"So, you want to live in a place that is likely to grow. You want to own a home there. You want to own 20 more in 20 years. Where should you move to? If you want a large city, you should move here. If you want a smaller city, you should move here. Are a lot of them in Texas? Of course. Does Texas have a state income tax? No. Is the weather good? Yes. Is real estate cheap? Yes. Are people armed? Yes." Continue reading →
"My wife and I traveled to Cuba with 22 other Americans (January 9-16) on a tour organized by Road Scholar; a Boston based nonprofit travel agency formerly known as Elderhostel. Road Scholar has a license issued by the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the U.S. Treasury Department to conduct People-to-People interactions. On January 9 we took an early morning one-hour charter flight from Miami International Airport to Cienfuegos, a port city of about 100,000 in the southern central part on the island. In addition to our group dozens of Cuban Americans were on board to visit their families." Continue reading →
"Ordinary North Koreans live in a near-total information bubble, without any true frame of reference. I can't think of any reaction to that except absolute sympathy. My understanding is that North Koreans are taught to believe they are lucky to be in North Korea, so why would they ever want to leave? They're hostages in their own country, without any real consciousness of it. And the opacity of the country's inner workings--down to the basics of its economy--further serves to reinforce the state's control. The best description we could come up with: it's like The Truman Show, at country scale." Continue reading →
"Japan’s finance minister Taro Aso said Monday the elderly should be allowed to 'hurry up and die' instead of costing the government money for end-of-life medical care. Ageing is a sensitive issue in Japan, one of the world’s oldest countries, with almost a quarter of its 128 million people over 60. That figure is expected to rise to 40 percent within the next half-century. At the same time a shrinking number of workers is placing further strain on an already groaning social security system, with not enough money going into the pot to support those who depend on it." Continue reading →
"Many advanced economies will be threatened by another, long-term fiscal shock unless they tackle the problem of ageing populations, the ratings agency Fitch warned on Monday. In particular Cyprus, Ireland and Japan, could well see the cost of ageing populations jump over the next decade, the agency said, warning that this would affect the sovereign debt ratings of such countries at some point. 'Luxembourg, Belgium, Malta and Slovenia face the most severe impact over the very long term,' Fitch noted." Continue reading →
"A southwestern Pennsylvania hospital will stop delivering babies after March 31 because its obstetricians are either leaving or refocusing their practices, and because hospital officials believe they can't afford it based on projected reimbursements under looming federal health care reforms. Hospital officials say the population of women of child-bearing age is dropping and that the number of births the hospital would be called upon to perform isn't enough for it to provide the service in the face of lower reimbursements under the federal Affordable Care Act." Continue reading →
"The reason why I want to mention System D is because it helps me starkly illustrate that in the final analysis what is being discussed here is simply human survival. This is a discussion that, without being hyperbolic, does touch upon life-and-death issues. To make this unexceptionable point crystal clear, Robert Neuwirth, in his book The Stealth of Nations, mentions how System D has helped people survive the financial crisis. Perhaps one of the most impressive examples of the counter-economics idea in action is that of what businesspeople did in order to evade the price control laws of Nazi Germany." Continue reading →
"More than 60 percent of cigarettes smoked in New York State, which has the highest tobacco taxes in the nation, are smuggled in from out of state and consumed tax free. New York raised its excise tax by 58% from $2.75 a pack to $4.35 in 2010, but it resulted in only a 20% increase in revenue. It's is really good to know this underground network is in action. In addition to smokers being provided tax free cigarettes, the black market that is developing in NYS is creating a network of trusted suppliers and customers that can be operational against further government interventions that may take place down the road." Continue reading →
"The easiest prediction to make for 2013 is that everything we eat will once again rise sharply in price. So where will the revolutions start this year? Keep an eye on Algeria and Greece — and if you want to feel very nervous, Russia and China. And if you are smart, keep your money out of those countries as well. The link between the cost of feeding your family and political turmoil is too well-established to be ignored. We saw it most recently with the Arab Spring of 2011. The uprisings that deposed the autocracies of the Middle East had their roots in food inflation." Continue reading →
"Simon Ward from Henderson Global Investors said the net loss of funds was €53bn (£43.8bn) over the two months, roughly the period when Mr Holland unveiled a string of tax rises and suffered a collapse in relations with French business. A key gauge of the French money supply -- six-month real M1 -- has been contracting at an accelerating rate ever since Mr Holland's election in May. It has fallen to levels last seen in the depths of the crisis in 2008. France's money data is now flashing more serious warnings than numbers in Italy or Spain." Continue reading →