I always disliked the term "investors" in passages like: While investors can still borrow on margin today, borrowing is limited to just 50%, rather than 90%.To me, borrowing on margin is pure speculation, we should call someone engaging in that a speculator.AFAIK, much of market trading today is robots buying or selling based on automated programs.So I would replace "investors" with FIBS (Financial Instrument Buyers and Sellers).I have read the 1929 crash didn't cause the Depression, it was already happening, and the crash was just a belated recognition by FIBSthat the real economy was in a toilet.While a 1929 style crash may not happen, the underlying cause of extreme inequality is unfortunately is present today with levels of inequality similar to the 1920s
"Congress uses the tax code to try to achieve economic and social goals"That is NOT the major reason taxes are so complicated. Wealthy special interests use bribes -- excuse me for not being Neanderthal Correct -- campaign contributions to make the tax code complicated to hide all their sleazy loopholes.Tax-prep firms make bribes too so taxes are so complicated most people are forced to use them.Corporate power is THE fox in charge of the henhouse.
Ohhhhh the poor pitiful pearl Upper Class twits don't have enough money to add 10 more feet to their private jets. The Horror! The Horror! Anyone who thinks $7 Million isn't enough should resign in disgrace from the Human race.
Calling companies. The VERY 1st thing they say is a lie, "Your call is very important to us" Ha! Their greedy CEO's obscene pay is the ONLY thing that's important to them! That's why they don't hire enough to help. Then they interrupt music every 20 seconds for yet another ad. Trying to get a callback never works -- again because they have lousy tech,
because their priority is their greedy CEO. Trying to do anything online is almost is bad -- again because they have lousy tech,
because their priority is their greedy CEO.
Andrew Carnegie shouldn't be admired. After the Homestead strike he slashed wages across the board, implemented a 12-hour workday and cut hundreds of jobs in the years to come.Carnegie was a sleazy scumbag who got money that was rightfully his workers.
"We came out of the pandemic in pretty good shape"Not even close. Over a million dead is not "pretty good".That is the deadliest toll the US has ever faced.
Re safety features: One of the 1st professor of traffic studies was Smeed. He collected stats on traffic deaths from
many countries, all the way back to the invention of the automobile. This showed that under an enormous range of conditions, the number of deaths in a country per year is given by a simple formula: number of deaths equals .0003 times the two-thirds power of the number of people times the one-third power of the number of cars. This formula is known as Smeed’s Law. He published it in 1949, and it was still valid 57 years later (2006 article -- still valid now?). It is, of course, not exact, but it holds within a factor of two for almost all countries at almost all times. It is remarkable that the number of deaths does not depend strongly on the size of the country, the quality of the roads, the rules and regulations governing traffic, or the safety equipment installed in cars. Smeed interpreted his law as a law of human nature. The number of deaths is determined mainly by psychological
factors that are independent of material circumstances. People will drive recklessly until the number of deaths reaches the maximum they can tolerate. When the number exceeds that limit, they drive more carefully. Smeed’s Law merely defines the number of deaths that we find psychologically tolerable.
" I still read stories of people in need of some life-saving procedure who die before their scheduled surgery"Yes, plenty of that in America. People don't get the health care they need because overpaid CEOs make it too expensive.
Comments
I always disliked the term "investors" in passages like: While investors can still borrow on margin today, borrowing is limited to just 50%, rather than 90%. To me, borrowing on margin is pure speculation, we should call someone engaging in that a speculator. AFAIK, much of market trading today is robots buying or selling based on automated programs. So I would replace "investors" with FIBS (Financial Instrument Buyers and Sellers). I have read the 1929 crash didn't cause the Depression, it was already happening, and the crash was just a belated recognition by FIBS that the real economy was in a toilet. While a 1929 style crash may not happen, the underlying cause of extreme inequality is unfortunately is present today with levels of inequality similar to the 1920s
Post: Don’t Expect a Repeat
Link to comment from January 1, 2025
"Congress uses the tax code to try to achieve economic and social goals" That is NOT the major reason taxes are so complicated. Wealthy special interests use bribes -- excuse me for not being Neanderthal Correct -- campaign contributions to make the tax code complicated to hide all their sleazy loopholes. Tax-prep firms make bribes too so taxes are so complicated most people are forced to use them. Corporate power is THE fox in charge of the henhouse.
Post: Fox in the Henhouse
Link to comment from March 31, 2024
The reason they are loopholes in the tax code is because the rich make bribes to put those loopholes in the tax code
Post: What Lies Beneath
Link to comment from February 24, 2024
Ohhhhh the poor pitiful pearl Upper Class twits don't have enough money to add 10 more feet to their private jets. The Horror! The Horror! Anyone who thinks $7 Million isn't enough should resign in disgrace from the Human race.
Post: Give Early and Often
Link to comment from February 24, 2024
Calling companies. The VERY 1st thing they say is a lie, "Your call is very important to us" Ha! Their greedy CEO's obscene pay is the ONLY thing that's important to them! That's why they don't hire enough to help. Then they interrupt music every 20 seconds for yet another ad. Trying to get a callback never works -- again because they have lousy tech, because their priority is their greedy CEO. Trying to do anything online is almost is bad -- again because they have lousy tech, because their priority is their greedy CEO.
Post: Which financial tasks do you find most irksome?
Link to comment from February 12, 2024
Andrew Carnegie shouldn't be admired. After the Homestead strike he slashed wages across the board, implemented a 12-hour workday and cut hundreds of jobs in the years to come. Carnegie was a sleazy scumbag who got money that was rightfully his workers.
Post: Sharing the Excess
Link to comment from December 27, 2023
"We came out of the pandemic in pretty good shape" Not even close. Over a million dead is not "pretty good". That is the deadliest toll the US has ever faced.
Post: It’s Not So Bad
Link to comment from December 21, 2023
Re safety features: One of the 1st professor of traffic studies was Smeed. He collected stats on traffic deaths from many countries, all the way back to the invention of the automobile. This showed that under an enormous range of conditions, the number of deaths in a country per year is given by a simple formula: number of deaths equals .0003 times the two-thirds power of the number of people times the one-third power of the number of cars. This formula is known as Smeed’s Law. He published it in 1949, and it was still valid 57 years later (2006 article -- still valid now?). It is, of course, not exact, but it holds within a factor of two for almost all countries at almost all times. It is remarkable that the number of deaths does not depend strongly on the size of the country, the quality of the roads, the rules and regulations governing traffic, or the safety equipment installed in cars. Smeed interpreted his law as a law of human nature. The number of deaths is determined mainly by psychological factors that are independent of material circumstances. People will drive recklessly until the number of deaths reaches the maximum they can tolerate. When the number exceeds that limit, they drive more carefully. Smeed’s Law merely defines the number of deaths that we find psychologically tolerable.
Post: It Also Has Wheels
Link to comment from April 19, 2023
Jonathan - since you have "more money than I need for retirement" - I wonder if you have considered making more charitable contributions?
Post: Got Change?
Link to comment from February 25, 2023
" I still read stories of people in need of some life-saving procedure who die before their scheduled surgery" Yes, plenty of that in America. People don't get the health care they need because overpaid CEOs make it too expensive.
Post: When Free Isn’t Free
Link to comment from February 25, 2023