Archive for October, 2012
‘Tolley’s tax guide, the Bible in such matters, reached an insane 11,520 pages at last count, more than double the number of pages in the 1997 edition, thanks to Labour’s obsession with micro-managing the economy; but instead of complexity being reduced under the Coalition, as promised by George Osborne, ever more pages are being added.’ – UK Daily Telegraph After reading that report in the UK Daily Telegraph I did some research. It looks as though the UK has it licked when it comes to over-the-top tax laws. In comparison, the US Master Tax Guide 2012 runs to a slim
No one in the US takes its enormous debt seriously, or is serious about what it will take to stop its growth, much less pay it back. The US has a $16 trillion national debt. The Federal government is adding to that debt each year by almost $1 trillion. The Federal Reserve is funding that debt via its purchases of Treasury bonds. This is financial repression at its worst.
I want political gridlock. If the House of Representatives and the Senate both go Republican, as I expect they will, then the best chance for political paralysis may be a hostile Democrat in the White House. I want an angry Congress and a president with fingers itching to veto. Ironically, a second-term presidency for Obama could well be America’s shining hope for fewer laws in the next four years. And less law is a situation to be devoutly desired, especially since it would come with a weakened presidency.
It’s funny how people react to other people. You love your football team. You hate all other football teams. You love one TV show. You hate another TV show. And if you’re into this sort of thing, you love one political party and hate the other. But it doesn’t end there. If you believe the mainstream press, Aussie police are smart and clever, whereas Syria’s police are like Stalin’s Soviet Union or Idi Amin’s Uganda. Love the Aussie police. Hate the Syrian police.
Last week I wrote to you about the ‘One Dollar’ savings plan. The idea is that you look at some of your small daily, weekly or monthly spending to see if you really need to spend that money. I gave you an example of what I did two years ago. That is, I realised I didn’t really need to buy two cups of coffee each day from the local cafe.
[Ed Note: This is an extract from the book, Family Fortunes: How to Build Family Wealth and Hold on to it for 100 Years] Over the door of the farmhouse we built as soon as we had enough money to build a proper house, we chiselled the words of Virgil: “Hic domus, haec patria est.” Roughly translated: This is our home; this is our country. But when you say it, you have to put the emphasis on the second “THIS”. Then it makes sense. “This is our home” is a statement of fact. “THIS is our country” is practically treason.
Apparently, security at Nashville airport in Tennessee thought this 14-year old girl could be a terrorist…
We couldn’t decide whether to write about this subject in Money Morning or in our new free eletter, Pursuit of Happiness. So we’ve come to a compromise. We’ve decided to write about it here and then post it to the Pursuit of Happiness website too. To be honest, this subject matter could fit in either spot. It’s a matter of financial freedom and personal freedom.
Today’s online article is a bit unusual. Rather than quoting from a book, I’m quoting from a review of a book. The following extract comes from Laissez Faire Today’s, Jeffrey Tucker. He’s reviewing the book by father and son, Bill and Will Bonner, Family Fortunes: How to Build Family Wealth and Hold on to it for 100 Years.
Right Again, and Sick of it I’m sick of being right on this. Just once I’d like to make a prediction about it and be wrong. But no. Each time I explain to you what will happen, it happens. The only thing you could accuse me of is being too conservative with the predictions.
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