Monthly Archives: October 2012

How to Generate Income From the Needs of a Hungry World

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“Speculators and hedge funds are hopscotching across the U.S. farm-belt these days, grabbing tracts of land to profit from the rising demand for food.  But even better opportunities exist beyond America. Like, for instance, a patch of Earth that has some of the most productive farm and cattle lands on the planet. It’s a place where we can own an asset of true substance and, in a world of near-zero yield, generate additional income. And if the U.S. ever goes pear-shaped, it gives us a place to call home in one of the most-livable countries in the world.  Though it’s tiny in size, Uruguay is an ag juggernaut.”

http://sovereign-investor.com/2012/10/23/invest-in-uruguayan-farmland/

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Across Corn Belt, Farmland Prices Keep Soaring

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“Farmers are carrying less debt than they were 30 years ago, and low interest rates are also a factor because they make it less costly for farmers to borrow. The federal crop insurance program also plays a role in keeping farmland prices high, by covering a majority of losses in revenue or crop yields.  Some lenders have reported that a number of farmers are taking out loans based on the current value of their land to take advantage of the farmland boom.  Fed officials and some real estate brokers said these buyers could be in trouble if interest rates rose and crop prices fell.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/23/us/across-corn-belt-farmland-prices-keep-soaring.html?hpw&pagewanted=all&_r=0

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Iowa Farms Minting Millionaires as Rich-Poor Gap Widens

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“Booming worldwide demand for grain has showered wealth on farmers by tripling Iowa land values in the past decade and setting them up for record profits this year, even in the face of the nation’s worst drought in more than half a century, the U.S. Department of Agriculture projects.  Land that had long produced boxcars full of corn and soybeans is now yielding a new crop: locally grown millionaires. In doing so, it has brought to the nation’s rural areas the kind of income divide that had long been the province of urban America.  Average rents are up 43 percent statewide since 2008.”

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-10-19/iowa-farms-minting-millionaires-as-rich-poor-gap-widens.html

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Reverse brain drain: Economic shifts lure migrants home

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“The financial crisis that began in 2008 has tested middle-class America’s sense of stability and the European right to social welfare. It has also caused many to question whether the developed world is still the only land of opportunity worth migrating to.  Emerging economies not only are faring better than most of the developed world in the current recession, they also continue to grow, drawing back their expatriates and, in some cases, even luring new high-skilled citizens of the US and Europe.  Those countries losing their allure could also lose their competitive edge.”

http://www.csmonitor.com/layout/set/print/World/Global-Issues/2012/1021/Reverse-brain-drain-Economic-shifts-lure-migrants-home

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The Nine States with the Most Underfunded Pensions

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“According to data released this week by Milliman, Inc. and by the Pew Center on the States, there was a $859 billion gap between the obligations of the country’s 100 largest public pension plans and the funding of these pensions.  In 2010, only Wisconsin’s pension funds were fully funded. Nine states, meanwhile, were 60% funded or less — this would mean that at least 40% of the amount the state owes current and future retirees is not in the state’s coffers.”

http://www.economicpolicyjournal.com/2012/10/the-nine-states-with-most-underfunded.html

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Zurich eyes halving corporate tax

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“Zurich, Switzerland’s largest city and financial hub, may cut its corporate tax rate nearly in half if foreign firms lose fiscal benefits amid EU pressure, the regional financial chief said on Tuesday.    By doing so, Switzerland’s economic centre would aim to convince foreign companies to remain in the canton even if Switzerland bows to EU pressure and alters a system allowing such firms to pay less taxes than Swiss companies.  The Zurich proposal follows a similar proposal presented in Geneva last week, suggesting that Switzerland’s second-largest business hub should cut its corporate tax rate from around 24 to 13 percent.”

http://www.thelocal.ch/page/view/zurich-eyes-halving-corporate-tax-minister

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Spanish savers move money to Switzerland

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“Crisis-hit savers in Spain are transferring their their money to Switzerland for safety, the head of Geneva’s 80-strong banking association said on Wednesday.  In addition to an increase in Spanish funds, Droux said Geneva banks had seen an inflow of cash from other eurozone countries so far this year, as well as from the Middle East and developing countries including those in South America.  Switzerland is not a member of the European Union and so is not a member of the eurozone.”

http://www.thelocal.ch/page/view/crisis-hit-spaniards-move-money-to-switzerland

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Switzerland: The Other Currency Manipulator

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“Switzerland is manipulating its currency for the exact same reason China does: to help exporters gain a price advantage. And Switzerland is a big net exporter, with a current account surplus (exports minus imports) of 12 percent of GDP, compared to just 3 percent for China.  Why aren’t we freaking out about Swiss currency manipulation? Probably because Switzerland’s small scale helps us understand what a manipulated currency really means: cheaper Swiss goods for U.S. consumers.  With China, we somehow get this backwards.”

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-10-23/switzerland-the-other-currency-manipulator.html

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Wary Swiss Banks Shun Americans

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“The new law, expected to be phased in over several years, requires foreign banks to identify Americans among their clients and to provide their financial information to the Internal Revenue Service. Just one person overlooked could mean a penalty equivalent to 30% of a bank’s U.S. income.   Most banks in Switzerland have little appetite to deal with such risk and are quietly—or openly—ushering American clients out or limiting the range of products offered to them, tax experts and bankers say.”

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390444592704578062570295543436.html

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Get a U.S. Passport Now – While You Still Can

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“Until a century ago, almost anywhere you went in the world, passports were not required for international travel. Rare passports were used mainly to insure passage of diplomats sent to negotiate peace treaties or carry official papers.  Now governments use passports as another part of citizen control and surveillance. Official passport control marked the Cold War years, but now it is applied with a bureaucratic, computer-driven vengeance, justified by the endless ‘War on Terror.’  I often get questions about the possibility of currency and capital controls, but thinking Americans should be equally concerned about foreign travel controls.”

http://sovereign-investor.com/2012/10/22/state-department-is-out-for-your-passport/

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