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July 6, 2011 Wuhan, China [Editor’s note: This missive was sent in from our partner Tim Staermose in China] Maybe the Chinese politburo has been watching too much deep cable, and, inspired by Kevin Costner’s Field of Dreams movie, decided to churn out a bunch of empty cities. As it turns out, though,
July 5, 2011 Sofia, Bulgaria Do you remember those days, 25+ years ago, when the Olympic games were an extension of the Cold War? We heard stories about these Soviet athletes who were groomed, practically from birth, to become champion athletes, taken from their families at a young age to live and train
July 4, 2011 Sofia, Bulgaria In this bubblicious world of trillion dollar deficits, sovereign bailouts, and fiscal stimulus measures of historical proportions, there is one economist whose theories and underlying philosophy underpin the foundation of modern macroeconomics. His name is John Maynard Keynes, and his most famous work, The General Theory of Employment,
June 30, 2011 Andorra la Vella, Andorra In addition to being one of the most picturesque places on the planet, Andorra is a textbook example of what happens to an economy when a limited government sets up a liberal tax regime. Like conjuring money out of thin air, taxation is just another form
June 28th, 2011 Cercs, Northern Spain I’ve stopped briefly for a quick lunch en route to Andorra, which is a scenic three hour drive due north from Barcelona. The spot that I picked to stop and write to you is absolutely stunning. When I first started traveling years ago, I fell in love
June 28, 2011 Hong Kong For at least a decade now, the world has marveled at China’s amazing economic transformation. Hundreds of millions of people have been lifted out of medieval peasantry and brought into the modern world. Living standards have improved dramatically. China has become the manufacturing hub of the world. And,
June 27, 2011 London, England Are you a US taxpayer? Do you have at least $10,000 in overseas accounts? It’s time to put those annual disclosure statements in the mail… and quickly. Let me explain. Each year by June 30th, US taxpayers are obliged to report all foreign financial accounts in which they
June 24, 2011 London, England A few days ago, I met with a brilliant young geneticist who has been able to devise a unique, cost efficient way to test for the presence of particular genes. He wants to offer a service to test for CCR5-delta 32, a particular mutation of a gene found
June 23, 2011 London, England Harold Camping has a pretty dismal track record. Thrice now, the 89-year old California evangelist has been very public about predicting the end of the world. Somehow he managed to convinced legions of followers that his complex calculations were accurate. Camping was obviously very wrong all three times,
June 22, 2011 London, England In a recent interview with Newsweek magazine, outgoing US Defense Secretary Robert Gates lamented about not wanting to be part of a government that didn’t have the resources and gusto to support a trillion dollar military. “I’ve spent my entire adult life with the United States as a
Update: June 22, 2011 Well, there goes any hope for realism. Papandreou narrowly survived the vote in Parliament, suggesting that lawmakers either ignored or didn’t hear from Greek voters on whether or not to oust the key leaders. Another shining example of democracy in action, ironically in its birthplace. Would the result have
June 20, 2011 Oxford, England Late last week, Thomas James Ball reached his breaking point. Driven to desperation by a system that bankrupted him and destroyed his family, Ball walked up to the main door of the Keene County, New Hampshire courthouse, doused himself with gasoline, and lit himself ablaze. Hardly anyone seems
June 17, 2011 London Before leaving New York, I was enjoying a perfectly nice afternoon yesterday walking around the Upper West side. When I got to Lincoln center, roughly at the corner of Broadway and W 62nd Street, reality set in. No fewer than ten NYPD storm troopers were ‘patrolling’ the sidewalk outside
June 15, 2011 New York City Over the last days, I’ve endeavored to explain why the economic reversal of fortune in the west is unstoppable… and what the social implications of this decline will be. Economic decay and social upheaval are inextricably linked. This is not some doom and gloom conjecture, but rather
Reporting from: New York City For the last few days, we’ve been having an important discussion about the magnitude of the economic challenges in the west; if you didn’t read yesterday’s letter, I really encourage you to do so before proceeding because it’s important to understand why the west has truly passed the
