By Michael Bastasch While the world is distracted by escalating tensions in Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced plans to create an “energy association” of developing countries. World Nuclear News reports that Putin is looking to form an energy coalition, complete with its own “fuel reserve bank and an energy policy institute” among BRICS nations. BRICS…
By Peter Fricke Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim called for a shorter work week at a business conference in Paraguay,the Guardian reports. Slim proposed reducing the workweek to three days, but at the same time lengthening the workday to 10 or 11 hours and raising the retirement age to 70 or 75, saying the change would…
SOMERSET, KY – A small town in Kentucky is experimenting with socialism by opening a public gas station that uses taxpayer funds to sell fuel at lower prices. The municipal-run filling station sells gas at $3.36 a gallon in order to try to drive down prices, but some are saying this is going to drive…
By Michael Bastasch Germany has been rapidly increasing its green energy production but hasn’t gotten the results it planned. The Switzerland-based FAA Financial Advisory AG looked at the consequences of Germany’s “Energiewende” and found that the $412 billion effort did “not provide net savings to consumers, but rather a net increase in costs to consumers and…
By Jonah Bennett The World Health Organization announced potential plans to institute a global tobacco tax, but economist Arthur Laffer’ expresses significant skepticism about the idea in a new study. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), “Raising taxes on tobacco in support of the reduction of tobacco consumption is a core element of the WHO Framework Convention…
By Connor D. Wolf Published: July 18, 2014 Raising San Francisco’s minimum wage to $15 an hour would cause the loss of 15,270 jobs by 2019, according to a report by the Office of Economic Analysis. “The proposed legislation is estimated to reduce the city’s employment by approximately 15,270 private sector jobs by 2019, compared to REMI’s baseline…
By Jonah Bennett A new survey by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research, released on the fourth anniversary of the Dodd-Frank banking regulations, shows that most Americans want a tougher crackdown on Wall Street. Following the call for stronger state action is the patent distrust of the financial industry by Americans. Approximately 64 percent of voters and 62 percent…
Why am I working so hard? The founder of an online store called “Shirtwascash” announced that he’s earned over $40,000 in just two months from his new store. The entrepreneur has quit his day job in order to sell shirts with pictures of jeans on them and pictures that say “DICK BUTT.” The “dick butt”…
By Jonah Bennett A bill passed by the House on Tuesday forbids state and local governments forever from taxing Internet access, reports the Hill. For Republicans, the point of the Internet Tax Freedom Act, originally enacted in 1996, is to reinforce market stability and consumer certainty. The recent measure would renew the almost expired extension passed in…
By Jonah Bennett Gary Johnson, 2012 Libertarian Party presidential candidate and former Republican governor of New Mexico, says the IRS should be abolished in light of recent scandals, reports Watchdog. Johnson’s call for abolition comes at a time when continued revelations are only making things look worse for the federal agency. Not only has the IRS repeatedly…