Middle Class Dismissed

U.S. household stock wealth at highest level since dotcom bubble

"Currently, according to Ned Davis Research, stocks represent 40% of total household financial assets, much higher than the 28.2% average allocation since 1951. There’s been only one other occasion since 1951 in which stock allocation was higher than it is today — at the top of the late 1990s internet bubble, when it rose to 47.5%. Every other major stock market top of the last seven decades, in contrast, occurred when households’ equity allocation was lower than today’s level. At the 2007 stock market top, for example, the allocation peaked at 37.1%."

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Japanese debt-slavery: more dropping dead from overwork

"Japanese employees work significantly longer hours than their counterparts in the US, Britain and other developed countries. Japan’s employees used, on average, only 8.8 days of their annual leave in 2015, less than half their allowance, according to the health ministry. That compares with 100% in Hong Kong and 78% in Singapore."

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Governments threatening teens for cutting grass without a business license

"Teenagers have been threatened by officials and other lawn services to show their city issued license before cutting a person's lawn for extra summer cash. Cutting grass is often one of the first jobs many have in the summer. But a business license in Gardendale costs $110. And for a job, just for a couple of months, that can be a bit extreme." Continue reading →

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The Little Known Law That Lets Hospitals Shut Down Competition

"Iowa makes it a crime for doctors to open up a new location and offer services without obtaining special permission known as a 'certificate of need.' Permission is not easy to come by: Dr. Birchansky must persuade state officials that his outpatient surgery center is 'needed' in the proposed location through a cumbersome process that resembles full-blown litigation and that allows existing businesses (his competitors) to oppose his application. This process amounts to nothing more than certificates of monopoly." Continue reading →

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