Authored by Charles Hugh Smith via OfTwoMinds blog,
The likelihood that either party will ever drain the fetid swamp of corruption that is our tax code is zero, because it's far too profitable for politicos to operate their auction for tax favors.
To understand the U.S. tax code and the endless charade of tax reform, we have to start with four distasteful realities:
IPO mania is gripping Hong Kong and if you’ve been looking for a warning sign that equity markets are close to a peak, just maybe this is it. It was a feature of the Hong Kong market in 2006-07, before the Great Financial Crisis, and in 2000, prior to the bursting of the Dot.com bubble. No surprises, the current mania is also focused on the technology sector. The focal point today is the China Literature Ltd IPO which began trading this morning. The stock price rose as high as HK$110 per share compared with the HK$55 IPO price. No wonder the company’s executives were looking smug.
Authored by Michael Snyder via The American Dream blog,
Authored by Charles Hugh Smith via OfTwoMinds blog,
These are the poisoned fruits of a neofeudal system in which power, wealth and political influence are concentrated in the apex of the wealth-power pyramid.
Authored by Michael Snyder via The Economic Collapse blog,
If the U.S. economy is doing just fine, why have we already shattered the all-time record for retail store closings in a single year?