A contributing factor in the rise of Internet commerce, a feature that gave it a kick-start, was that you didn’t have to pay sales tax on what you purchased out of state. Ah, the glory days of the 2000s, when you could order anything and, for once in your life, not get hammered by the government. It was not a free market, but freer than most anything else you could find.
This is a major factor in why, despite every prediction that it could never work, Internet commerce rose from t... (more)
We need more of this, people simply ignoring the government's stupid laws and doing as they please. (Of course, that unfortunately puts you at greater risk from the police state) - Chris
States have been trying to collect sales tax on internet purchases for decades—since the beginning of internet commerce. The holdup has been a 1992 Supreme Court ruling that states cannot require businesses in other states to collect taxes for them. Now, legislation is moving through the U.S. Senate to facilitate internet sellers to collect sales tax and remit it to the ... (more)
April 23 (Bloomberg) -- Ron Paul, Former Congressman from Texas, discusses his views on gold, central banks, and the weakened Republican Party. He speaks on Bloomberg Television's "Market Makers." (Source: Bloomberg)
In the years following the global financial crisis, economists and investors have gotten very comfortable with very high, and seemingly persistent, government debt. The nonchalance may be underpinned by the assumption that globally significant countries that can print their own currencies can't get trapped in a sovereign debt crisis. However, it now appears that Japan is preparing to put this confidence to the ultimate stress test.
For the better part of 20 years, successive Japan... (more)
Last Friday I participated in a (very short) debate on BBC Radio Four's Today Programme on the future direction of gold. Tom Kendall, global head of precious metals research at Credit Suisse argued that gold was in trouble, I argued that it wasn't. So yours truly is on record on national radio on the morning of gold's two worst trading days in 30 years arguing that it was still a good investment. ... (more)
April 17 (Bloomberg) -- Jim Rogers, chairman of Rogers Holdings, talks about global commodity markets and investment strategy. Rogers also discusses the outlook for the U.S. dollar. He speaks with Rishaad Salamat on Blo... (more)
Somebody out there is sure getting prepared for something really big. We have just witnessed a takedown of gold and silver unlike anything that we have witnessed in decades. On Monday, the price of gold had fallen by more than 10 percent at one point. It shocked investors all over the globe, and overall what we have just seen was the largest two day decline in the price of gold in 30 years. The price of silver dropped even more rapidly on Monday. It was down more than 14 percent at one poin... (more)
In the opening years of the last decade, most mainstream investors sat on the sidelines while "tin hat" goldbugs rode the bull market from below $300 to just over $1,000 per ounce. But following the 2008 financial crisis, when gold held up better than stocks during the decline and made new record highs long before the Dow Jones fully recovered, Wall Street finally sat up and took notice. The new devotees helped to push gold to nearly $1,900 by September of 2011. For the next year and a half i... (more)
