How would you like to drive from New York to Los Angeles with just one stop for gas? It seems incredible and wonderful, but it can happen. In late 2010, the Volkswagen Passat BlueMotion set a new world record for the "longest distance traveled by a standard production passenger car on a single tank of gas." It travels 1,526.63 miles. It translates to a fuel economy of 75 miles per gallon.
Sweet! Only one thing — this passenger car is for the U.K. You can't drive this car in ... (more)
The unemployment crisis in America is much worse than you are being told. Did you know that there are 100 million working age Americans that do not get up in the morning and go to work? No wonder why it seems like there are so many people that do not have jobs! According to the federal government, there are 12.6 million working age Americans that are considered to be "officially" unemployed, but there are another 87.8 million working age Americans that are not working either.&n... (more)
Facebook Inc. (FB) is betting its growth prospects will persuade investors to pay 99 times earnings for its initial public offering, a higher multiple than 99 percent of companies in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index.
The world’s most popular social-networking site will seek a market value of as much as $96 billion, offering shares at $28 to $35 each, a regulatory filing showed yesterday. The Menlo Park, California-based company will begin meeting investors next week and... (more)
A hundred and seven people in numerous cities have been charged with defrauding Medicare. The cost of their dishonesty is estimated at near a half billion dollars. As with any entitlement program, there are leaks, and recipients misrepresent their circumstances to grab more dough. Some believe that Medicare fraud costs the government up to $90 billion a year.
Easy prediction: Congress will not cut spending. The hysteria in Washington is for naught, as usual. There will be no "austerity," at least not the kind brought on by cuts in government. Nor will there be curbs on the Fed. Our credit-drenched, phoney-money culture would never stand for it.
But let's just pretend that this fantasy did come true, for once. What would happen?
Try not to be intimidated by what the supposed experts say; rather, think about the following ... (more)
(FEDERALJACK) Paul Krugman says FED policy does not effect food & oil prices, the dollar hasn’t gone down, inflation is good for workers. EPIC FAIL Paul.
Rich Americans renouncing U.S. citizenship rose sevenfold since UBS AG (UBSN) whistle-blower Bradley Birkenfeld triggered a crackdown on tax evasion four years ago.
About 1,780 expatriates gave up their nationality at U.S. embassies last year, up from 235 in 2008, according to Andy Sundberg, secretary of Geneva’s Overseas American Academy, citing figures from the government’s Federal Register. The embassy in Bern, the Swiss capital, redeployed staff to clear a backlog ... (more)
US citizenship has gone from a coveted asset to a liability. As they highlight in this article, it's only going to get worse as the new "FATCA" law will turn US citizens into untouchables. - Chris, InfoLib
Beginning last year, mainstream reporters began kvetching about a rather brilliant tax strategy used by Google, Apple and hundreds of other technology firms. It's been the path to survival for these companies. It relies on a feature of digital goods that would have otherwise been impossible with physical goods. Firms are setting up revenue-receiving subsidiaries in lower-tax states and countries as a means of lowering their overall tax liability.
Not noted in this list is the fact every one of these products is made more efficiently than ever. If gold was still used as money, they would be a fraction of a fraction of their old price today. - Chris
Yes. That's exactly it. That's why the politicians hate economics. That's why the media are so… selective in which economists they call on to talk about policy.
That's why the economics departments in colleges are put down by the sociologists, philosophers, literature professors and just about everyone else who has romantic longings for a coerced utopia.
"The teachings of the principles of econom... (more)
Finally an Austrian gets to debate arch-statist Paul Krugman. Ron successfully shows Krugman to be a complete idiot (not that we need any more evidence).
First, he owns his "Austrians want to go backwards in monetary policy by 150 years" quip by pointing out inflationists want to go back 1000-2000 years to the inflationary policies of the Roman & Gree... (more)
Today's New York Times is a treasure trove of stories of government standing in the way of commerce. Anyone visiting the Big Apple knows hotel lodging costs an arm and a leg. Some enterprising property owners in the city and outer boroughs have stepped in to fill consumer demand and make some money in the process. And with the aid of internet search engines and websites devoted to helping travelers find cheap rooms, demand has been brisk.
When most people think of the economic decline that is happening in America, most of them think of states like California and cities like Detroit. In both cases, unemployment is rampant, government finances are a mess, and businesses and families are both leaving in droves. So what is causing this? What do California and Detroit have in common? Well, for one thing, both the state of California and the city of Detroit have been run by anti-business socialist control freaks... (more)
The Federal Reserve says that everything is going to be okay. The Fed says that unemployment is going to go down, inflation is going to remain low and economic growth is going to steadily increase. Do you believe them this time? As you will see later in this article, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke has been dead wrong about the economy over and over again. But the mainstream media and many Americans still seem to have a lot of faith in the Federal Reserve. It ... (more)
A year ago the Treasury Department bragged about an analysis that claimed the government's massive bank bailout in response to the 2008 financial crisis (TARP) would actually end up turning a $24 million profit.
At the time, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said that while the government's overriding objective was to "break the back of the financial crisis and save American... (more)
Jim Rogers, chairman of Rogers Holdings Inc. stopped by the Business Insider office yesterday to chat about China, commodities and his work life balance.
In this segment, he shares some fascinating thoughts on the transition of power to the fifth generation, the ... (more)
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