“Tom Woods explains, with reference to the work of Philipp Bagus, why the Euro crisis was predictable, and in fact the logical outcome of the incentives built into the system.”
“Move over, Ben Bernanke. Mario Draghi is taking center stage. The European Central Bank president is overtaking the Federal Reserve chairman — at least for now — as the central banker with the most influence on the global economy and markets. Bernanke and Draghi already have nicknames worthy of economic superheroes. Bernanke is ‘Helicopter Ben’ because he once referred to the Fed’s ability to rescue the economy with a ‘helicopter drop’ of cash. And Draghi is, perhaps inevitably, ‘Super Mario.'”
http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/story/2012-09-04/mario-draghi-ecb-bank-influence/57577182/1
“European Union lawmakers risked a breach of confidence with the European Central Bank after revealing details from a confidential briefing with ECB President Mario Draghi. Members of the EU assembly’s economic and monetary affairs committee were chastised by the group’s chairwoman, Sharon Bowles, over the disclosures, which occurred shortly after the briefing with Draghi today at the European Parliament’s headquarters in Brussels.”
“The nation’s visa system remains a roadblock for foreigners who want to start businesses and create jobs in the U.S., especially at a time when we need more entrepreneurs than ever. Now, few viable options exist for entrepreneurs eager to come to America – and those that do, offer little predictability. For example, the investor visa carries a $1 million top price tag – certainly too high for most aspiring small-business owners. While we continue to drive away those looking to bring money, talent and potential jobs to the U.S., other countries are more than happy to welcome them.”
http://sovereign-investor.com/2012/09/03/why-america-is-losing-u-s-immigrants/
“Once known for its sunny, freewheeling disposition — a live-and-let-live sensibility rooted in Western ideals and relied upon by generations of surfer dudes and misbehaving Hollywood stars — Southern California has long been as regulated as anywhere. Lately, however, cities, school districts and even libraries have been outlawing chunks of what used to pass here for birthright at a startling clip. But exactly what happened to the Westerner, with his rugged independence and legendary love of freedom?”
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/03/us/in-california-banning-bonfires-and-library-napping.html?_r=1
“The sale and purchase of CDs listing the details of Germans suspected of stashing assets in Swiss banks to avoid taxes should be made illegal, Germany’s justice minister told a newspaper on Saturday. Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger, a member of the Liberal party (FDP), told the Rheinische Post that buying the data was currently a grey area legally but amounted to theft. ‘Buying this data is a murky and highly problematic area both ethically and morally speaking but also judicially,’ she said.”
http://www.thelocal.ch/page/view/german-minister-wants-to-ban-sale-of-swiss-data
“Stossel looks at some of the dynamics that have caused college costs to skyrocket.”
“Steve Siebold, author of ‘How Rich People Think,’ spent nearly three decades interviewing millionaires around the world to find out what separates them from everyone else. It had little to do with money itself, he told Business Insider. It was about their mentality. ‘[The middle class] tells people to be happy with what they have,’ he said. ‘And on the whole, most people are steeped in fear when it comes to money.'”
http://www.businessinsider.com/how-rich-people-think-differently-from-the-poor-2012-8?op=1
“A television channel chief and presenter denied calling for the murder of President Mohamed Morsi when his trial on incitement charges opened in the Egyptian capital on Saturday. ‘I merely criticized President Morsi,’ Tawfiq Okasha told judges at the court appearance, an AFP journalist reported. ‘This is a political trial. The Muslim Brotherhood wants to silence all dissent and reproduce the system from before the revolution,’ he said. The charges against him came at the same time that Islam Afifi, the editor of small independent newspaper Al-Dustour, was accused of spreading false news and inciting disorder.”
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/09/01/egypt-tv-head-denies-inciting-presidents-murder/
“Prosecutors in Georgia announced on Thursday they would seek death sentences in one of the most startling and potentially serious cases of an anti-government militia to be brought before the courts in recent years. They alleged that the soldiers stockpiled almost $90,000 worth of guns and bomb-making equipment which they planned to use to kill the president and carry out a range of other violent acts. Investigators have given no indication of how serious a threat the militia posed, beyond charging each of the three soldiers with 13 counts including murder and illegal gang activity.”