We also deserved a vote, Mr. Obama, but we didn’t get it from Harry Reid!
Spare us the platitudes, Mr. President. We know how you really feel.
Murray Sabrin: Cuba, part two, the economy
"Castro’s dream for Cuba turned into a nightmare in the early 1990s with the collapse of the Soviet Union and the liberation of Eastern Europe. Cuba’s GDP plunged at least 35% in two years. The Cuban crisis caused its leaders to do some soul searching: how do they adhere to the goals of The Revolution without the subsidies that were masking the inherent flaws of its collectivist experiment. Without the infrastructure—economic, financial, legal, and social institutions to deliver the goods and services to the people–Cuba has slowly been transforming itself into a mixed economy a la the United States and the rest of the developed nations of the world." Continue reading →
Rising incomes fuel India’s growing appetite for meat
"India’s booming middle-class is driving the demand for meat in a country with a traditionally low intake — a survey in 2006 showed that 40 percent of the population were vegetarian. Members of the Jain faith and some groups within India’s majority Hindu religion hold vegetarianism as an ideal. Father of the nation Mahatma Gandhi espoused a meat-free diet as part of his non-violent philosophy. But fewer of the younger generation appear to feel the same. With chicken a favourite meat, the rapid rise of the domestic poultry market is a good indication of changing diets." Continue reading →
Central Bank Snuffs Out Vietnam’s Thriving Gold Market
"There is such a demand to hold gold in Vietnam that the public is now holding some 300 to 500 tons of gold, totaling U.S $30 billion. Recently, however, the Vietnamese central bank disallowed loans in gold. Now, it is preventing banks from paying interest to customers on their gold. Instead, it is forcing banks to charge customer to store their gold, and requiring banks to regularly report on their transactions with account holders. What’s happening is that the government wants to prevent citizens from using alternatives to its own quickly devaluing currency. This, way, the government can continue to steal purchasing power from its citizens through inflation." Continue reading →
Vietnam attempts to address ‘long illness’ of public sector
"State-owned enterprises have racked up some $61 billion of debt which represents more than half of total public debt in Vietnam. Several of the SOEs have already collapsed in spectacular fashion, including shipping giants Vinashin — which ran up $4.4 billion of losses — and Vinalines, which has defaulted on payments of some $1.1 billion. Experts say the SOEs have become expert at hiding their debts, have incomprehensible strategies, hazardous investments in non-core sectors which are cunningly designed to circumvent government regulations. The top officials running the companies frequently flaunt lifestyles incompatible with their official remuneration." Continue reading →
Vietnam jails 22 activists for subversion
"The 22 were accused of running a 'reactionary' group disguised as an eco-tourism operator, which produced documents 'slandering' the regime and distorting its guidelines and policies, according to state media. Dozens of activists have been jailed since Vietnam — a one-party state that forbids political debate — began a new crackdown on free expression in late 2009. Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung ordered a new crackdown on online dissent, telling authorities to fight against anyone using the Internet to 'defame and spread propaganda against the party and state'. Vietnam bans private media and all newspapers and television channels are state-run." Continue reading →
Chinese Justice – Or Orwell Circa 2013?
"The Ministry of Public Security is working to set up an annual high-level meeting with US judicial officials in a bid to catch and return more Chinese fugitives. 'We're negotiating with the US Department of Homeland Security and will try to arrange the first summit this year,' said Wang Liqiang, a senior official in the ministry's international cooperation bureau. The meeting is expected to bring together the minister of public security and senior officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with their US counterparts to discuss cooperation on intelligence, operations, suspect repatriations and the recovery of stolen assets." Continue reading →
Taiwanese billionaire launches Asian ‘Nobel prize’
"One of Taiwan’s richest men on Monday launched what has been widely touted as the Asian equivalent of the Nobel Prize. Samuel Yin, head of the sprawling Ruentex business empire, said that by donating Tw$3 billion ($101 million) for the Tang Prize he had fulfilled one of his biggest dreams. 'I hope that the prize will encourage more research that is beneficial to the world and humankind, promote Chinese culture and make the world a better place,' he said. Beginning in 2014 prizes will be awarded every two years in four different categories — sustainable development, biopharmaceutical science, sinology and the 'rule of law' — to individuals, regardless of nationality." Continue reading →
FATCA: Do I have to report my offshore gold?
"Imagine what would happen if the Chinese government passed a law requiring US banks to share customer information with Beijing. People would go nuts. But in the Land of the Free, it’s normal. Crazy. It gets worse. FATCA was a mere 18 pages of poorly worded legislation that failed to define critical terms. How many pages of regulations did the IRS issue? The answer is a mind numbing 544 pages. After an initial read, though, the language of the regulation does suggest that custodial gold institutions (like GoldMoney, etc.) should be reported. Offshore safety deposit boxes (like Das Safe) do not." Continue reading →
The Communist Romania Exit Tax
"In order to receive a visa for permanent non-citizen residence in the U.S., I had to pay a tax for all the government benefits I had received in my first twenty years of life, schooling, medical care, subsidized concrete block housing, pot-holed road use, constant police surveillance, and other 'services' I was not even aware existed or received. I was worried since I had no penny to my name and I knew I would not be able to leave without paying. The final figure was provided to me after months of deliberation and computation by the communist party apparatchiks – my freedom was worth exactly $160 U.S. dollars. I owned a Japanese boom box which I sold quickly for $160." Continue reading →
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