Check out the link above… Something about this makes me uneasy, if I read the article correctly the treasury is creating savings accounts as retail products. Like with all of these sorts of things the idea behind it is noble, but its just another way the governments is growing exponentially. How does a private bank that has a bunch of regulations about what it can can not do with their products compete with the Federal Reserve which can basically do what ever it pleases. Just one more example of us slowly losing our freedom for convenience sake.
So this week I am attending a conference in Kuala Lumpur Malaysia with leaders from World Vision and some subject matter experts. Its been a very educational experience and I thought it might be helpful to share some thoughts/quotes/ideas I’ve been pondering.
- In Africa solar power will be to energy what mobile phones have been to telecom.
From Paul Collier who has worked with the IMF and Central Banks throughout Africa.
- Who owns undiscovered natural resources in a country? Since natural resources are clustered should the revenues created by their extraction benefit all the citizens of a country via tax revenue? Should natural resources be taxed differently than made made goods?
“We teach children to save their money. As an attempt to counteract thoughtless and selfish expenditure, that has value. But it is not positive; it does not lead the child into the safe and useful avenues of self-expression or self-expenditure. To teach a child to invest and use is better than to teach him to save.”
First of all I love Corvettes, and the ZR1 near the end of is one incredible machine. Second I love that Chevy (who is 61% owned by the US Government) is taking a swipe at the Obama Administration’s decision to cancel NASA’s shuttle program (for those of you who haven’t heard US astronauts now have to ride to space with Russia).
Also I, like many proud Americans, believe that American exceptionalism is something to be proud of. As a strong nation we have been able to defend smaller countries from outside invaders and created technologies that have improved lives around the world. We should embrace and encourage an America that is exceptional because it means that we have something to offer the world.
“Although all men are born free, slavery has been the general lot of the human race. Ignorant – they have been cheated; asleep – they have been surprised; divided – the yoke has been forced upon them. But what is the lesson? …the people ought to be enlightened, to be awakened, to be united, that after establishing a government they should watch over it…. It is universally admitted that a well-instructed people alone can be permanently free.”
Published on June 1, 2010 by Brian Riedl Special Report #78
“The 2010 edition of “Federal Spending by the Numbers” shows spending and deficits continuing to grow at a pace not seen since World War II. Washington will spend $30,543 per household in 2010—$5,000 per household more than just two years ago. While some of this spending is a temporary result of the recession, President Obama’s latest budget would replace this temporary spending with permanent new programs. Consequently, by 2020—a time of assumed peace and prosperity—Washington would still spend nearly $36,000 per household, compared to $25,000 per household before this recession (adjusted for inflation).”
Contrary to what you hear in the news, the United States of America is still the world’s largest exporter of Goods and Services. Now its true that China exports more goods, but the US has become such a service based economy that when they are included we exported about $200 Billion more in 2009 than China did.
Also as a side note, Germany is the second largest exporter. That’s pretty impressive given the difference in populations between the three countries.
Table taken from here. And the WTO report can be found here.
One of “laws” of economics that most politicians forget whenever they write a new piece of legislation is the Law of Unintended Consequences. Here is another example from the Obamacare Bill.
Some major health insurance companies will no longer issue certain types of policies for children, an unintended consequence of President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul law, state officials said Friday.
…Insurers are worried that parents will wait until kids get sick to sign them up, saddling the companies with unpredictable costs.
…”We believe that the majority of people who would buy this policy were going to use it immediately, probably for high cost claims,” said Kammer. “Guaranteed issue means you could technically buy it on the way to the hospital.”
You can read the whole article here. This is already a common problem in Massachusetts where insurance premiums are the highest in the country.
Mike (The Libertarian) and Dave (The Republican) work together at an international microfinance network. Mike brings years of banking experience and Dave brings the "Synergy."
