In economics we define a transfer payment as a payment made without reciprocity of goods or services. In layman’s terms they’re handouts. The nature of transfer payments is why most Americans abhor programs such as welfare and unemployment. We’re a caring people but we also believe in fairness. We work hard for what we have [...]
“I'll rise and fall, let me take credit for both.” That’s a lyric from Pearl Jam’s Satan’s Bed. What’s it mean? Songs are personal. The listener can decide. Why do we think of it today? The two sides of the proverbial economic coin come to mind. This morning’s headlines are blaring about Japan falling into [...]
NOTE: Name removed to prevent embarrassment. Last Thanksgiving I had the (insert adjective) of listening to a family member opine about stores that are open on holidays. “It’s a shame people have to work on Thanksgiving.” If only there was a way to resolve this. What could it be? Hmmmm...DON’T SHOP ON THANKSGIVING!!! If one [...]
On Monday Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew announced a series of measures the Obama administration will be taking to discourage U.S. companies from using mergers with foreign companies to reduce their corporate taxes. The measures like so many taken by the Obama administration show just how little a grasp it has on how free enterprise works. [...]
The problem with Federal entitlement programs is they're outdated. SS benefits at age 65 were fine when life expectancy was 67. Unemployment benefits were fine when job loss was frictional. In today's America retirees are living longer. The unemployed are out of work for longer due to structural changes. Social safety nets necessarily become a fiscal burden. One [...]
Last week President Obama chided businesses for discriminating against the long-term unemployed. Today the Congressional Budget Office announced the results of a projection that Obamacare will reduce the number of hours worked to be the equivalent of two million full-time jobs. Just can't make this stuff up!
If The American Dream is home ownership then The American Nightmare is digging out from the mortgage. Fortunately Uncle Sam saves the day once again in his never-ending quest to save us from ourselves. Last week The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau as mandated under the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial reform bill released its first major rule to shape [...]
If you have a toothache and head to the dentist your only concern is he or she can resolve your problem...so when you call for an appointment and the receptionist insists you walk to the office instead of driving or taking a bus or whatever you're thinking, "Why does it matter?". If your child wants [...]
At Apollo we're fond of tuning out the noise as we embrace a small handful of influential voices. We don't seek these people out because they are 'right' or 'wrong' but because they provide thought-provoking commentary. One of the people we take pleasure in reading is Jeremy Grantham at GMO. His latest commentary contains a sobering [...]
"If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be." " . . . whenever the people are well-informed, they can be trusted with their own government; that, whenever things get so far wrong as to attract their notice, they may be [...]