IRS chief to GOP: You can't abolish us … The IRS commissioner on Tuesday brushed aside GOP proposals to abolish his agency, insisting the U.S. would have to have a tax collector one way or another. "You can call them something other than the IRS if that made you feel better," the agency's chief, John Koskinen, said after a speech at the National Press Club. Republicans have...Read More
Body Count Report Reveals At Least 1.3 Million Lives Lost to US-Led War on Terror … Although a conservative estimate, physicians' groups say the figure 'is approximately 10 times greater' than typically reported … – CommonDreams.orgDominant Social Theme: These are just skirmishes.Free-Market Analysis: It is important to keep track of the war on terror and its damages....Read More
Teen libertarian is face of Brazil's young free-market right … The March 15 demonstration was the largest Sao Paulo had seen in more than three decades, since 1984 protests demanding democratic elections after a long dictatorship. But more surprising than the crowd of over 200,000, according to the Datafolha polling and statistics agency, was the fact it was being led by Kataguiri, a ski...Read More
Body Count Report Reveals At Least 1.3 Million Lives Lost to US-Led War on Terror … Although a conservative estimate, physicians' groups say the figure 'is approximately 10 times greater' than typically reported … – CommonDreams.orgDominant Social Theme: These are just skirmishes.Free-Market Analysis: It is important to keep track of the war on terror and its damages....Read More
Teen libertarian is face of Brazil's young free-market right … The March 15 demonstration was the largest Sao Paulo had seen in more than three decades, since 1984 protests demanding democratic elections after a long dictatorship. But more surprising than the crowd of over 200,000, according to the Datafolha polling and statistics agency, was the fact it was being led by Kataguiri, a ski...Read More
Lee Kuan Yew and the Myth of Asian Capitalism … When Lee Kuan Yew took office, Singapore was poor; in 2015, it's one of the richest countries in the world. – BloombergDominant Social Theme: Prosperity has little to do with freedom.Free-Market Analysis: Predictably, the death of Lee Kuan Yew has generated many positive comments in the mainstream media about his "leadership"...Read More
Africa and Around the World … Experience has shown that force alone cannot reduce the drug supply or the criminality and corruption that it induces. – Kofi Annan, Chair of the Kofi Annan Foundation via Vice magazineDominant Social Theme: We were wrong. But let's not dwell on the past.Free-Market Analysis: Leaders in high places around the world are making it clear that the drug war...Read More
Lee Kuan Yew and the Myth of Asian Capitalism … When Lee Kuan Yew took office, Singapore was poor; in 2015, it's one of the richest countries in the world. – BloombergDominant Social Theme: Prosperity has little to do with freedom.Free-Market Analysis: Predictably, the death of Lee Kuan Yew has generated many positive comments in the mainstream media about his "leadership"...Read More
Africa and Around the World … Experience has shown that force alone cannot reduce the drug supply or the criminality and corruption that it induces. – Kofi Annan, Chair of the Kofi Annan Foundation via Vice magazineDominant Social Theme: We were wrong. But let's not dwell on the past.Free-Market Analysis: Leaders in high places around the world are making it clear that the drug war...Read More
Piketty's Three Big Mistakes … Piketty, remember, is the French economist who became a celebrity for his work on inequality. In his blockbuster book, "Capital in the Twenty-First Century," he asserts that the rate at which capital owners' wealth increases is almost always larger than the rate of economic growth. If that's true, it means that the rich get richer, and wea...Read More
Major publisher retracts 43 scientific papers amid wider fake peer-review scandal … A major publisher of scholarly medical and science articles has retracted 43 papers because of "fabricated" peer reviews amid signs of a broader fake peer review racket affecting many more publications. – Washington PostDominant Social Theme: Science saves us?Free-Market Analysis: The breadth...Read More
Piketty's Three Big Mistakes … Piketty, remember, is the French economist who became a celebrity for his work on inequality. In his blockbuster book, "Capital in the Twenty-First Century," he asserts that the rate at which capital owners' wealth increases is almost always larger than the rate of economic growth. If that's true, it means that the rich get richer, and wea...Read More
Major publisher retracts 43 scientific papers amid wider fake peer-review scandal … A major publisher of scholarly medical and science articles has retracted 43 papers because of "fabricated" peer reviews amid signs of a broader fake peer review racket affecting many more publications. – Washington PostDominant Social Theme: Science saves us?Free-Market Analysis: The breadth...Read More
Stock market rigging is no longer a 'conspiracy theory' … The stock market is rigged. When I started making that claim years ago — and provided solid evidence — people scoffed. Some called it a conspiracy theory, tinfoil hats and that sort of stuff. Most people just ignored me. But that's not happening anymore. The dirty secret is out. – Justohn Crudele/New York...Read More
How Jeremy Clarkson lost his job as 'Top Gear' host … Jeremy Clarkson, hugely famous in the United Kingdom for his job as a presenter on the BBC's "Top Gear," is now a former presenter on the BBC's "Top Gear." The BBC sacked him Wednesday after wrapping up its investigation into "an unprovoked physical and verbal attack" by Clarkson on a member o...Read More
Stock market rigging is no longer a 'conspiracy theory' … The stock market is rigged. When I started making that claim years ago — and provided solid evidence — people scoffed. Some called it a conspiracy theory, tinfoil hats and that sort of stuff. Most people just ignored me. But that's not happening anymore. The dirty secret is out. – Justohn Crudele/New York...Read More
How Jeremy Clarkson lost his job as 'Top Gear' host … Jeremy Clarkson, hugely famous in the United Kingdom for his job as a presenter on the BBC's "Top Gear," is now a former presenter on the BBC's "Top Gear." The BBC sacked him Wednesday after wrapping up its investigation into "an unprovoked physical and verbal attack" by Clarkson on a member o...Read More
There appears to be lots of cheer as the markets keep rising. But the 200-day moving average suggests this is a bear . . . in bull's clothing. Understanding institutional trading techniques can keep you focused on your own best long-term investment strategy.Here's a cheery rhymed couplet from Ken Norquay's investment book, Beyond the Bull, for anyone with an interest in the stock market. "Things a...Read More
Caserones mine.Japan's JX Nippon Mining & Metals, a subsidiary of JX Holdings Inc, said Thursday it will write down by 50 billion yen ($421 million) the value of its investment in its Caserones copper mine, in northern Chile.The company, which has also momentarily halted operations at the mine due to torrential rain, said the charge was caused by a delay in expanding production to full capacity,...Read More
Guess What's Destroying the Middle Class? … Perhaps the biggest question in American political economy right now is why middle-class wages have been falling. There are three main hypotheses. Roughly, these are: Robots, unions and China. – BloombergDominant Social Theme: Something is always destroying jobs. People are helpless to withstand the challenges.Free-Market Analysis: Once m...Read More