In the latest example of the Laffer Curve we see that 0% of $60 billion is less than [some number > 0]% of $60 billion.
See, Apple doesn’t think that having to pay the world’s highest corporate income tax is in the best interests of the company. Or the shareholders. So it’s not going to pay the tax.
It’s not easy bein’ an American worker these days. There’s a lot of pressure coming from around the world; folks wantin’ our jobs, willing to work for less money than we’re workin’ for.
It’s hard being an America sometimes.
But there’s an upside. For the folks who care about such things, the world’s poorest people, people living a life exactly like their parents, grandparents and ancestors have lived for generations, are finally emerging from poverty. Perhaps for the first time ever, families are leaving the shackles of poverty and rising towards the hope of a middle class, perhaps dare I say, even more.
Bill O’Reilly has launched a pretty big offensive regarding the price of gasoline. He’s been on air several times extolling the administration to get ahead of the situation and take a leadership role. Personally, I’m not sure that Obama has had much influence on the price of gasoline today. Prices are high today not because of supply and demand, policies where Obama is clearly wrong, but because of the tension in the Middle East. Specifically with Iran.
Given the nature of the world market there is no wonder that gasoline prices are going up. And fast.
But O’Reilly loses me on his solutions.
How cool to find a sympathetic voice in Hungary:
I will only give you a job if:
- I can fire you, when and if I want to.
- If VAT goes down to at most 20%, but better yet 15%.
- If the state takes away “only” 30% of your money.
- If higher income is not exponentially punished.
- If the state punishes corruption instead of decent companies.
Until these things change, I won’t give a job. Until the state ferrets out corruption in every possible aspect, I won’t start a business, and I won’t create jobs.
There are things that contribute to people giving people jobs and then things that discourage such activity.
Posted in Economics, Liberty, Politics: International
Tagged Andor Jakab, Government Regulation, Hungary
With all the talk from Obama about the rich, the elite and the 1%, I often wonder, “Do we really have it that bad?”
What might we use as a measurement to gauge whether or not we really are better off. The media is full of comparisons, we often hear the reports that the rich are getting richer while the poor are getting poorer. That the middle class is under attack and is losing; indeed, shrinking.
But is it true?
Posted in Economics, Liberty, Politics: International
Tagged Blueberries, Capitalsim, Free Market, Strawberries, Wealth
As the United States focuses on South Carolina, the world carries on. I wonder, exactly, if this is what everyone wanted to happen in Egypt:
CAIRO — Egyptian authorities confirmed Saturday that a political coalition dominated by the Muslim Brotherhood, the 84-year-old group that virtually invented political Islam, had won about 47 percent of the seats in the first Parliament elected since the ouster of Hosni Mubarak. An alliance of ultraconservative Islamists won the next largest share of seats, about 25 percent.
Interesting times to say the least.
Posted in Liberty, Politics: International
Tagged Arab Spring, Egypt, Muslim Brotherhood
Everyone knows that the problem America faces is a spending problem. We simply are spending more money than we have a hope of bringing in. Since the end of WWII, the United States has remained steady with tax receipts coming in around 18% of GDP. More in the good years, less during recessionary periods. The whole of that time our spending has been a little more. Not now. Now our spending has dramatically increased.
The result is a debt to GDP level that is unprecedented:
The nation’s debt has reached a symbolic milestone. With gross domestic product of roughly $15 trillion and total debt of $15.23 trillion, our total debt is now bigger than our economy, as USA Today noted Monday.
What’s more, the Obama administration’s projections put our debt at more than $23 trillion by 2020, well in excess of the projected $22.5 trillion GDP.
Indeed, this is bad news. But how bad? Let’s look at other nations in the debt club that we find ourselves in:
| Zimbabwe | 233.2 |
| Japan | 199.7 |
| Saint Kitts and Nevis | 185 |
| Greece | 142.7 |
| Lebanon | 133.8 |
| Iceland | 126.3 |
| Jamaica | 126.2 |
| Italy | 119.1 |
| Singapore | 105.8 |
| Barbados | 102.1 |
| Belgium | 100.7 |
Not very good company at all. And it’s only going to get worse.
Some commentators are claiming that we are going to end up like Greece. Our debt and our #Occupiers seem to indicate that we very well could.
Posted in Economy, Politics: International, Politics: National
Tagged Debt, Government Spending, Greece, Occupy Wall Street
Every indication points to the eventuality of Iran obtaining the technology to build a nuclear bomb. It is my humble opinion that:
Rather than expend resources and political capital on attempting to prevent the inevitable, I think that we should prepare for the undeniable. A nuclear Iran. And as part of that planning, we need to address the following.
Can We Trust Iran To Be Rational
In other words, is Iran a nation ruled by people who respond to incentives in the way and manner that we would respond to those same incentives?
It turns out that Soviet Russia was. They understood and reacted rationally to our nuclear stand-off. Same goes with India and Pakistan.
Or do we think that Iran is led by a mindset that is mostly based in ideology, a religious ideology? The most obvious example of which is the existence of Israel.
This question HAS to be answered. And after it has been answered, all plans must account for the general agreement.
What Nations Put And Take With A Nuclear Iran
Who gains and loses when Iran obtains the technology and the ability to launch nuclear weapons? The obvious losers are the United States and Israel. But less obvious is who gains? Understand not only who gains but why will allow us to negate many of the perceived “advantages” of those nations.
My guess is that the current modern world is mostly stable in terms of boundaries. Certainly there will be small and rather negligent “map changes” but by and large the shape of our nations are mostly settled. What isn’t settled is the economic influence of our nations as they stand.
How does China benefit, if they do, by a nuclear Iran? Hell, how does Iran benefit from a nuclear Iran?
How Do We Negotiate With A Nuclear Iran
The Soviets had them and modern Russia does. North Korea does, as does China. Several other nations as well. None of them have initiated a nuclear launch.
Why?
How will Iran be prevented from the same? What will it take, what changes will have to be made, if any at all really, to prevent the launch of an Iranian weapon? Is it the United States, in the end, that has to be the primary negotiator in these talks? Is the United States the primary agitator in Iran’s mind?
In the end, these are the concepts that our leaders need to address. There is little, if any, grounds to stand on that would allow us to prevent Iran from obtaining this technology. Further, there is little, if any, hope that we’ll be able to prevent the
Posted in Diplomacy, Energy, Politics: International
Tagged China, Iran, Korea, North Korea, Nuclear Bomb, Russia
For ever we’ve heard the anti-free market crown complain that corporations exploit the workers of the world by moving production to heap labor. Right? We exploit the villager that has experienced bone crushing poverty for generations by providing a job that allows them to own their own house. The first of their family EVER.
All of this in the name of profits and corporate greed.
Well guess what happens when the market begins to correct and the worm turns:
One of the things that’s showing up in Christmas stockings this year: higher prices, courtesy of China.
After decades as America’s go-to destination for low-cost consumer goods, China is undergoing a profound shift. Rapid economic development and a smaller supply of young migrant workers are pushing up labor costs. Tack on rising raw-materials prices, driven largely by Chinese demand, and a strengthening currency, and China-made goods aren’t the bargains they used to be.
…
Last month’s prices for Chinese imports were up 3.9% from a year earlier, the Labor Department said Wednesday, matching October’s gain, the largest year-to-year monthly rise since 2008.
Wednesday’s report showed that prices were up sharply for many kinds of goods for which China is the dominant supplier.
China accounts for about 80% of U.S. shoe imports; imported-footwear prices in November were up 6.1% from a year earlier. It accounts for about 60% of furniture imports; imported-furniture prices also were up 6.1%. About 80% of U.S. luggage imports come from China; prices in the category that includes luggage and similar goods rose 8.3% in November.
Those higher costs are one reason that U.S consumer prices have risen this year, despite the weak economy.
For all the complaining that has gone on concerning off shoring, people have been silent regarding the prices. Maybe now, as prices begin to rise, people will begin to understand the benefits.