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  • Even the Price of Tea Is Controlled in China  [View article]
    Nice article on the limitations of investing in such a centralized command economy. China is export dependant and lacks a developed internal market. It's top down decision-making prevents new, innovative approaches to problems. The one-party rule also preserves the corruption that is endemic in the system. With a gini coefficient of .46, the masive income disparity in China is approaching that of some impoverished African countries. Their vast cheap pool of labor will come back to bite them. Note also that due to China's massive environmental problems, cancer has become the number one cause of death in the country. Their water problem is now at a crisis level.
    www.businessweek.com/g...
    Jun 23 09:33 am |Rating: +6 -2 |Link to Comment
  • Wall Street Breakfast: Must-Know News [View article]
    Backtoreality:
    "trickle down economics".-- another uselss euphemism created by those at the top that actually translates into "crumbs and scraps for the teeming masses."
    May 15 20:01 pm |Rating: +4 0 |Link to Comment
  • Wall Street Breakfast: Must-Know News [View article]
    Everyone should check out the latest article by TraderMark to see how we are all being taken for a ride by the powers that be:
    seekingalpha.com/artic...

    Absolute power corrupts absolutely.
    May 15 13:50 pm |Rating: +1 0 |Link to Comment
  • Wall Street Breakfast: Must-Know News [View article]
    I think a new name or phrase needs to be coined to better describe the insidious corruption of our present system. "Socialism" suggests some sort of "equality for all individuals, with an egalitarian method of compensation." That doesn't really describe the wholesale transfer of wealth from America to the financial elite that is happening now. "Crony capitalsim" is more apt but still doesn't fully describe the massive expansion of government that is swallowing up the private sector economy. Fascism is too general of a term.
    Statist capitalism sounds best.

    "... it really doesn't matter much whether the rulers call themselves capitalist or socialist, whether they plunder by concessions and taxation through crony firms or straight-out theft from nationalized industries....
    Alvaro Vargas Llosa's five "principles of oppression" are
    -corporatism
    -state mercantilism
    -privilege
    -wealth transfer
    -political law.
    "...the ideological professions of the ruling caste are not very relevant to the real problems. The critical factor is basic liberty for the people, not the favorite economic flavor of the rulers' intellectuals."


    On May 15 08:44 AM BlueOkie wrote:

    > TARP is the right word. It is the gov't blanket that is beginning
    > to cover most economic activity. Banks, Autos, Mortgages, Insurers,
    > Credit Cards (coming), unions., schools, health care. Sounds like
    > socialism to me. Don't forget Cap and Trade to cover all use of energy.
    > Our gov't is like kids in the cookie jar with parents not at home.
    May 15 12:21 pm |Rating: +5 0 |Link to Comment
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