house. The idea is to just give a better, more positive, a more thorough impression of what you're looking at."

De Araujo uses his drone, a model outfitted with a camera and available to any consumer, to give his homes more context, including offering a complete view of a backyard, or showing how close the park down the street is.

"When you're taking stills from ground level, you're seeing one angle, one shot," he said. "It just made sense to add that extra dimension."

Last week, the FAA said it is considering letting seven movie and television filming companies use drones. Now, the only commercial drone flights permitted by the FAA are those by one company off the Alaskan coast. The FAA has been working for the past decade on potential safety regulations that would allow widespread commercial drone use, but those regulations have been repeatedly delayed. Most recently, the FAA has said it will release proposed regulations for operating small drones by November. That would be followed by a potentially yearslong process to finalize the regulations.

Dan Kara, a robotics and drone industry analyst with Myria Research, said the FAA is under pressure to clarify the guidelines because many, from individual real estate agents to Amazon.com, are using or expressing interest in making drones part of their toolkit.

"It's happening organically," Kara said.

Marcella Hoekstra, who runs wedding video company Heirloom Pictures, is planning on buying a drone soon.

"I've seen what these drones can do, and I've seen some really beautiful, sweeping shots of landscapes and architecture," Hoekstra said. "It's a wonderful way to explore ... and give the bride and groom a bird's-eye view."

Kara said some are looking to drones for the novelty — a club in Las Vegas is delivering high end champagne to its high-rollers by drone.

But others are advocating for the permitted use of drones for search and rescue missions, to get a good view of wildfires and to help farmers track their crops.

"There's no question drones can revolutionize (agriculture)," Cummings said.

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When there’s white smoke, check first for coolant leak

I own a 2003 Honda Accord. In April a large amount of white smoke came out of the front of the car when I started it. It has happened three more times, coming from the rear of the car. Three times the engine was cold, once warm. The Honda dealer found nothing, but told me to keep track of these instances. Nothing has leaked on the garage floor.

White smoke from an automobile can be caused by three things: condensing moisture, heated coolant and vaporized fuel. In your case I'd be suspicious of an external coolant leak that collects on some part of the exhaust system and is heated into smoke as the exhaust system heats up, leaving no evidence on the garage floor.

Do you smell the semi-sweet odor of antifreeze/coolant? Before you start the cold engine next time, open the hood and visually inspect for any coolant in the engine compartment. Make sure you are monitoring the coolant level in the radiator/reservoir.

If the white smoke is exclusively from the exhaust pipe, a leaking cylinder head gasket would be a suspect. In this case the coolant would end up being heated in the combustion chambers and blown out the exhaust as the engine starts.

White smoke from the exhaust on a cold morning start is normal condensation of moisture that has collected in the exhaust system overnight, and is of no concern.

White smoke from vaporized but unburned fuel — unlikely in this case — can be caused by a failed or stuck fuel injector allowing raw fuel to be carried through and vaporized in the exhaust system as it is heated.

My 2011 Subaru is squeaking so loudly I'm ready to tear my hair out! It started on the driver's side just behind the driver's seat, moved to under the driver's seat near the middle, and then under the console. All three areas are squeaking! It's been on a lift and nothing that can be seen is an issue, according to the mechanic. A body shop owner with 40 years experience found that the back of the rear seat hadn't been put in place properly and the spare tire was not tightened down securely. The noise lessened, but is still a major nuisance.

The most common causes of body squeaks and rattles are something flexing or something loose. The entire exhaust system and its hangers should be inspected for evidence of flexing, movement or contact. Next, all engine, transmission and drive shaft mounts should be checked.

If the squeaking is rhythmical and varies with engine or road speed, the noise may be coming from the transmission or drive shaft CV joints. Subaru issued a service bulletin addressing a high-pitched sound originating in the transmission extension housing. Thermal expansion can potentially damage a pre-loaded bearing, causing the noise.

I have a 2007 Dodge Caravan with the automatic door lock feature. When I drive in the rain, the locks start locking and unlocking rapidly for 60-90 seconds then quit for a while, then do it again. This continues even after removing the key, but quits after being parked for a while. I tried to disable the auto lock, using the instructions in the manual, but was unsuccessful. There is no separate fuse that controls this. Any thoughts?

Water/moisture is grounding the electrical circuit that operates the locks. A scan tool should be able to identify specific fault codes with the power door lock system, but you could try "watering" each window for a minute or so, one at a time, with a garden hose. Water may be getting by the window seals, running down the inside of a door and grounding the circuit, causing the rapid cycling of the locks. This may help you pinpoint which door or cylinder lock switch or connector is getting wet.

Paul Brand, author of "How to Repair Your Car," is an automotive troubleshooter, driving instructor and former race car driver. Readers may write to him at: Star Tribune, 425 Portland Ave. S., Minneapolis, Minn. 55488 or via email at paulbrand@startribune.com. Please explain the problem in detail and include a daytime phone number.

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