On February 23, 2018, Standard and Poors raised its estimation of Russia’s sovereign credit rating from BB+ to BBB-. This is good news for the Russian Federation as it continues to realign its economy in response to the various sanctions that the West, mainly the United States, keep imposing on the nation.
Changing the tax treatment of carried interest reduces the incentive for investors to put resources into a business. It also assumes the risks that come with long-term investing, which affects millions of private equity firms, investment vehicles and investors. A change in treatment of carried interest will negatively impact the economy.
Last Thursday, a new bill was introduced that would effectively end the federal prohibition on medical cannabis. While I was certainly happy to see this bipartisan effort created, I was also reminded of how frustrating it is that such a bill needs to be introduced in the first place. As an unapologetic capitalist, I believe one of the greatest forces for good is the free market. When an industry has as much economic swagger as cannabis, it becomes difficult for anyone to shut it down. And this is one of the reasons I invest in the cannabis industry.
Remarkably, Bernstein describes the ideas presented as "bold" and "progressive," but in truth, they're the same lame-brained policies of redistribution that the left have been promoting for decades. And as they're anti-capital formation by Bernstein's very own admission, they're also inimical to the very prosperity that has long made the U.S. the country where poverty is cured. To be clear, if this is the best the Democrats have, they'll long remain in the minority.
(MEE) Saudi Arabia is planning to cement ties with US President Donald Trump by investing $40 billion in US infrastructure development, according to media reports.
The government is really bad at predicting the future. Bureaucrats do not face the same incentives as the most successful forecasters of wealth (who, by the way, are allowed to go under when they fail). So why do we expect the government to predict the future of our infrastructure needs?
For many of us, our futures, and especially our retirement funds, are wrapped up in the stock market. Unfortunately, the country's overly burdensome tax system prevents short-term investors from signaling to long-term investors how healthy the market is or isn't.
It’s not a bank, nor an insurance company, central bank, finance ministry or sovereign wealth fund. But it advises or owns such institutions. It operates virtually unregulated, often in the background, yet there is scarcely a company, country or region of the planet that this, the world’s largest asset management firm, does not touch or influence.
Intro theme: “Dream Agent” by Ariel Electron, Holeg Spies and Thierry Gotti on the “Kore Kosmou” album.
