The poor is the US are not poor on a global standard

I don't understand what is so controversial here. I believe and Rand said steps could be taken to improve the lives of the poor in America. However when you look at not just the income available to many poor people, but the collective resources of the community, you get a picture of poor people who are lucky to be American.

clipped from bighollywood.breitbart.com The fact is, the richest person in a Third World country would trade that spot for the lowest rung on the American ladder. But I’ll go further and say the poor in the US – when viewed by the rest of the world – aren’t poor at all. The poverty level for us looks like something to shoot for. Fact is, there are too many countries to mention where citizens have a yearly income measured in hundreds of dollars. While our poor can still buy music, beer and Nikes, one purchase at the Footlocker cripples Liberia for a week.

I understand the city's point...

But from a libertarian point of view, I think limiting the distribution of food by a private group is an over-stepping of the powers of government. The fact that I doubt it is an effective means to the ends they are trying to reach is besides the point.

in reference to: Restricting Food to Homeless Stirs Controversy - ABC News (view on Google Sidewiki)

Toronto Community Mobilization Network Press Conference - Q&A

Will he let people live with him...

When they follow his advice and lose their homes. I don't agree or disagree with his central points, well actually I do. It wasn't just the bankers that caused this problem. It was the bankers, the government and yes people who took out loans they could not afford. There is a good amount of greed and dishonestly at all levels of the melt down.

in reference to: MSNBC's Dylan Ratigan Urges Homeowners to Stop Paying Mortgages As a Leftist Protest | NewsBusters.org (view on Google Sidewiki)

Hot Air � Video: “The stimulus failed”

Hot Air � Video: “The stimulus failed”

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

This is a strange idea... but think about it.

The idea is you are born with 75 percent ownership of yourself as a corporation, parents are given 20 percent and the government 5 percent (no other taxes). Through your life you have the right to sell shares of yourself as a corporation to raise money for education, or other interests. As you made money, it would be distributed to the owners of the shares of you - as a corporation.

clipped from www.marginalrevolution.com "What if," answered Hektor, without missing a beat, "instead of giving two, three, four dollars a month for a charity's sake, you gave ten dollars a month for a 5 percent share of that kid's future earnings?  And you, of course, get nothing if the kid dies.  Now you have a real interest in making sure that kid got that pair of shoes you sent.  Now it's in your interest to find out if he's going to school and learning to read and write.  Now maybe you'll send him that box of old clothes you were thinking of throwing away.  Under your system you write a check and forget about the kid, who'll probably starve anyway.  Under our system, you're locked into him.

Hot Air » Blog Archive » The new housing bubble?

Hot Air » Blog Archive » The new housing bubble?

The poor pay the most

No matter what the nature of loss, either natural disaster or acts of terrorism and war, it is always the poor that pay the most. The rich have more insulation in the form of greater resources, often more dispersed in the economy and geographically. A poor person has one house, a rich person may have multiple houses, more likely to be insured against loss. The poor also don't have the same means of escaping danger as the rich do. They can't flee the country, they can't fly away on a plane, or speed away in their cars.

clipped from www.csmonitor.com On Tuesday, the latest Taliban bomb went off in Peshawar, killing three. The Taliban targets upscale buildings and neighborhoods, but many of the injured – and those hit hardest economically by the bombings in Pakistan – are the poor.

How fair is fair trade?

To be honest I never felt right about the market manipulation aspect of fair trade. I know that large companies have used market manipulation to exploit poor farmers for years. However the cure for market manipulation isn't different manipulation, it is an attempt to really have a free market system.

clipped from www.marginalrevolution.com We might think of sub-Saharan subsistence economies when we think of Fairtrade, but the biggest recipient of Fairtrade subsidy is actually Mexico. Mexico is the biggest producer of Fairtrade coffee with about 23% market share. Indeed, as of 2002, 181 of the 300 Fairtrade coffee producers were located in South America and the Caribbean. As Marc Sidwell points out, while Mexico has 51 Fairtrade producers, Burundi has none, Ethiopia four and Rwanda just 10 – meaning that "Fairtrade pays to support relatively wealthy Mexican coffee farmers at the expense of poorer nations".

Do it right next time

What good is "transparency" if the information you are revealing isn't accurate. I don't care if it is a mistake or not, it needs to be fixed - and done right next time.

clipped from lawhawk.blogspot.com This should come as no surprise given that independent groups and others (myself included) have cataloged that the recovery.gov website includes billions of dollars going to congressional districts that don't exist and that basic defects in the database render it useless. The head of Recovery.gov, Earl Devaney, admits that they can't certify the jobs data.

Bush Gives 'Big 3' $17 Billion Bailout

Auto Bailout

The House just passed the Auto Bailout plan.

UPDATE... It seems this was just a vote to vote on it later.

Brokaw Ignores Obama's FDR-Like Refusal to Work With Bush Economic Team

Five dollars

Five dollars:

"To explore the relative value of five dollars we are collecting examples from
around the world by asking people to submit photos of objects or services that
cost the equivalent of $5.To explore the relative value of five dollars we are
collecting examples from around the world by asking people to submit photos of
objects or services that cost the equivalent of $5."

Click on the link to check it out.

McCain breaks with economic adviser over 'whiners' remark - USATODAY.com

McCain breaks with economic adviser over 'whiners' remark - USATODAY.com:

"He went on to say the U.S. is not in a recession, which is defined as two
consecutive quarters of negative growth, but many people seem to think so.
'You've heard of mental depression; this is a mental recession.'"

I don't understand the anger about this statement. It is true. If you think you have a solid job and you will get a raise, you spend money, you spend your credit. That spending creates jobs for the people who sell the things you buy, and transport it and often make it. When you think that you might lose your job, or that you will not be able to afford the things you need, you spend less money. That slow down in spending causes stores to cut back hours for workers and to lay people off. In this way, there is a very mental aspect to the economy.

Milton Friedman - Greed

Consumer capitalism

The Laffer Curve, Part I: Understanding the Theory