Daily Readings 09-26-2012
In theory, confiscating the wealth of the more successful people ought to make the rest of the society more prosperous. But when the Soviet Union confiscated the wealth of successful farmers, food became scarce. As many people died of starvation under Stalin in the 1930s as died in Hitler’s Holocaust in the 1940s.
How can that be? It is not complicated. You can only confiscate the wealth that exists at a given moment. You cannot confiscate future wealth — and that future wealth is less likely to be produced when people see that it is going to be confiscated. Farmers in the Soviet Union cut back on how much time and effort they invested in growing their crops, when they realized that the government was going to take a big part of the harvest. They slaughtered and ate young farm animals that they would normally keep tending and feeding while raising them to maturity.
Dallas Fed’s Fisher Warns of ‘Uncharted Waters’
The Federal Reserve’s decision to jolt the economy a third time with monetary stimulus measures won’t help the country much but could stoke inflationary pressures down the road, said Dallas Fed President Richard Fisher, a noted inflation hawk.
The Great California Exodus: A Closer Look
What has caused California’s transformation from a “pull in” to a “push out” state? The data have revealed several crucial drivers. One is chronic economic adversity (in most years, California unemployment is above the national average). Another is density: the Los Angeles and Orange County region now has a population density of 6,999.3 per square mile—well ahead of New York or Chicago. Dense coastal areas are a source of internal migration, as people seek more space in California’s interior, as well as migration to other states. A third factor is state and local governments’ constant fiscal instability, which sends at least two discouraging messages to businesses and individuals. One is that they cannot count on state and local governments to provide essential services—much less, tax breaks or other incentives. Second, chronically out-of-balance budgets can be seen as tax hikes waiting to happen.
Barack Obama shrugs, but the debt keeps mounting
A fiscal horror is unfolding on the president’s watch, yet few seem concerned
70% of Spending Goes to Dependence Programs
Government dependence is driving budget deficits and federal debt. More than 70 percent of federal spending goes to 47 government dependence programs, including housing, farm subsidies, and the three largest entitlements, Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security.
Geithner Says U.S. Entitlement Commitments Are “Unsustainable”…
Roseanne Barr not joking: More socialism - HUH?
As Roseanne Barr continues her presidential campaign as the Peace and Freedom Party candidate, she has a attention-grabbing message: We need more socialism.
“I do think that we need a little bit more socialism in this country at this time,” Barr told Sean Hannity Monday night. “We need to move stuff from the top to the middle and the bottom, because it keeps on staying at the top.”
American High School Band Marches with Hammer & Sickle -WTH?
A Pennsylvania high school marching band is raising eyebrows with a halftime performance that commemorates the Russian revolution, complete with red flags, olive military-style uniforms, and giant hammers and sickles.
“There is no reason for Americans to celebrate the Russian revolution,” said one irate parent who alerted Fox News. “I am sure the millions who died under Communism would not see the joy of celebrating the Russian revolution by a school 10 miles from Gettysburg.”
Colin Powell on Capitalism: ‘We Shouldn’t Be Afraid of That Word. It’s What Gave Us All Our Wealth’
Former Secretary of State Colin Powell said America “shouldn’t be afraid” to use the word capitalism when encouraging economic growth in emerging democracies in the Middle East because “it’s what gave us all our wealth.”
The Stunning, Sudden Reversal of Economic Freedom In America
Built up over more than two centuries, America’s “irreversible trend toward more freedom” has been suddenly (and stunningly) reversed over the last decade – with tragic consequences for business owners, taxpayers and citizens alike. Once a bastion of free market ideology and unprecedented prosperity, America’s ongoing descent into dependence-inducing command economics is fast approaching terminal velocity.
Why We Should Care About America’s Fading Economic Freedom - We do NOT need more socialism, we need more economic freedom
Poll: 47 percent of Americans say too much government regulation
After a busy year for regulators, adding more than 58,000 of regulations so far this year alone, 47 percent of Americans say the government regulates too much, according to a new Gallup poll.
In contrast, only 26 percent of Americans say there’s not enough regulation of business, and 24 percent say there’s just the right amount of regulation.
History shows that government spending and social-engineering programs don’t spur growth
8 early warning signs inflation is percolating
They don’t ring a bell at the top of a bull market nor at the bottom of a bear market. But when it comes to inflation there are some early warning signs that investors can monitor, according to a new report.
Investing for globally coordinated inflation
I am not about to argue the morality of central bank actions, as Richard Russell recently did in his Dow Letter. What I simply recognize is that greater inflation, right or wrong, is imminent. What is further clear to me is that inflation will be driven not only by monetary factors, but by increasing demand for scarce resources, particularly food, energy and healthcare.
Dow will repeat 2007-2008 peak-crash cycle
Daily Readings 09-26-2012,In the next four years — no matter who’s president — Wall Street will keep repeating the B.S., piling it on thicker, deeper, until they finally trigger a new meltdown bigger than 2008, worse than 1929, driving America into another Great Depression, like the 1930s
September 26th, 2012 at 8:59 pm
Hmmm
Using farmers as a catch all justification for not confiscating the wealth of the 1% is at best dishonest. Clearly much of Wall Street produces nothing, provides little in the way of services and does a stupendous job of cheating the IRS and hence the tax payers. Confiscating the wealth of speculators and ponzi syndicates that populate much of Wall Street would present zero danger to the general population or the economic stability of the country. What it would do is take back the dirty money stolen by a mere handfull of very greedy very evil and very crooked people. And I might add that many of these people that own/control much of Wall Street are not even US citizens.