"Hard at work" - that's what we are afraid of! Obama keeps exhibting a stunning lack of understanding and leadership. The big question is whether he understands that the market, business leaders and 70% of the American people react negatively to what he has done and therefore what he proposes. I told my children yesterday - "we have nothing to fear . . . except Obama coming back from vacation"
Here's an excerpt from a Robert Shiller essay on the causes and effects of "inequality". Notice how the two leaders from two emerging economies understand the problem: reduce social and economic inequalities without reducing the incentives for the free enterprises to grow. As Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh put it at the International Conference of Dalits and Minorities, held in New Delhi in December, “Even as absolute poverty may be reduced by growth, inequalities can get
Economist John Taylor - an unabashed critic of the current administration's "ruinous" fiscal policy - discusses Paul Ryan's (R -Wis.) Roadmap to get the country's fiscal house in order. Taylor notes in the post below that Ryan's plan has suddenly become a focal point. And that's good. Ryan is a Republican. He's had a comprehensive plan for months. It will be hard for the President and his supporters to continue to claim that the Republicans have no plans
Leading Indicators Fall Sharply To Lowest Level Since Last September
We saw the pullback in the stock market coming as the ECRI leading indicators peaked (see here, and here) and started to rollover. All recoveries decelerate and we have thought that this one had just about peaked - now the stock market is getting wind of that too. Maybe markets aren't worried about the next Lehman. Maybe they're just worried about the fact that the boom is coming to an end.
I just spent five full days on taxes for trusts, hedge funds and individuals. That's lost time that I cannot ever get back - and I am not finished yet. Every year about this time I dream about a low flat tax where every tax payer pays the same proportion of their income (the poor would not pay any tax). As the video below says; if Bill Gates makes 100,000 times more than me then he should pay 100,000 times more than
There’s an old saying: “Everyone’s a capitalist on the way up and a socialist on the way down.” People want it all—to reap the benefits of free markets, but be protected against any downside. Capitalism won’t abide. And that’s a good thing. It’s a system of inherent checks and balances, which can be swift and brutal during the pruning process. In rough times, we seem willing to sacrifice free markets’ benefits for perceived security from
