Unemployment in Europe

                                   

Much of Europe is on the edge of bankruptcy amidst its permanent 10%-Plus unemployment. And its experience with younger workers, who do not get counted as unemployed because they are permanently on the dole the moment they leave school in their teens.

                       

If they excel at something, it’s in their demand for funds from their neighbors’ taxes. Those neighbors who work.

                       

This is the society many of our politicians fail to point to, when they sell us on government-supervised ObamaCare and other

services the Europeans get so “cheaply.” (See the Earl J. Weinreb NewsHole® comments and @BusinessNewshole at Twitter.)

Government Spending Experts

                   

Americans should always think seriously about politicians who tell them government “experts” know all about spending and deficit control.

                       

Any politician or bureaucrat with a short-term horizon is never reliable on this score. Especially a politician unfriendly to, or unfamiliar with the true understanding of capitalism.

                       

Our tremendous deficit will spell enormous inflation. Or a loss of currency value. And the certain loss of the eminence of America. As

an economic and, therefore, a political and military entity. (See the Earl J. Weinreb NewsHole® comments and @BusinessNewshole at Twitter.)

ObamaCare, and the Post Office

                   

Everything the government has done, including its health care under Medicaid, have been inefficient with equally poor service, comparable to that of the Post Office.

                       

Government never fosters competition. It can cut out competition when it is permitted to write rules to have taxpayer money undercut the pricing of products or services of potential private producers. As is the case with ObamaCare.

                       

The Post Office will not give up its first class mail handling privilege. It knows it cannot compete if it has competition.

                       

Other forms of non-first class package shipping are handled by private shippers efficiently and at low cost. While private carriers would love to carry first class mail, the Post Office continues to maintain its monopoly.

                       

The Post Office says it provides service to areas no private carrier will want to service. Not true, as evidenced by cutbacks the Post Office constantly imposes. And destinations to which private carriers now go.

                       

ObamaCare claims to provide everything private medicine can do better and cheaply but government has never allowed interstate competition, tort reform and fraud correction to reduce private

insurance costs. (See the Earl J. Weinreb NewsHole® comments and @BusinessNewshole at Twitter.)

Life Insurance Policies Vary

                  

Not all life insurance you can buy is the same. The type you get from a company ad is generally term insurance; that’s what pays off in death benefits only, with no cash value option.

                       

Before you decide on which policy to buy, go over all the ramifications of ownership. Whether you use a commissioned agent or buy direct from the company, remember: Whole life policies pay more commissions than do term policies. They will have higher termination costs. Whole life policies do have interesting, useful options, once the contracts are in place, with positive possibilities for the insured that most policyholders are not aware of.

                       

In Summary: The usual life insurance available on the market can be whole life (with cash values included) or term. The cash value- included contracts have higher premium charges, so if protection against premature death of the insured is the primary aim, go for the term variety.

                       

Whole life policies offer relatively small investment returns on the portion of the premium set aside for investment. unless a portion is placed in the general stock market in some fashion (universal or

variable life. (See the Earl J. Weinreb NewsHole® comments and @BusinessNewshole at Twitter.)

The Misunderstood Glass-Steagall Act

                                                 

The Dodd-Frank legislation of 2010 supposedly was enacted, among its many intentions, to prevent big banks from failing. To do so, it helped impose rules on banks against trading for their own accounts; the Volcker Rules, after Paul Volcker, a former Chairman of the Federal Reserve.

                       

The Glass-Steagall Act, preventing commercial banks from being in the investment banking business, had been around under the Banking Act of 1934 until it was terminated during the Clinton administration.

                       

A similar law could probably have been passed, without all the talk that casts gloom over industry and finance and sees to it that we remain in a deep economic funk. Right now, commercial banks have spun off trading activities for their own accounts but it’s difficult to distinguish activities done on behalf of clients.

                       

The upshot has been confusion and bigger banks than ever because Dodd-Frank is murder on smaller banks. The bigger than ever banks

will continue to be too big to fail. (See the Earl J. Weinreb NewsHole® comments and @BusinessNewshole at Twitter.)

The Federal Reserve Cheats Small Investors

                  

The U.S. Federal Reserve has the cost of money within the banking system down to zero. The rest of the world’s central banks are on the same cheap money craze. It’s hard to call the ongoing central bank objectives successful.

                       

The small U.S. investor is getting the short end of the stick. If he wants minimal risk, he is going to earn 1% or less for a reasonably, minimal-risk investment. This is well below the inflation rate reported by the U.S. government and far, far below the actual rate of inflation that’s never officially disclosed, except at the supermarket checkout counters.

                       

The stock market is always iffy in a stagnating, inflation-prone atmosphere. More sophisticated investors can look to the corporate bond market, provided they are familiar with “duration” principles.

(See the Earl J. Weinreb NewsHole® comments and @BusinessNewshole at Twitter.)

Failed Economic Theories

                 

You may wonder how economists can voice opinions for two diametrically opposed political parties when they look at the same numbers for politicized arguments.

                       

There are two reasons why this happens. One is that a broad classification can be made of Keynesian or government pump-primer economists, and those opposed to Keynesian principles.

                       

The other reason is that these same economists may overlook certain stated numbers as being unimportant when it doesn’t suit their purpose.They may emphasize data that is actually meaningless.

                                           

If you have an economic theory and it hasn’t worked for fifty /sixty years, though employed around the world, as is the case with Keynesian theory, there will still be omissions and commissions you

may make to hold your politically-sponsored job.(See the Earl J. Weinreb NewsHole® comments and @BusinessNewshole at Twitter.)