Welcome to Off The Run, an equal-opportunity political and economic commentary where I identify events, topics and people who are the darlings of the mainstream press but who are, in reality, full of hot air or dangerous to the world.

What does Off The Run mean, anyway? In the old days of the bond business, back when it was a real business and there was a real bond market, the recent new issues were "on the current run." These were the issues that traders, salesmen and investors were interested in. These were the active issues. The older issues were said to be "Off The Run." This description came to be applied to people, where the people off the run were considered to be slightly different or eccentric, certainly not in the conventional mainstream. I've always been unwilling to follow the party line or to go with the popular thought; you'll never find me laughing at the boss's joke before he tells it. Hence Off The Run.

You can read my screeds and shouts at the Off The Run blog

If you need a change of pace, you should check out my other efforts.

If you have a comment or a topic you think I should mention, please drop me an email at johnfrum@optonline.net.

Thanks for stopping here.