Middle Class Dismissed

Cyprus, lenders reach bailout deal; 40% deposit tax agreed

"Cyprus and its institutional lenders have reached a bailout deal, according to reports citing European Union officials. As part of the agreement the country will impose a 40% haircut on Bank of Cyprus depositors holding more than 100,000 euros ($129,760) in their accounts, Agence France Presse reported. The deal will now be put to the Eurogroup in Brussels for approval, the reports said. The weekend saw tense meetings between Cyprus and the Troika -- the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund -- to reach a deal before a Monday evening funding deadline." Continue reading →

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There Will Be No Economic Recovery. Prepare Yourself Accordingly.

"Everything you need to know that the media is not telling you... Stefan Molyneux, host of Freedomain Radio - and winner of the 2012 Liberty Inspiration Award - breaks down the unspoken facts about the end of freedom, opportunity and trade in the modern United States. There will be no economic recovery, prepare yourself accordingly." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingThere Will Be No Economic Recovery. Prepare Yourself Accordingly.
Read more about the article Nigel Farage: EU wants to steal money from Cypriots bank accounts

Nigel Farage: EU wants to steal money from Cypriots bank accounts

"Taking the bailout model to extremes - the EU has given Cyprus an ultimatum - either force savers to save banks, or go bankrupt. United Kingdom Independence Party MEP Nigel Farage gives his perspective on the deposit levy and Cypriot parliament vote." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingNigel Farage: EU wants to steal money from Cypriots bank accounts

The Retirement Crisis That Must Not Be Mentioned

"A theme that is little explored in the Western mainstream press is that retirement has all but collapsed for many in the middle classes. We have in the past called this condition 'dreamtime' – for it was built on central banking initiatives and fostered by central banking super-money printing. The idea was that the stock market was going to go up and up – and people would be able to take retirement based on their own investment initiatives. In Europe, state-fostered retirement provided a slightly different model. But the main issue in both the US and Europe was that an entity larger than the individual was going to manage the realities of retirement." Continue reading →

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Retirement crisis: Impoverished seniors on horizon

"American households are so strapped that only half could come up with $2,000 in cash if an unexpected need arose in the next month. You would think that savings levels would increase, but no. The percentage reporting saving anything for retirement is at 66 percent, down from 75 percent in 2009. In a little more than a decade, there will be a lot of older people who will run out of money. There will be stories written in 2025 about Joe Smith, 82, a retired autoworker, living in a flophouse on $2,100 a month in Social Security after his pension was cut off and his personal savings ran out, while his children, in their 60s themselves, moved 2,000 miles away." Continue reading →

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Can Your Edward Jones Financial Advisor Really Serve Your Best Interests?

"Edward Jones agreed, without admitting any wrongdoing, to a $75 million regulatory settlement with the SEC for allegedly failing to disclose that it received tens of millions of dollars from preferred mutual fund partners each year on top of commissions and other fees. Investors shouldn't need to worry that they're getting fleeced by the very person who's being paid to advise them. Investors are at greater risk of being taken advantage of when their advisor is not required to put them first, has strong economic incentives to generate fees, and doesn't need to disclose those conflicts of interest in a particularly clear way." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCan Your Edward Jones Financial Advisor Really Serve Your Best Interests?

Harry Browne: The Coming Devaluation (Sept. 3, 1970)

"Taped Sept 3, 1970, this insightful economic conversation remains relevant today. Note Mr. Browne predicts that, 'as an act of economic desperation,' our government will have to 'renege on their promise to foreign governments to pay one ounce of gold for every $35 turned in at the Treasury.' On August 15, 1971, the Nixon Administration did so." Continue reading →

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Cyprus vs Bankocracy: ‘Mattress better place to keep cash than banks’

"Thousands of Cypriots are celebrating, after the country's Parliament gave a resounding no vote to the EU-IMF bailout package. The move could have seen the government take up to 10% of people's savings, from private bank accounts - as a precondition to securing the much needed 10 billion euro loan. Now that it's been rejected, the ailing Eurozone member will have to work out another plan to avoid bankruptcy." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCyprus vs Bankocracy: ‘Mattress better place to keep cash than banks’

Senate embraces Internet sales tax

"The U.S. Senate voted overwhelmingly today to endorse levying Internet sales taxes on American shoppers, despite warnings that the proposal is antibusiness, harmful to taxpayers, and will be a 'bureaucratic nightmare.' Senators adopted an amendment to a Democratic budget resolution that, by allowing states to 'collect taxes on remote sales,' ushers in the first national Internet sales tax. The vote follows a week of fierce lobbying from the National Retail Federation and the Retail Industry Leaders Association, which represent companies including Walmart, Target, AutoZone, Best Buy, Home Depot, OfficeMax, Macy's, and the Container Store." Continue reading →

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Cyprus concedes big bank account tax, nationalizing pension funds

"As Cypriot party leaders met, a senior Cypriot official told Reuters that Nicosia had agreed with EU/IMF lenders on a 20 percent levy over and above 100,000 euros at No. 1 lender Bank of Cyprus, and four percent on deposits over the same level at others. Cypriot lawmakers voted in late-night session on Friday to nationalize state pensions and split failing lenders into good and bad banks. They also gave the government powers to impose capital controls, anticipating a run on banks when they reopen on Tuesday. A plan to nationalize semi-state pension funds has met with resistance, being possibly even more painful for ordinary Cypriots than a deposit levy." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCyprus concedes big bank account tax, nationalizing pension funds