It turns out that socialism is proving to be really catastrophic for Venezuela. When you mix price controls, inflation, central economic planning and inept government officials, you get this: daily blackouts. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro announced this week that his government will order public employees to work only on Mondays and Tuesdays as the country […]
Archives for April 2016
Do Rich People Pay Their ‘Fair Share’?
By: Ryan McMaken Earlier this month, information from a Panamanian law firm was leaked which showed that many wealthy people had set up Panamanian shell companies to hide income and avoid taxes. Out of 11.5 million leaked documents, only 211 people (.00006% of the US population) with US addresses (not all of them citizens) were implicated […]
Retirement Crisis: U.S. phasing out popular Social Security benefit amid looming insolvency
With the Social Security trust fund on the cusp of insolvency, the federal government is making some changes that would affect seniors today. One of these changes is phasing out a popular Social Security benefit that raises lifetime payments for American seniors. It’s reported that the Obama administration is eliminating the “file and suspend rule,” […]
New Deutsche Bank report forecasts silver hitting $20 soon
Silver is having a stellar 2016, and is even outperforming gold. Year-to-date, silver is up 26 percent at over $17. The rise in silver prices is also crossing over to mining companies, which are also having a superb year thus far (SEE: A look at gold, silver stocks soaring as high as 17% Monday). Can […]
Yikes! Bank of Japan is a shareholder in 90% of the Nikkei 225 Stock Average
For most businesses, shareholders range from average investors to major investment funds. It’s pretty rare for a central bank to be a shareholder in a handful of companies let a lone most firms trading on a stock exchange. But that’s the position Japan is in right now. According to estimates from Bloomberg News, using public […]