Safety Net

JAMES K. GLASSMAN has been writing about investing and the economy since the mid-1970s. From 1993 to 2004 he wrote a syndicated column on investing for the Washington Post. He was also the first investing columnist for Reader's Digest and now writes a monthly column for Kiplinger's Personal Finance. From 2008 to 2009 he was the U.S. Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs and is currently executive director of the George W Bush Institute, the nonpartisan think tank affiliated with the George W Bush Presidential Center. Glassman is also the host of Ideas in Action, broadcast over more than 100 public television stations. He is the author of two previous books, Dow 36,000 and The Secret Code of Superior Investor; and  his articles have appeared in many publications, including The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal