sound money

Amazon.com gets $252 million tax bill from France

"The back taxes, penalties and interest that the French are seeking from Amazon relate to earnings in France for the years 2006-10 and 'the allocation of income between foreign jurisdictions.' Amazon reduces its exposure to corporation tax in France and most of the rest of Europe by reporting European sales through a Luxembourg-based holding company, taking advantage of the tiny Duchy’s relatively generous taxation of non-domestic earnings." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingAmazon.com gets $252 million tax bill from France

Chinese demand for robots increases as labor costs rise

"China’s growing affluence and family planning laws have had dramatic effects on its workforce. Improved medical care has enabled older generations to live longer, and the one-child policy has effectively capped the younger generation’s size. In 2000 there were six working-age citizens for each Chinese person aged 60 and up; 20 years from now, population experts predict, there will be only two. Young Chinese have no choice but to seek skilled, high-paying work to support their parents. They’re better educated than their forebears, and less interested in menial assembly-line labour. Robots may fill the jobs they’ve left behind." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingChinese demand for robots increases as labor costs rise

World’s First 3D Printing Photo Booth to Open

"What’s being called the world’s first 3D printing photo booth is set to open for a limited time at the exhibition space EYE OF GYRE in Harajuku. From November 24 to January 14, 2013, people with reservations can go and have their portraits taken. Except, instead of a photograph, you’ll receive miniature replicas of yourselves." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingWorld’s First 3D Printing Photo Booth to Open

India unveils new version of ‘world’s cheapest tablet’

"The paperback-book-sized Aakash 2, developed by Indian engineers at elite IIT public universities, runs the Google operating system Android 4.0 and has a screen measuring seven inches (18 centimetres) wide. The first 100,000 devices will be sold to students at engineering colleges and universities at a subsidised price of 1,130 rupees (20 dollars) and subsequently Aakash 2 will be distributed to book stores in Indian universities. Datawind says the commercial sale price without subsidies for Aakash 2 is 3,500 rupees (64 dollars)." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingIndia unveils new version of ‘world’s cheapest tablet’

Sony’s credit rating heads toward junk pile

"Japanese tech mega-corporations, including Panasonic and Sony, aren’t doing too well. After Sharp posted its most recent loss, its financial rating fell to junk status, and the company is now seeking a government bailout. Panasonic was also hit with a near-junk rating by Fitch earlier this month, after it posted a loss 30 times larger than analysts had estimated. Now, Sony—the biggest of Japan’s big dogs—can’t escape the bad news either. On Friday, Moody's downgraded Sony’s long-term debt rating from Baa2 to Baa3, one notch above junk status." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSony’s credit rating heads toward junk pile

The Voters Who Stayed Home

"Truth be told, most of today’s GOP does not believe Washington makes things worse. Republicans think the federal government — by confiscating, borrowing, and printing money — is the answer to every problem, rather than the source of most. That is why those running the party today, when they ran Washington during the Bush years, orchestrated an expansion of government size, scope, and spending that would still boggle the mind had Obama not come along. No matter what they say in campaigns, today’s Republicans are champions of massive, centralized government." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingThe Voters Who Stayed Home

Latin American leaders urge review of U.S. pro-marijuana referenda

"The leaders of Mexico and three Central American nations called Monday for a review of anti-drug policies after two US states voted to legalize marijuana. The presidents of Mexico, Honduras, Costa Rica and Belize called on the United Nations to hold a special session by 2015 to examine the 'successes and limits' of current strategies against drug trafficking. In a joint declaration read by Mexican President Felipe Calderon, the leaders asked the Organization of American States (OAS) to draft a report on the impact of last week’s referenda in the US states of Colorado and Washington." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingLatin American leaders urge review of U.S. pro-marijuana referenda

Illinois Debt Takes Toll On Services, Study Finds

"For years, Illinois has racked up billions in public debt to plug budget holes, pay overdue bills, and put money into its mismanaged pension funds. And for the people who live there, this has resulted in decrepit commuter trains and buses, thousands of unsound bridges, 200 hazardous dams and one of the most inequitable public school systems in America. Illinois has the lowest credit rating of the 50 states and has America’s second-biggest public debt per capita, $9,624, including state and local borrowing. Only New York State’s debt is bigger, at $13,840 per capita." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingIllinois Debt Takes Toll On Services, Study Finds

Did the Election Save ObamaCare?

"The morning after Tuesday’s vote, there is one thing every commentator agreed on. The election of Barack Obama guaranteed that his signature piece of legislation—health reform—can now go forward. Republicans are powerless to stop it. Yet there is something all these commentators are overlooking. There are six major flaws in ObamaCare. They are so serious that the Democrats are going to have to perform major surgery on the legislation in the next few years, even if all the Republicans do is stand by and twiddle their thumbs. Here is a brief overview." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingDid the Election Save ObamaCare?

World anti-doping agency wants a larger budget from national governments

"In the wake of the Armstrong scandal, which saw the Texan stripped of his seven Tour de France titles and banned from the sport for life, anti-doping agencies had to work more closely with the pharmaceutical industry. One way that the industry had helped so far was by making available to WADA samples of certain medications not yet available to the wider public to help develop tests more quickly and effectively when they are adapted for illegal use in sport. Rogge, however, said that sport also needed to enlist the support of law enforcement agencies to fight against doping, given that it frequently had links to 'other forms of corruption'." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingWorld anti-doping agency wants a larger budget from national governments