The United States Tax Code remains as one of the most complicated legal doctrines in the history of the States, in spite of widespread calls for simplification.
And while politicians have sought to sway the average American voter with promises of lower marginal tax brackets, the American small business owner remains one of the hardest hit.
Submitted by Charles Hugh-Smith of OfTwoMinds blog,
There are limits on what the Fed can do when this bubble bursts, as it inevitably will, as surely as night follows day.
It's no secret that virtually every pension fund is dead man walking, doomed by central banks' imposition of low yields on safe investments, i.e. Zero Interest Rate Policy (ZIRP).
Submitted by Thad Beversdorf via FirstRebuttal.com,
I happened to be going through the Red Cross audited financials this morning (this is not typical morning reading for me but I’m doing some due diligence on another matter). Under the Notes to Financials I came across the organization’s pension assets breakdown and what I found was a bit shocking.
More than half of the organization’s pension assets are level 3 assets. For those not up to speed on the level 3 assets here is the definition from Wikinvest.
Submitted by Michael Shedlock via MishTalk.com,
On December 10, 2014 the city of Detroit exited bankruptcy.
It was the largest municipal bankruptcy in US history.
The bondholders were totally screwed in favor of the pensioners (not that I generally like bondholders).
Regardless, everything was supposed to be fixed. It wasn’t.
Please consider Detroit Picks Firm to Help Fix $195M Pension Shortfall.
Ahead of the last two recessions, hiring by staffing agencies (ie: temp help) rolled over - it's now happening again.
Part-time employment has led the jobs "recovery" since the recession, leading to more than one in 50 US workers being employed as temporary help. The Sector has now plateaued, as the WSJ points out.