Sen. Bernie Sanders has a plan to narrow the pay gap, tax corporations that pay their CEOs over 50 times what their typical workers make. Elisabeth Buchwald reports in MarketWatch: Sen. Bernie Sanders is taking aim at the Americans who have made the most money during the economic downturn caused by the pandemic. On Wednesday, Sanders, an independent from Vermont, unveiled legislation called the Tax Excessive CEO Pay Act, which would levy higher taxes on corporations “that pay their top executives at least 50 times more than the pay of a median worker.” For companies that pay their top … [Read more...]
Archives for March 2021
PANOPTICON: Is Your Phone Spying on You?
You probably have dozens of apps on your smartphone. Chances are they are collecting your personal information en masse, and either selling it to third parties or keeping it for themselves. Most likely both. You have read here about the widening surveillance state I'm calling the virtual panopticon. The efforts by the government to surveil Americans are expanding quickly as technologies make it easy to watch every part of your life. But how much surveillance are you inviting right into your home? Apps on your phone are collecting massive amounts of information about you every day. Some … [Read more...]
Google’s App Store Discounts Reveal Antitrust Defense Strategy
Google is cutting fees for developers making less than $1 million from their apps. The company estimates that 99% of developers will benefit. If the discount was given last year, it would have reduced Google's $11.6 billion in commissions by only $585 million. That means 1% of Google's app developers were responsible for 95% of commissions. Apple has implemented a very similar system for its smaller developers. The strange part is, usually, companies reward their biggest moneymakers. If you're selling widgets, you're more likely to discount to the wholesaler buying 3,000 widgets than to the … [Read more...]
Can You Even Afford To Retire in Biden’s America?
You have seen already, in slightly less than two months, Joe Biden and the Democratic Congress have put America on track for higher inflation. With trillions of dollars in stimulus, and new announcements of higher taxes on the horizon, and a push for a higher minimum wage, inflation expectations have soared. Expectations for inflation have increased 40% in the last five months, to 2.3% from 1.6% over the next ten years. As Brett Arends writes at MarketWatch, it may not seem like a lot, but if you're retiring it could make the difference between relaxing on the beach or going back to work. … [Read more...]
VW Quickly Ramping Up Electric Car Sales
Volkswagen is quickly ramping up its electric car sales in Europe, as regulators push automakers to ween themselves off fossil fuels. In 2021, VW is expected to double its production of electric vehicles to around a half-million. Tesla aimed to deliver a half-million electric vehicles in 2020 but just missed that guidance. In 2021 Tesla CEO Elon Musk has said the company will deliver "in the vicinity" of 840,000 to 1 million electric vehicles. Not too many more than VW. For comparison's sake, Tesla's market cap is $672 billion, while VW's is around $132 billion. In addition to its electric … [Read more...]
Is There One Best Place in America for ‘Liberty Retirees?’
You might be looking for the best place in America to retire. You may enjoy owning firearms, paying low taxes, and being left alone. That's the definition of what I'm calling a "liberty retiree." Recently a liberty retiree, known as U, asked MarketWatch's Catey Hill where would be the best place for them to retire. Hill answered (abridged): To answer your question, I went right to the source: the Libertarian Party itself, where I had a lively chat with Dan Fishman, the party’s executive director, who had a lot of advice for you. He said that, while the Libertarian Party doesn’t maintain a … [Read more...]
Here Comes Another Round of Roulette for Retail Investors
Young Americans are getting hooked on speculating in stocks with government money. Each stimulus payment has seen more retail investors new to the game gamble their money on the words of online stock discussion boards or tips from friends. While everyone should try to invest for retirement, this is probably not the best approach. The Financial Times reports on retail investors' plans for the next round of stimulus money: Retail investors, who are playing an increasingly large role in the US stock market, are planning to deploy a significant proportion of upcoming stimulus cheques in equities, … [Read more...]
One More Hidden Giveaway in the COVID Bill
For years Democrats have been trying to push through a bailout of insolvent union pension funds. They finally found a way to push it through. Part of the COVID-19 relief bill is a bailout of more than one hundred union pension funds. Many of these union funds have been managed more like pyramid schemes than like proper pensions. Rather than putting enough money aside for each employee to fund his or her pension, the fund relied on a steady stream of new employees putting money in the fund to pay retirees. That didn't work out when fewer truck drivers, ironworkers, and warehouse workers … [Read more...]
Lockdowns a Major Failure
Philippe Lemoine lays out the hard truth about lockdowns in The Wall Street Journal. That truth is, of course, that they were, and are a failure. He writes: Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced last week that his state is ending its mask mandate and business capacity limits. While Democrats and many public-health officials denounced the move, ample data now exist to demonstrate that the benefits of stringent measures aren’t worth the costs. This wasn’t always the case. A year ago I publicly advocated lockdowns because they seemed prudent given how little was known at the time about the virus … [Read more...]
Are You Investing To Stop Climate Change, or To Generate Income?
You may have made many investment decisions in your life, but did you ever invest in a company to prevent climate change or to achieve social justice? That's what ESG (environmental, social, and governance-oriented) funds want you to do. In fact, there are activist shareholders who attempt to force corporate boards to include ESG goals in their missions. The SEC under the Trump administration gave some level of cover to corporate boards focused on performing their fiduciary duties to shareholders. The Biden administration may do the exact opposite, emboldening activist shareholders who want … [Read more...]