Money Management Mishaps – Page 20

Real Contributions to Society

I believe Kevin Williamson summarized a fact of life that I often talk about but can never eloquently express:

CNN, being CNN, misses the point. Mr. Jobs’s contribution to the world is Apple and its products, along with Pixar and his other enterprises, his 338 patented inventions — his work — not some Steve Jobs Memorial Foundation for Giving Stuff to Poor People in Exotic Lands and Making Me Feel Good About Myself. Because he already did that: He gave them better computers, better telephones, better music players, etc. In a lot of cases, he gave them better jobs, too. Did he do it because he was a nice guy, or because he was greedy, or because he was a maniacally single-minded competitor who got up every morning possessed by an unspeakable rage to strangle his rivals? The beauty of capitalism — the beauty of the iPhone world as opposed to the world of politics — is that that question does not matter one little bit.

Bear with me because this post isn’t another about Steve Jobs, but one about those who fail to realize what social good really is. According to many a wealthy person who fails to publicly donate great deals of money to various charitable organizations is an evil man who has gained greatly from society without giving anything back. Truth be told, for many, their wealth was obtained through the social good they provided.

Steve Jobs is only on example of this. Henry Ford is another example, the man innovated the assembly line to manufacture automobiles and paid his employees well so they could afford to purchase those very automobiles and kickstart the market. Affordable automobiles dramatically changed society for the better just as affordable computers did.

Instead of writing a long complaint about Steve Jobs’s less than stellar philanthropic tendencies from a personal computer, you should be writing a long post thanking him for bettering society by having the vision to see computers as more than giant expensive monstrosities that only the wealthiest of businesses could afford. This is the beauty of capitalism, resources are allocated in a voluntary manner to those who best serve the desires of society. If you don’t like Apple computers that’s perfectly OK because you can purchase a computer from one of their competitors. You get a direct vote in saying which good best serves your needs without forcing it upon others.

When you purchase a Ford automobile you’re effectively saying that Ford has found a means of serving your needs better than Toyota. If you purchased a Prius you’re giving your vote to Toyota. Regardless of what automobile you buy it doesn’t effect me and I am still allowed to decide for myself which vehicle will best serve my needs.

Capitalism is a beautiful thing and we should strive to expand it throughout our society instead of expanding government controlled markets.

He Should Raise His Own Damned Taxes

During one of his town hall meetings Obama was able to get a shill to appear on stage and beg the president to increase taxes:

“Thank you, Mr. President,” the man began. “I don’t have a job, but that’s because I’ve been lucky enough to live in Silicon Valley for a while and work for a small startup down the street here, that did quite well. So, I’m unemployed by choice. My question is: Would you please raise my taxes?”

Let’s look at this from two different angles. First of all what tax is Obama demanding to be raised? Yes there are so many different taxes out there that it’s hard to keep track of them all but currently Obama is demanding that Congress increase the income tax. What does an unemployed person pay in income tax? Nothing, because they’re not employed and thus have no income. Obama’s shill, Doug Edwards, very well may be paying other taxes such as capital gains but that rate would be unaffected by an increase in income taxes. Somebody may ask if a person has to pay income and capital gains taxes on capital gains as it is a type of income. According to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) you do not. Right off the bat Mr. Edwards’s plee is disingenuous.

The next angle that should be addressed is the fact that you don’t need the government to increase tax rates in order to pay more taxes. If you want to pay more taxes then you can cut the government a check and mail it to the following address:

Bureau of the Public Debt
Department G
P. O. Box 2188
Parkersburg, WV 26106-2188

If Mr. Edwards is genuine in his desire to be more heavily taxed he can go right ahead and tax himself more. Mr. Edwards is pleading the president to increase theft in this country while, most likely, knowing he’ll not be affected by it. Those who are against taxation are already shaking their heads at Mr. Edwards but those who support an increase in income tax should also be shaking their heads. It doesn’t look good for a cause when disingenuous shills are brought up to speak in favor of the movement because what they say will likely be ripped apart by your opposition.

Herp Derp

There are stupid people, really stupid people, and then there is this fucking moron:

When I say fucking moron I mean the “economist” the reporter is quoting in case that wasn’t obvious. If you don’t know what gold is backed by I’m here to inform, gold is backed by itself. Although people often get caught up in the concept of the “gold standard” what supporters actually mean is a commodity based money. Gold has traditionally been the commodity chosen to act as money due to many qualities including is scarcity, easy divisibility, durability, and actual use in the manufacture of other goods. Gold could easily be replaced by any other commodity so long as it’s generally accepted as the common good of trade.

United States dollars on the other hand are basically backed by a bunch of well armed thugs who claim it’s worth to be the supposed full faith and credit of their organization. Of course that very organization is tens of trillions of dollars in debt so I’m not sure what faith or credit they have remaining.

When somebody talks about a commodity backed money they mean each monetary unit is actually a receipt for a physical good stored elsewhere (unless the actual physical good is being used). For example if the dollar were a gold back currency each dollar would be set as being worth a certain weight in gold. When you went to the bank you could convert your paper receipts into their physical value of the backing commodity.

The United States dollar is a fiat currency meaning there is no physical commodity backing it. It’s basically only worth what others are willing to recognized it for. If foreign countries are no longer willing to recognized the value of the paper dollar then the dollar literally has no actual value.

The Irony Tastes Sweet

I have a friend who we will call Boris in order to protect his true identity. Boris is a communist (like a real communist, I’m not saying this as an insult) who has been working hard at finding work. During the span of time that he’s been unemployed he’s been writing numerous complaints about being poor (from his iPad) and about how the “rich” should pay their “fair share” of taxes.

Low and behold Boris has found a job but alas fate has decided to be a cruel bitch as he had the following to say:

My new found job lands me in the 25% tax bracket… really US? Can I ever cut a *$^*# break….

I can’t tell you how hard I laughed when I read this. Oh the irony of demanding the “rich” pay more taxes and then landing a new job only to be made to pay more taxes is almost too great. Boris if you’re reading this I’m sorry but this is absolutely hilarious from where I’m sitting.

Following his post Boris also tried to justify his anger but claiming people making over $1 million should be made to pay a 90% income tax. It’s nice to see he finally found an exact definition of rich which, not surprisingly, is above his pay scale. I really wish Boris would just jump on my bandwagon and detest all taxation as theft because then he could remain ideologically consistent while complaining about having to pay more income tax.

If you’ll excuse me my stomach is in pain from all the laughing I’m doing right now.

Missed it By That Much

I have some unfortunately news to report, the federal government will not be shutting down:

The US Senate has passed a resolution that provides money to fund the US government and end fears of a shutdown.

I don’t know about you but a government shutdown has never been something I’ve feared. To be honest I welcome such joyous events because it does well to demonstrate the fact that we can survive without our government.

Even though this news is depressing there is a silver lining, they only approved enough money to run through November 18^th:

The new funding will last until 18 November once passed by the House.

I’m doubting the Democrats and Republicans will fight hard enough over the next budget proposal to shut everything down but there is always hope.

What $5 Billion of Your Tax Money Buys

So what does $5 billion of your tax money buy? Fancy upgrades for Taiwan’s F-16 fleet:

The US has confirmed plans to upgrade Taiwan’s ageing fleet of F-16 US-built fighter planes.

[…]

US officials said the F-16 A/B fighters will undergo a retrofit which will bring them up to the same standards as the more advanced C/D models.

“After the upgrade, the air force’s combat capability will be advanced hugely,” Taiwanese Defence Minister Kao Hua-chu said at a late-night press conference in Taipei.

This is only one tiny example of American tax dollars being used to arm another nation. When somebody says you must pay your taxes for the benefit of the American people you may wish to remind them that much of the money stolen from us by our government doesn’t go to help anybody here but instead goes to other nations within our empire.

Apparently Nobody Listened to Bastiat

Do you know what’s a scary thought to consider? The fact that the United States Department of Defense is the largest employer in the world. Just stop to think about that, a department in the United States government is the largest employer in the world. Combine that with the fact that this agency is also in charge of war and it really begins to paint a frightening picture. Then you have the other scary fact that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army is the second largest employer in the world.

As expressed by Henry Hazlitt in his book Economics in One Lesson war is not a productive economic activity. Wars only serve to destroy, never produce. Keynesians will say the destruction of goods and property will cause a boost in the economy when it comes time to rebuild all that was destroyed. Austrians point out the fact that replacing what was destroyed isn’t productive as it takes resources away from the development and production of new consumer goods. This fact is usually summed up in Bastiat’s broken window example:

Suppose it cost six francs to repair the damage, and you say that the accident brings six francs to the glazier’s trade—that it encourages that trade to the amount of six francs—I grant it; I have not a word to say against it; you reason justly. The glazier comes, performs his task, receives his six francs, rubs his hands, and, in his heart, blesses the careless child. All this is that which is seen.

But if, on the other hand, you come to the conclusion, as is too often the case, that it is a good thing to break windows, that it causes money to circulate, and that the encouragement of industry in general will be the result of it, you will oblige me to call out, “Stop there! your theory is confined to that which is seen; it takes no account of that which is not seen.”

It is not seen that as our shopkeeper has spent six francs upon one thing, he cannot spend them upon another. It is not seen that if he had not had a window to replace, he would, perhaps, have replaced his old shoes, or added another book to his library. In short, he would have employed his six francs in some way, which this accident has prevented.

Every dollar that is spent replacing what was lost is a dollar that could have been better spent fulfilling a different want. As the shopkeeper had to replace his broken window he was unable to buy a new suit which lowers the production of the tailor. The fact that the two largest employers in the entire world deal with breaking things demonstrates one of the biggest problems with the world economy. Capital that should be going to the production of new consumer goods are instead being funneled into the construction of tanks, bombs, and other weapons of war for use in destroying what has already been built necessitating the replacement of those destroyed things.

Just imagine the advances in technology and standards of living if all the capital used to produce new ways of blowing shit up and replacing what was blown up was instead put to productive uses. We may actually have had flying cars at the turn of the century (sorry I’m still bitter that the promise of flying cars was never fulfilled).

More Proof Ben Bernanke is an Idiot

I’m sure you read the headline of this post and thought to yourself, “Ben Bernanke is proof that Ben Bernanke is an idiot.” That’s true but I like to be thorough when building cases against the intellect of stupid people. Take for instance Bernanke’s recent appearance in Minneapolis (sadly I wasn’t able to join the protest as it took place a noon and I was working) where he pointed out the reason the economy isn’t recovering. Here’s a hint, it’s our fault:

Then he said something new: Consumers are depressed beyond reason or expectation.

Oh, sure, there are reasons to be depressed, and the Fed chairman rattled them off: “The persistently high level of unemployment, slow gains in wages for those who remain employed, falling house prices, and debt burdens that remain high.”

However, Mr. Bernanke continued, “Even taking into account the many financial pressures that they face, households seem exceptionally cautious.”

Consumers, in other words, are behaving as if the economy is even worse than it actually is.

Yes the reason the economy isn’t recovering is because people aren’t spending money due to their overly cautious nature. I’m not sure if Bernanke realizes this but in order to spend money you have to have money. On top of that when you’re unemployed spending any money is a scary proposition because there’s no guarantee that you’ll be able to make more money in the near future. That is to say when you don’t have any sources of income all expenditures or potentially permanent reductions in your available savings.

Anybody with two brain cells to rub together would be able to reach such a logical conclusion. Of course Ben Bernanke doesn’t have two brain cells and thus he is throwing out nonsensical theories to explain why people without work aren’t spending money:

Why? Well, one possibility is that Americans collectively are suffering from what amounts to an economic version of post-traumatic stress disorder.

Let me guess, the next plan the Federal Reserver is going to develop will involve economic post-traumatic stress disorder therapy. Either that or they’ll just try to pump $10 trillion into the economy because if at first you don’t succeed try the same thing again, only harder.

I Wouldn’t Put it Past the IRS

I think I’ll present this with very little comment:

Imagine this scenario: The IRS may soon just do your taxes for you — and send you the bill.

If this sounds farfetched, it’s not.

With a new congressional “super committee” tasked with finding $1.5 trillion in cuts by November, creative ways to find additional revenue are in high demand. And allowing the IRS to prepare you taxes could be one solution.

The idea has been around for a while, but has been picking up steam in recent years. In 2006, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) argued it would close a $345 billion annual difference between what the government believes taxpayers owe them and what the IRS actually collects, which he calls the “tax gap.”

No possibility of a conflict of interest there. That was sarcasm in case it was missed.

We Can Do This Without You

It appears as though Obama is looking to continue his failed quest to restore the American economy using failed Keynesian methods. Namely Obama is asking Federal agencies to identify “high-impact, job-creating infrastructure projects” that can be done without the need for congressional approval:

On Wednesday, Obama took a now-familiar path in adopting a program–this time a jobs and infrastructure effort–that can happen entirely within his domain. Obama directed several federal agencies to identify “high-impact, job-creating infrastructure projects” that can be expedited now, without congressional approval.

One week before he will make a major address to Congress on jobs, Obama is making sure they know he plans to move forward without them. The president has also directed the Education Department to come up with a “Plan B” updating the 2001 No Child Left Behind law in the absence of congressional action. The message to Congress is clear: Do your work or we’ll do it for you.

Remember that system of checks and balances? Apparently neither does Obama or Congress (as they should be reigning Obama in right now). It looks like Obama is enjoying his near emperor status and has decided to run wild with tyrannical power. We may as well just call him the King of America since he’s able to do all these things without approval from any of our “representatives.” Corollary to that we should start calling Congress the Bitches of America since they seem to be more than happy to lay down while the title of President is slowly changed to King.

I do have a message for Obama though:

His message to lawmakers: We can do this without you.

Our message to the government: We can do this without you. Get the fuck out of our economy and let it become prosperous again.