The Fragility of Freedom at 60%
In 1977 economist Milton Friedman wrote an article “The Line We Dare Not Cross: The Fragility of Freedom at ‘60%.'” We are in danger of crossing that line.
In 1977 economist Milton Friedman wrote an article “The Line We Dare Not Cross: The Fragility of Freedom at ‘60%.'” We are in danger of crossing that line.
Everyone in our risk pool will order filet mignon. First the costs will skyrocket. And then the meat will be rotten.
America is officially no longer free.
A country can’t prosper destroying perfectly good used cars.
There will always be swindlers masquerading as investment advisors. You can learn to recognize such people by their over-the-top lifestyle.
The various congressional bailouts have been touted as essential to the nation’s economic security. So long as the notion of economic security remains vague and abstract, it has wide support. But anyone who examines the details should realize this so-called security threatens our freedom and stability.
Regulation and centralized planning have caused financial instability and failing institutions. If this is the root cause, then many of the proposed solutions will only make matters worse.
Free markets thrive when a country guarantees property rights and the rule of law. China possesses neither of these.
One area where Brazil has excelled is making headway toward energy independence.
You can both diversify for safety and boost your returns by adding international investments to your portfolio.
The subprime mortgage meltdown has cost the world 15% of its market capitalization, about $9 trillion. The primary culprit who caused all of this financial loss, pain and suffering is not the mortgage companies.
If the federal tax cuts expire, we will have to work an extra week for the government.
Most Americans look backward and only hope that Uncle Sam will return some of what they have already paid, but those with wealth look ahead and adjust their affairs according to the tax code.
On average, international stocks appreciate more than US stocks. What’s more, companies located in countries with the most economic freedom typically appreciate more than the broader international average.
Only recently has Main Street been so fully invested.
Without taxes, you could leave work at 2:25pm.
Investing isn’t about finding a four-leaf clover or the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.
Australia’s five-year annualized return was 24.10% compared to 14.98% for the MSCI EAFE and 6.19% for the S&P 500.
More businesses migrate across state borders than national borders.
On average, international stocks appreciate more than US stocks, and stocks in countries with the most economic freedom appreciate more than the international average.
Canada is the one major country that is not included in the EAFE (Europe, Australia, and Far East) foreign index. Not only are they good neighbors but a good investment.
Due to our progressive tax system, your taxes increase even if your buying power does not.
French labor laws have made doing business in France with French employees very unattractive.
Although the French gave us the word ‘entrepreneur,’ it’s a wonder the term isn’t obsolete in French.
While it’s hard to muster pity for diminished drug company profits, negligible earnings jeopardized production and supply.
Poor families with children will subsidize millionaire seniors.
Reunification of the country has put a drag on economic growth.
Hayek wrote, “More harm and misery have been caused by men determined to use coercion to stamp out a moral evil than by men intent on doing evil.”
Italy reminds us that governmental solutions can be worse than private sector problems.
During 2002-2004, iShares of the ten economically freest countries outperformed the index by 5.43% each year.
Wanting to avoid regulations, Hedge funds appeal to investor’s snobbery to make it seem like a privilege.
Hedge claims are equivalent to “All of the coins I want to tell you about came up heads.”
Currently, stockbrokers can offer the same services as Fee-Only financial planners without being accountable to the same fiduciary standards. This exemption to the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 has been called the “Merrill Lynch rule.”
Two hours and twenty minutes of every eight hour day go to pay taxes. Three minutes go toward personal savings.
Baring a real people’s revolution, it will take until 2050 for China to complete their slow march to free markets.
If Canada paid their fair share for pharmaceuticals prices would fall.
In the corporate world, mismanagement can only be covered up so long. In time, those responsible are held accountable. Companies fold. Executives are taken away in handcuffs. Only in the federal government can poorly manage bad ideas and still plead they are underfunded.
Encourage the rich to be rich or else suffer the consequences of striving toward making us all equally destitute.
Each year since 1994 the Heritage Foundation has used a systematic, empirical measurement of economic freedom in countries throughout the world.
Despite your political persuasion, Governor Gray Davis shows how even the golden goose can be cooked. His mistakes rightly deserve the ridicule he has received.
Inflation ultimately has to rise and keep pace with increases in the money supply.
If you add the costs of complying with government regulations, the cost to society is over 50%. Imagine the economic boom if the other half of workers’ labor were set free to boost productivity!
Let’s not change those things that made us successful in the first place: Maximum freedom for the individual.
Despite the small decrease, the size of the federal government is still at an unprecedented level.
These are no longer the questions of the idle rich desiring to hoard their inherited wealth.
Let’s have a tax code that looks like it was developed on purpose!
Big Government has become a vast machine to redistribute income from those who earn it to those who yearn for it.
In 1996, President Clinton said that “the era of big government is over?”