Middle Class Dismissed

Thought The Euro Crisis Was Over? These 18 Charts Show The Real Crisis That Lies Ahead

"The latest Eurostat unemployment figures released today remind of a far bigger problem that the eurozone now must face – staggering levels of youth unemployment across the region. Governments on the euro periphery – which desperately need to institute difficult economic reforms to put budgets on sustainable paths – receive little support from a younger generation that feels like its opportunities and its future have been crushed already by the very same actors." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingThought The Euro Crisis Was Over? These 18 Charts Show The Real Crisis That Lies Ahead

‘We can no longer afford to be American citizens’

"Well, you could always move to Canada, right? Think again. The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) comes more fully into effect this year, and as The Globe and Mail's Barrie McKenna explains, 'FATCA will force the hand of many Americans in Canada, making them choose between compliance or giving up their U.S. citizenship.' Here's why." Continue reading →

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David Galland: Welcome to the Company Store

"Other than a small percentage of the population who have managed to build enough wealth to break the cycle through diversified investment and income sources, the vast majority of the population lives pretty much hand to mouth. Of the money you earn, close to a majority is now returned to the state in the form of taxes of all description (payroll, property, sales, income, etc., ad infinitum). Then, because it's a rigged game, just like the company store, the money you do manage is steadily debased. And while the situation is bad, it hasn't yet gotten desperate." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingDavid Galland: Welcome to the Company Store

Barter and Alternative Currencies Growing in Greece

"The issue of tax reporting is brought into the article – and an insinuation is made that people are dodging taxes by using these systems. But so far as we can tell, such systems need central bookkeeping, which is one reason why we figure the United Nations has been a supporter of them. Gold and silver are far harder to track for personal usage than barter/currency systems that use a centralized bookkeeping system. Are Greeks turning to gold and silver as well, as those in Zimbabwe have done once the economy collapsed? We would bet gold and silver are finding their place alongside such barter/currency systems." Continue reading →

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10 Reasons Why You Have to Quit Your Job This Year

"You can’t make money without selling something real. You can’t make something real without first imagination manifesting itself in your head. You can’t have imagination without surrendering yourself to an idea that you want to create something of value to other human beings. And now it’s too late. Now the course of history has finally written it’s next chapter. There’s no more bullshit. I’m going to tell you why you have to quit your job. Why you need to get the ideas moving. Why you need to build a foundation for your life or soon you will have no roof." Continue reading →

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Germany ‘exporting’ elderly to foreign retirement homes

"Growing numbers of elderly and sick Germans are being sent overseas for long-term care in retirement and rehabilitation centres because of rising costs and falling standards in Germany. The move, which has seen thousands of retired Germans rehoused in homes in eastern Europe and Asia, has been severely criticised by social welfare organisations who have called it 'inhumane deportation'. But with increasing numbers of Germans unable to afford the growing costs of retirement homes, and an ageing and shrinking population, the number expected to be sent abroad in the next few years is only likely to rise. Experts describe it as a 'time bomb'." Continue reading →

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Lord Obama on Shared Sacrifice

"So what's the definition of shared sacrifice, and what's the definition of 'forward?' 54 Christmas trees, a 300 lb. gingerbread presidential palace, and a dandy $4 million Hawaiian vacation. Robert Keith Gray, a former Eisenhower staffer, revealed that last year the U.S. presidency cost American taxpayers $1.4 billion. Over the same period, the entire royal family cost British taxpayers about $57 million. There’s nothing 'royal' about the current level of 'presidential perks': The Obama family costs taxpayers more than every European royal house put together." Continue reading →

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Congress, federal workers to get raise

"Members of Congress will be getting a small pay increase next year. Under an executive order issued by President Obama on Thursday, members of Congress will join federal workers in seeing their pay rise by 0.5 percent after March 27. Congressmen and senators make $174,000 a year and will see an extra $900 in their annual pay packages before taxes next year." Continue reading →

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