Socialism Worse Than Capitalism?

So many people in America claim Socialism is worse, far worse, frequently, for even people but especially for business.  They should think again.

This, from very Conservative, very Right Wing, very pro-business Forbes Magazine:

The Best Countries For Business 2015 

- Forbes

U.S. Slides Again As Denmark Comes Out On Top

Their words:

The U.S. falls in our rankings for a sixth straight year with low scores on monetary freedom and bureaucracy. Denmark leads a strong showing by Europe at the head of the class.

And who are the top ten on this "best countries for business list" from around the world? Check it out:

Denmark has ranked first in six of the 10 annual editions of FORBES’ Best Countries list. The country has been in the news in the U.S. lately thanks to Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, who holds up the nation of 5.6 million people as a model socialist utopia. The country does have one of the highest individual tax burdens in the world in exchange for its wide-ranging services, but it is very much a market-based economy.

Denmark ranked in the top 20 in all but one of the 11 metrics we used to gauge the Best Countries for Business (it ranked 28th for red tape). It scored particularly well for freedom (personal and monetary) and low corruption. The regulatory climate is one of the world’s “most transparent and efficient,” according to the Heritage Foundation.

From there the list goes:

2. New Zealand

3. Norway

4. Ireland

5. Sweden

6. Finland

7. Canada

8. Singapore

9. Netherlands

10. United Kingdom

So there you are.  9 of the 10 "top countries for business" are all in Europe and all Socialist.

Oh, and they all also have universal health care. 

And no one goes bankrupt for health care costs.

So where is our own United States on this list, you might ask?

We aren't even in the top 15. 

The picture isn’t as bright for the U.S., which slides four spots to No. 22. It continues a six-year descent since 2009 when the U.S. ranked second overall. The U.S. is the financial capital of the world and its largest economy at $17.4 trillion (China is second at $10.4 trillion), but it scores poorly on monetary freedom and bureaucracy/red tape. More than 150 new major regulations have been added since 2009 at a cost of $70 billion, according to the Heritage Foundation.

So there you have it, ladies and gentlemen. For any and all who think Socialism is horrible, period, in its own right and that any nation having it is, therefore, bad for business. It just patently isn't so.

Not only is intelligent Socialism better for the people, it can be and is also, in plenty of places in the world,  good for business. 

Let that sink in.

Seems Bernie Sanders was right all along, huh?

Business, banks, Wall Street and the people, all against a government shutdown

Other than the extreme Right Wing of the nation, it seems most have lined up solidly against any government shutdown--most of the people, the business community, the banks and Wall Street:

Stocks Fall on Concern About Economy, Budget Fight

Concerns about the strength of the economy and the potential for a budget fight in Washington pushed down the stock market Monday...

...The threat of a looming political showdown over the budget also weighed on investors.

The U.S. House of Representatives voted to defund President Barack Obama's health care law on Friday, a gesture that reminded Wall Street that the Republican-led House and the Democratic-controlled Senate are poised for a showdown over spending.

 

The debt ceiling must be raised by Oct. 1 to avoid a government shutdown, and a potential default on payments, including debt, later in the month.

 

"There seems to be a higher probability there will be more of a battle over that," said Scott Wren a senior equity strategist at Wells Fargo Advisors. "That could inject some volatility into the market."

_______________________________________________________

No one, no one wants a government shutdown except, again, the extreme Right Wing and uber-Conservatives and the extremists of the Republican Party, including and likely especially the Tea Party members.

There's nothing good--and a lot of bad--that would come with such an extreme, unnecessary, utterly avoidable and irresponsible move.

Is this that complicated?

Whatever happened to being moral in business?

What a staunch business magazine has to say about this election

From Forbes on this election and these two presidential candidates:

Want a Better Economy? History Says Vote Democrat!

"...The common viewpoint is that Republicans are good for business, which is good for the economy. Republican policies – and the more Adam Smith, invisible hand, limited regulation, lassaiz faire the better – are expected to create a robust, healthy, growing economy. Meanwhile, the common view of Democrat policies is that they too heavily favor regulation and higher taxes which are economy killers."

According to Bob Deitrick and Lew Godlfarb in their reputedly "easy to read book", “Bulls, Bears and the Ballot Box”, they found the following and more:

--Personal disposable income has grown nearly 6 times more under Democratic presidents

--Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has grown 7 times more under Democratic presidents

--Corporate profits have grown over 16% more per year under Democratic presidents (they actually declined under Republicans by an average of 4.53%/year)

--Average annual compound return on the stock market has been 18 times greater under Democratic presidents (If you invested $100k for 40 years of Republican administrations you had $126k at the end, if you invested $100k for 40 years of Democrat administrations you had $3.9M at the end)

--Republican presidents added 2.5 times more to the national debt than Democratic presidents

--The two times the economy steered into the ditch (Great Depression and Great Recession) were during Republican, laissez faire administrations

And that's just for starters. The book holds much more information and data.

I thought it important to point out, so close to election day.

Link: http://www.forbes.com/sites/adamhartung/2012/10/10/want-a-better-economy-history-says-vote-democrat/

The Interwebs fighting over Kansas City

It seems both Kansas Cities made it into The Wall Street Journal today:

Web Rivals Want What Google Got

To entice Google Inc. to build its ultra-high-speed fiber network there, Kansas City, Kan., and Kansas City, Mo., offered the Internet company sweeteners including several free or discounted city services. Now, Time Warner Cable Inc. and AT&T Inc., the incumbent Internet and TV providers in town, are angling to get the same deal.

Among the sweeteners granted Google by both cities are free office space and free power for Google's equipment, according to the agreement on file with the cities. The company also gets the use of all the cities' 'assets and infrastructure'—including fiber, buildings, land and computer tools..."

Who knew?

Maybe this was in The Star at some point--who gets and reads all those papers? (Well, except maybe aged barbers in town or elderly citizens).

I had no idea the city gave them all that access.

Seems like a good idea, too, for once.

Both sides--the respective city and Google--benefit. And now we benefit even more, too, what with all the computer companies like Time Warner Cable and AT&T fighting over us. How great. Yet more benefits.

Kansas City--both sides of the state line--wins. Right here in good, old "flyover" country.

So, enjoy, Kansas City. It won't last long but for a while, we're top of the technology heap.

I be lovin' me some good, old-fashioned competition right about now.

Link: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390443862604578030671101065746.html

KCMO: One of "10 best cities for new graduates"

Well, in spite of all the naysayers and negative bloggers, our own Kansas City, Missouri hit yet another big, national list of good things about us.

We are, in fact, listed as one of the best cities in the nation for new graduates by CNBC. It's also being blared out on Yahoo! right now, too.

Their stats on us:

Unemployment rate: 7.6%

Cost of living index: 97.8

Mean annual income: $45,050

Top industries: business, agriculture

Followed by this little blurb about us:

"K.C. is well known for its contributions in the categories of barbecue, jazz, and blues, but it continues to evolve. 'Healthy living and an eco-friendly lifestyle are just one part of the booming downtown of Kansas City,' says Christina Aragon, director of strategy and customer insights at Rent.com.

So there you go. Yet one more feather in our cap, so to speak.

Fact is, there are a lot worse places to live in the world and country, folks, by a long shot.

Enjoy.

Links: http://realestate.yahoo.com/promo/10-best-cities-for-new-graduates.html; http://www.cnbc.com/id/47376598?__source=yahoorealestate%7Ccitiesforgraduates%7C&par=yahoorealestate

We deserve answers and information, Rep. Cleaver

Last week we were given the news (see link below) that our own Representative Emanuel Cleaver II took out an SBA loan for $1,100,000 and now we, the taxpayers, will likely have to "eat" that loan. Well, I can only say--and it needs to be said--that we'd like to hear from good Mr. Cleaver on the matter. I'd like to know why we shouldn't be mad as hell about this, Rep. Cleaver. The Star, in the article, says they tried to get answers but couldn't get any. I'll be damned if I'll vote for him again unless or until this is cleared and cleaned up. So far, nothing from him or his office, to my knowledge. The same standards for every other politician applies to this one, for sure. Link: http://www.kansascity.com/2012/04/06/3540958/taxpayers-could-have-to-cover.html

KC in Wall Street Journal today

There's an article in The Wall Street Journal today, describing the current national commercial office space situation in the country. It uses our own City Center Square as an example as it has about a 50% occupancy rate at present: Trouble Is Brewing for Office Market

The coverage is brief in the article: "A 660,000 square-foot office building in downtown Kansas City, Mo., is trying to renegotiate its $40 million mortgage with creditors, according to Trepp. The property's vacancy rose to 48% in 2010 when a major tenant, Dickinson Financial Corp. didn't renew its lease.: The sky isn't falling but it is cloudy, at least, it seems. As if we didn't know that. Link: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203436904577153003477512394.html?mod=residential_real_estate

Gandhi's 7 Dangers to Human Virtue

1. Wealth without work; 2. Pleasure without conscience; 3. Knowledge without character; 4. Business without ethics; 5. Science without humanity; 6. Religion without sacrifice; 7. Politics without principle. (With thanks to long-time friend Dennis S. for this).

KCMO School District and CC Plaza have the same problem: irresponsible, lazy parents.

The bad news? Sure, we all know now, and have since at least Sunday morning that there were kids roaming the Plaza again, Saturday night and that shots were fired (5 to 6, it's said). Additional bad news? Mayor James was there. But therein lies, also, the good news because now, suddenly, our mayor is invested in both recognizing and solving this problem. I--and, I think others--have been calling for the mayor and his office and City Hall and the City Council and churches and their leaders and businesses and civic leaders to get together to see what kind of solutions could be offered to solve both this problem and the problems of shootings and drive-by shootings, etc. Now, suddenly, since Mayor James was there when the shots rang out, he's saying the same thing, fortunately. According to today's Star: "Churches, schools and businesses, also, need to get involved, he said." Thanks for finally joining us, Mayor. He also pointed out in this morning's article in the Star that parents are responsible for this, too. So maybe, just maybe, if the city and School District, both, are trying to solve this same parental problem--and I think we all agree they are--maybe we can get closer to a combined solution for both. It won't be a quick fix but the curfew for teens seems like a great, fair and sensible place to begin. I think we should follow Philadelphia's example with fines of $300.00 per teen and $500.00 per parent for violating the curfew, too. That would make people pay attention rather quickly. If it's good enough for Philly, it seems good enough for us, as well. Here's wishing us all luck. Here's hoping.

Top states for business

Okay, so Missouri isn't in the "top ten." At least Iowa, Nebraska and Kansas are 9, 10 and 11, respectively AND, more importantly, we still have pretty clean air. (Missouri is no. 16). Links to original story: http://www.cnbc.com/id/41666602?__source=yahoo|topstatesva|&par=yahoo; http://finance.yahoo.com/career-work/article/113031/americas-top-states-business-cnbc-2011

Quote of the day--on the iPad

"Well, the iPad is clearly going to affect notebook computers. And I think the iPad proves it's not a question of if, it's a question of when. There's a lot of development and progress that will occur over the next few years, but we're already seeing tremendous interest in iPad from education and, much to my surprise, from business.

We haven't pushed it real hard in business and it's being grabbed out of our hands. I talk to people every day in all kinds of businesses that are using iPads... The more time that passes, the more I am convinced that we've got a tiger by the tail here and this is a new model of computing -- you know we've already got tens of millions of people trained on with the iPhone -- and that lends itself to lots of different aspects of life, personal, educational, and business. I see it as very general purpose and very big... One could argue about the timing endlessly, but I don't think you can argue it's going to happen."    --Steve Jobs

War vs. peace, guns vs. butter

War has just become business for the US. War has become business we want to do and that we don't want to live without--unless and until we stand up, all of us, and demand that we stop this, as a nation. --me