The Golden Rule
There's a lady who's sure, all that glitters is gold
Steve Forbes made his first splash on the national scene in 1996. He was a bit of a dark horse candidate for President running on a fairly simple platform. He campaigned for a flat tax, medical savings accounts and a new Social Security system for younger workers. They were different approaches than what we were used to hearing back then. I think what attracted me to him back then was that I felt he was a fairly pure capitalist and was approaching national issues from that perspective.
We will never know if he would have been able to set those policies in place if elected...or, if they would have worked! Still, I have always enjoyed hearing what he has to say about the country and its economic policies – I think he’s a smart and interesting fellow. I was a really big fan of his dad, Malcolm.
Quick sideline: Back in the early days of the Internet, sometime in the mid-90’s while a group of us who now work at TradeKing were forging the way onto the web for Quick & Reilly, I was invited onboard the Forbes’ family yacht, The Highlander, for the launch party for the Forbes.com website. It was really something – massive and awesome old-school yacht, complete with all the toys loaded on top, including, as I recall, a swank “tender” vessel, two BMW motorcycles, and on the top-deck a helicopter named, “The Capitalist Tool!” Inside, it was like a museum of sorts with photos of Malcolm Forbes with every President going back for decades, shots of him on his Harley with Elizabeth Taylor on the back, …it was endless. As we pulled out of the dock at Chelsea Pier in NYC, there was even a bag-piper playing on the bow of the boat – it was quite an event!
Anyway, I wanted to share this Steve Forbes interview I saw online a couple weeks ago via SeekingAlpha. While Mr. Forbes still advocates the same policies mentioned above, he has a few more wrinkles for what he thinks can save the American economy. As with 1996, I can’t imagine our current government actually enacting these policies. His main points were re-instituting the gold standard and deregulation of certain industries. Imagine our government doing that! That would mean less government control of industry and an end to our attempts to print-our-way-out-of-financial-crisis monetary policy - unlikely to say the least.
I hope you enjoy the interview and am interested in hearing your ideas about how to get this great country of ours out of our current malaise. Should we return to the gold standard? Do you think we can institute the flat tax? I think we all agree to change Social Security, but how? I am definitely looking forward to your solutions!
Be good,
Don Montanaro
TradeKing Bigdog, Chairman and CEO
www.tradeking.com
Follow Don on Twitter, hone your skills at TradeKing All-Stars. You can also follow us on Twitter, Facebook or YouTube.
[Image taken from NixBC via Flickr]
Online trading has inherent risk due to system response and access times that may vary due to market conditions, system performance, and other factors. An investor should understand these and additional risks before trading.
(c) 2012 TradeKing Group, Inc. Securities through TradeKing, LLC. All rights reserved. Member FINRA and SIPC.
We will never know if he would have been able to set those policies in place if elected...or, if they would have worked! Still, I have always enjoyed hearing what he has to say about the country and its economic policies – I think he’s a smart and interesting fellow. I was a really big fan of his dad, Malcolm.
Quick sideline: Back in the early days of the Internet, sometime in the mid-90’s while a group of us who now work at TradeKing were forging the way onto the web for Quick & Reilly, I was invited onboard the Forbes’ family yacht, The Highlander, for the launch party for the Forbes.com website. It was really something – massive and awesome old-school yacht, complete with all the toys loaded on top, including, as I recall, a swank “tender” vessel, two BMW motorcycles, and on the top-deck a helicopter named, “The Capitalist Tool!” Inside, it was like a museum of sorts with photos of Malcolm Forbes with every President going back for decades, shots of him on his Harley with Elizabeth Taylor on the back, …it was endless. As we pulled out of the dock at Chelsea Pier in NYC, there was even a bag-piper playing on the bow of the boat – it was quite an event!
Anyway, I wanted to share this Steve Forbes interview I saw online a couple weeks ago via SeekingAlpha. While Mr. Forbes still advocates the same policies mentioned above, he has a few more wrinkles for what he thinks can save the American economy. As with 1996, I can’t imagine our current government actually enacting these policies. His main points were re-instituting the gold standard and deregulation of certain industries. Imagine our government doing that! That would mean less government control of industry and an end to our attempts to print-our-way-out-of-financial-crisis monetary policy - unlikely to say the least.
I hope you enjoy the interview and am interested in hearing your ideas about how to get this great country of ours out of our current malaise. Should we return to the gold standard? Do you think we can institute the flat tax? I think we all agree to change Social Security, but how? I am definitely looking forward to your solutions!
Be good,
Don Montanaro
TradeKing Bigdog, Chairman and CEO
www.tradeking.com
Follow Don on Twitter, hone your skills at TradeKing All-Stars. You can also follow us on Twitter, Facebook or YouTube.
[Image taken from NixBC via Flickr]
Online trading has inherent risk due to system response and access times that may vary due to market conditions, system performance, and other factors. An investor should understand these and additional risks before trading.
(c) 2012 TradeKing Group, Inc. Securities through TradeKing, LLC. All rights reserved. Member FINRA and SIPC.
Comments
Follow commentsSeed Man posted July 19, 2012 (01:44PM)
Yes, I have been to the Forbes estate and was equally impressed with the tools of capitalism. We had a Jaguar USA company picnic outdoors, there, back in the day. My employee band, The XJSix, was the live entertainment. I remember us playing the INXS song "Taste it". Right now, I wish I could taste the fruits of basic Keynesian economics. But voodoo economics gets in the way. Cut spending, tighten money supply, deepen the recession. What a concept.
I found this video on YouTube which counters the Ron-Paul-popularized return to the gold standard. The dude's sun glasses definitely add to his credibility.
spshapiro posted July 19, 2012 (05:03PM)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Q7Vr3yQYWQ
bigdog posted July 21, 2012 (10:22AM)
Best,
Don
incubus posted July 23, 2012 (08:01PM)
I get the encouragement to consume, really, easy money in the form of low rates "should" encourage buyers....while making it "unnecessary" to increase revenues and availing the potential to cut entitlement spending in place of credit induced consumption..
Sounds good, until you take a glance at the ratio of consumer debt to middle class income over the last thirty to forty years.
Add the 40% decline in middle class net worth since 2007, and factor Friedman's "Permanent Income Hypothesis", to guestimate the effect that will have on further consumption.
Brings us full circle to Marriner Eccles "poker chip" theory on the root cause of the great depression.
You can promote beaucoup cheap credit, but once the money's concentrated to the top, it stops working,
The players can no longer afford the payments to borrow more poker chips.
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