Americans Abroad ‘Banking Under the Mattress’

Media, Regulation, Taxation, The State

Is Big Media catching up with guerrilla writers? In “Planet IRS,” just over two weeks ago, I wrote that “[d]ue to the onerous burdens imposed by the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, foreign banks, as well as hedge and private equity funds are closing American accounts. Barack Obama’s legislative baby (signed on March 18, 2010) is driving Americans abroad into banking under the mattress.”

Today Bloomberg caught up, in “U.S. Millionaires Told Go Away as Tax Evasion Rule Looms.”:

Go away, American millionaires.
That’s what some of the world’s largest wealth-management firms are saying ahead of Washington’s implementation of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, known as Fatca, which seeks to prevent tax evasion by Americans with offshore accounts. HSBC Holdings Plc (HSBA), Deutsche Bank AG, Bank of Singapore Ltd. and DBS Group Holdings Ltd. (DBS) all say they have turned away business.
“I don’t open U.S. accounts, period,” said Su Shan Tan, head of private banking at Singapore-based DBS, Southeast Asia’s largest lender, who described regulatory attitudes toward U.S. clients as “Draconian.”

Oh dear. We’re usually years ahead of mainstream (as in this September 19, 2002, article).

The US Vs. The EU

Debt, Economy, EU, Europe, Labor

When broadcaster Lou Dobbs took to the blackboard, I got a bit of a fright. Flashbacks of Glenn Beck’s not-so-wonderful-mind moments, I suppose. But no. Mr. Dobbs drives home the severity of the situation stateside, by juxtaposing the American economy to certain Eurozone countries.

Take into account, however, that GDP measures the Brownian Motion of debt growth. The unreliability of the indices (unemployment, etc.) used, in general, means that matters are far worse.

Debt as a percentage of GDP:

France: 86%
Italy: 120% (“In a hot mess”)
Greece: 165% (“In a world of its own”)
US: 101%

Economic Growth (take into account, however, that GDP measures the Brownian Motion of debt growth):

France & the US: 1.7% growth
Greece: 7% contraction
Italy & Spain: 1/2% growth

Average age at retirement:

US: 65 years
France: 59
Italy: 60
Greece & Germany: 61
Spain: 62

Labor-Force Participation (this ought to shake you up):

US: 63.6% (“A thirty year low.”)
Greece: 71%
France: 72%
Italy: 75%
Spain & Germany: 76%

I would hazard a guess that the Europeans best us in workforce participation because they have more onerous labor regulations. This is cold comfort, of course.

UPDATE II: Manhattan Le Magnifique

America, Capitalism, Ilana Mercer, Racism, Technology, The West, Trade

YES, MANHATTAN’S STILL THE GREATEST. I say so in reply to Barely a Blog reader Sunny Black.

Another reader, “Contemplationist”—he was at the libertarian-cum-Objectivist New York City Junto gathering, where I featured as speaker for the month of May, 2012—had once admonished me on the blog: “You gotta see things to believe them.”

As I crisscrossed Manhattan in high-heels (naturally) on lengthy walks, I was overcome with a surge of patriotism for very specific (and modest) reasons.

I had hoped to keep this passion and the attendant insights for a new column on a new forum. Stay tuned.

No other city I’ve visited in my longish lifetime measures up to Manhattan (New York City). Paris sucks by comparison—and I loved that city in the 1980s, before “les beurs”—the darling buds of France, aka her raging Muslim youths—took over.

Manhattan Le Magnifique.

UPDATE I: Huggs: People were okay and efficient, compared to the sullen slackers of the Pacific Northwest. On the subway, certain sorts glared angrily and refused to let you sit down, preferring to hog the entire bench. I was only too pleased “they” did not lunge at me, though. No wilding attack. And Central Park is the most beautiful place ever for a runner. I was up Sunday at 6:00AM because of jet lag, I guess. By 7:00am I was running. There were many many people doing the same. Fabulous.

UPDATE II: At the South-Street Sea Port, on the East River, near Wall Street. What a skyline.

Where’s The Evidence?

Homeland Security, Media, Middle East, Terrorism

A plot to bomb an airliner was recently broken up. So America’s reporters all tell us.

Unanswered are some of the questions—without which there is no legitimate news story—that every journalistic lead should address: Who? Where? What? How?

It is apparent, however, that we don’t need to know who planned a “plot to bomb an airliner.” We don’t need to know where the “plot” was hatched, or what explosive device was seized, and how.

All we need to concern our big fat heads with is that “U.S. and other intelligence agencies” vouched for the information. Also fool-proof is that “U.S. Rep. Peter King, Republican and chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee,” would never lie to us. Nor would ““a senior administration official.”

CNN’s Alpha Female Anderson Cooper: Now he always keeps them honest, doesn’t he?! The eternally furrowed brow alone speaks to Cooper’s journalistic bona fides. That guy would know entrapment if he encountered it.

Besides, don’t be such a drag. The guilty party, Fahd al Quso, is already dead of a drone attack. That’s your proof right there. You know someone is culpable of terrorism when and if he dies by drone. Dah.

On my own uneventful airport experience last week, I was spared the rogering (WND editor Ron Strom recommended loose clothing. Maybe it worked). But I did see a tall, fit, good looking black TSA worker, working-over a little old man (80, perhaps). It looked like the agent was removing the hunched geriatric’s colostomy bag. It took him forever.

You never know…