Tag Archives: Economics

The Suicide of Communism: The Case for Patience

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“Through its satellite nations, it extended into Western Europe. It had been in operation for over 70 years. It had the most extensive system of control over thought and activities of any large society in the history of man. Yet, in one week, without any bloodshed, the leaders of the USSR simply abandoned it. Nothing like this had ever happened before.  Those of us who lived through it could barely appreciate the magnitude of it. That is because it was bloodless. There was almost no warning. The West had been involved in a great competition between the two systems from 1946 until 1991. Then, without warning, that competition ended. It caught Russians by surprise. It caught Westerners by surprise.”

http://www.garynorth.com/public/12642.cfm

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The Airlines Work for Uncle Sam

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“Bryan Riley, writing for The Daily Signal, tells us that the government’s cash register rings every time we step on a plane. According to Airlines for America, $61.49 of a $300 domestic round-trip ticket goes to federal government taxes. That’s almost as much as fuel ($63.47) and more than labor ($51.52). Other expenses total $123.11, leaving 41 cents for profits.  That’s right: Uncle Sam takes 20% off the top, while only 0.1% drops to the bottom line. And by the way, that doesn’t include taxes on payroll or jet fuel.  What’s worse than a government picking your pocket? Two governments picking your pocket, as they do for international flights.”

http://www.caseyresearch.com/articles/the-airlines-work-for-uncle-sam

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Why One Walmart in North Dakota Is Paying $17.40 an Hour

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“A Walmart store in Williston, N.D., is offering to pay entry-level workers as much as $17.40 per hour—nearly 2½ times the federal minimum wage—in an effort to compete in one of America’s most dynamic labor markets.  The push for a ‘living wage’ has gained momentum in cities such as Seattle recently. But the historic oil boom in North Dakota has provided real, sustained growth in wages and lowered unemployment in North Dakota to 2.6 percent—the lowest statewide rate in the nation—and to less than 1 percent in Williston, which is near the oil fields in the western part of the state.  Median North Dakota family income surpasses the national average by more than $8,000.”

http://dailysignal.com/2014/06/10/drilling-innovation-forcing-walmart-north-dakota-pay-17-40-hour/

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Bill Bonner: Confessions of a Former Child Laborer

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“As soon as we were able, we went to work in the tobacco fields. In the 1950s and 1960s, tobacco was a cash crop in southern Maryland, where we grew up. But it was pénible: It was labor intensive and the working conditions were tough.  Labor was becoming more and more difficult to come by. Tenant farmers were packing up and moving to Washington DC, where they could get jobs in the government.  That left family. Boys – sons, cousins, nephews, friends – were rounded up in late August and put to work cutting, spearing, hauling and hanging tobacco.  We boys – earning about $5 a day, with no pénibilité points – were unaware of the painfulness of it. Instead, we made it a sport.”

http://www.bonnerandpartners.com/confessions-of-a-former-child-laborer/

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The Federal Reserve: Asleep at the Switch

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“Yellen conceded that higher interest rates in 2003 and 2006 might have slowed the rate of home price growth that created the housing bubble.  But, she added, such increases wouldn’t have done much to quell the rapid rise in housing prices but would have ‘weakened households’ ability to repay previous debts.’ The net effect would have been to improve ‘household balance sheets only modestly.’  What’s most disturbing about her comments is that her central bank colleagues in other countries deeply disagree with this position. They argue that low rates caused by central bank stimulus programs may be sowing the seeds for the next financial crisis.”

http://www.investingdaily.com/20677/the-federal-reserve-asleep-at-the-switch-2/

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Yellen Sees Little Threat to Financial Stability

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“Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said Wednesday that she doesn’t see a need for the Fed to start raising interest rates to defuse the risk that extremely low rates could destabilize the financial system.  Yellen said she does see ‘pockets’ of increased risk-taking. But she said those threats could be addressed through greater use of regulatory tools, such as higher capital standards for banks.  Some critics of Fed policies have warned that the central bank could be setting the stage for another dangerous bubble by keeping rates so low for so long.  In her speech, Yellen said she didn’t see dangerous excesses in the financial system.”

http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory/yellen-sees-threat-financial-stability-24396872

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Japan consumer price growth at 32-year high

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“Consumer prices in Japan rose at an annual rate of 3.4% in May, the fastest pace in 32 years, as the effect of the sales tax hike from 5% to 8% started to be felt.  The price growth in May follows a 3.2% jump in April and is a big boost for Japan’s attempt to trigger inflation.  The country’s central bank has set a target of a 2% inflation rate.  The measures, which include boosting the country’s money supply, have started to have an impact and consumer prices in the country have now risen for 12 months in a row. Policymakers have been hoping that consumers and business will be encouraged to start spending and not hold back on purchases, as they may have to pay more later on.”

http://www.bbc.com/news/business-28031007

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Bill Bonner: America’s War in Iraq Was a Fool’s Errand

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“With the US Army moving quickly up the Italian peninsula, Benito Mussolini knew it was time to get out of town.  The war was almost over for the Italians. But it was not a pretty ending.  The next day, the partisans shot Mussolini and his mistress… before hanging them from meathooks suspended from the roof of an Esso gas station in Milan (the same place that fascists had displayed the bodies of fifteen Milanese resistance fighters a year earlier).  What was Mussolini’s crime?  He had led Italy into a disastrous war.  So our question for our fellow Americans is this: Are there no gas stations in the continental USA?”

http://www.bonnerandpartners.com/americas-war-in-iraq-was-a-fools-errand/

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Travelers Forego 38 Million Trips to Avoid Hassles

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“Long lines. Packed planes. Lousy food. Intrusive security. It’s enough to make you just stay home, right?  Indeed, common sense would suggest that significant numbers of people have been discouraged altogether from traveling. But how many people? And what’s the economic impact of those trip cancellations?  The U.S. Travel Association has just released results of a study designed to answer those questions.  The survey’s main findings, extrapolated from interviews with 1,031 business and leisure travelers: 38 million trips deferred in 2013; $9.5 billion lost on airfare; $5.8 billion lost on hotels; $5.7 billion lost on recreation; $3.4 billion lost on food services; $2.8 billion lost on car rentals.”

http://www.frequentflier.com/blog/travelers-forego-38-million-trips-to-avoid-hassles/

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Thoughts from the Frontline: The Age of Transformation

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“It’s not too much of a stretch to say that we’re in a race between how much wealth and value and improvement in lifestyles human ingenuity can create versus how much destruction of wealth and lifestyles governments can destroy.  It is a tendency of ours to take our recent past and project it in a linear fashion into the future.  And while we all acknowledge that change is happening faster today than it did 20 or 30 years ago, we really don’t expect the pace of change to quicken in the future. The next 20 years, we figure, will more or less unfold as the last 20 years has. Not a chance. That assumption is missing the second derivative of change – the acceleration of the pace of change.”

http://www.mauldineconomics.com/editorial/thoughts-from-the-frontline-the-age-of-transformation

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