Quick: If you take out a $1000 loan that has a 20% rate, how much will you owe a year in interest? Answer: $200. But if you got that wrong, you’re not alone. Nearly two thirds of Americans can’t calculate interest payments correctly, according to a new study. About a third said they didn’t even […]
Recently, a rather sizable number of high profile mega-billionaires announced an intention to donate most of their net worths to charity. Very commendable. Or was it? More than 30 U.S billionaires have pledged to give at least half of their fortunes to charity as part of a campaign spearheaded by Warren Buffett, the investor, and Bill Gates, the […]
Now let me get this straight. Goldman Sachs (GS), aka “Government Sachs”, has just received the largest penalty ever imposed on a financial firm. Yes, a whopping $550 million. Relative to Goldman’s 2009 net income of roughly $12 billion, this represents less than 5%, or about two weeks worth of earnings. In the case of British […]
Every empire goes through what appears to be an inevitable series of conditions which accompany its rise to dominance and then its fall to ashes. This has proven especially true for the 3 key modern empires: the British, the American and the Soviet Union. So, what are the signs of a rising or falling empire? They […]
The concept of Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD), developed during the Cold War, is a doctrine of military strategy in which two opponents possessed the ability to destroy each other. As nuclear arsenals within the United States and the old Soviet Union grew during the arms race, it was understood that neither side could “win” a […]
NO ONE! Let me “splain”, as Ricky Riccardo might say. Long ago, the U.S. was an agricultural leader, with 1 of 2 people making their livelihoods on the farm. Following that came the “assembly line”, which ushered in a period during which agricultural workers were drawn off the farms and into the factories, especially the early […]
The solution is a lot easier than one might think. In fact, just about anyone, on an individual level, has found themselves in a similar position: too many bills, too much debt and not enough income. The difference is that NONE of us can print money and/or change the rules so as to circumvent the system. […]
Yesterday, we began a series on how to fix the budget deficit by suggesting wholesale changes to how individuals are incentivized through the structures of taxes. Change how people are rewarded and punished and you’ll get them to do what we, as a society, would like to see done. That was Step 1. Step 2: […]
