Federal Budgets and Class Warfare, The Wall Street Journal

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg writes an opinion article for the Wall Street Journal. He argues that taxes should be increased to help begin reducing the Federal government's spending deficit, but that Obama's tax the rich campaign is a waste of time political strategy. Even if his blocked proposals were to pass, the increased government revenue would hardly affect our current deficit, something that cannot truly be tackled without serious spending cuts. His article shares more thought about how to address these complex problems.

You can find the article here on the Wall Street Journal website

The man who helped 'simplify' Chinese, BBC News

Zhou Youguang, the man credited with creating the system for writing Chinese in the Roman alphabet is over 105 years old. Like anyone who lives to this age, he has had a life full of different chapters and lived through the last century of Chinese and world history. Read about him more in the article.

You can find the article here on the BBC News website

Man survives 30 hours in Gulf after boat sinks; friend dies, USA TODAY

An incredible story about a man who lost his best friend when their fishing boat sunk in the Gulf.

You can find the article here on the USA TODAY website

A Start-Up Airline Finds Its Place in the Maldives, The New York Times DealBook

A great example of a man that took his experience to start his own company. This American has started an airline focused on one of Asia's smallest countries by population, the Maldives. He saw the rising tourism demand from the new middle class in China and India, pitched the idea for investment and now operates a two plane airline with solid financial performance. His quote from the article:

“Business 101: find a niche and serve it well,” he said. “That’s what we have done.”

You can find the article here on the New York Times DealBook website

In Search of One Energy Miracle, The Wall Street Journal

Bill Gates' thoughts on energy, carbon taxes, and development for the poorest 2 billion people on the planet. He says there are 5 different miracles that could happen to make these things possible.

You can find the article here on the Wall Street Journal website

Amazon Adds that Robotic Touch, The Wall Street Journal

Amazon made its second largest acquisition ever with the purchase of Kiva Systems, a company that sells customized warehouse robot systems that dramatically reduce the need for warehouse employees.

You can find the article here on the Wall Street Journal website

Can Entrepreneurship Be Taught?, The Wall Street Journal

You can find the article here on the Wall Street Journal website

Here's a Funny Idea: Medicare Laws That Are Easy to Read, The Wall Street Journal

President Obama's healthcare law is over 900 pages long. The much criticized Dodd-Frank financial regulation law passed in 2010 is over 2,300 pages long. To make matters worse, a typical passage from the health care law looks like this:

"In the case of a plan for which there are average per capita monthly savings described in section 1395w–24 (b)(3)(C) or 1395w–24 (b)(4)(C) of this title, as the case may be, the amount specified in this subparagraph is the amount of the monthly rebate computed under section 1395w–24 (b)(1)(C)(i) of this title for that plan and year (as reduced by the amount of any credit provided under section 1395w–24 (b)(1)(C)(iv) [2] of this title)."


Whether or not you think America is over-regulated, the fact remains that U.S. regulation if over-worded. (if you are not convinced America is over-regulated, click here to read about the issue in the Economist). The length of complexity has become so absurd that many Federal Judges have spoken out in complaint for the excessiveness of recent legislation. If these appointed legal experts, the public servants we expect to interpret the law, are blocked by the complexity, then it is reasonable to expect the average citizen to be completely lost if they attempted to understand their lawmaker's work.

Over-regulation and long winded laws are likely positively correlated. As a rough solution then for our nation's problem of stifling growth, keep the laws shorter and easier to undersand.

You can find the article here on the Wall Street Journal website

Pacific nation may move entire population to Fiji, USA TODAY

This island nation is making plans for what it will do when the sea level rises above its land. The options include bui;ding sea walls around the islands to keep the water out and a variety of other solutions to this unusual problem. It lastest plan is to purchase land in nearby nation Fiji to move its entire population to the country to avoid the rising water.

You can find the article here on the USA TODAY website

Apple Macs Ease Into Corporate Market, The Wall Street Journal

The PC dominance in business may be fading as more corporations are begin to adopt Mac programs that allow employees to choose apple computers for their work over the traditional machines. As file compatibility issues of the past disappear and other Apple products become more popular ( IPhone, IPad) in business environments, companies ares seeing Apple's computers as viable options for their business needs. What does this mean? Apple may be on the verge of expansing its market share into the enormuus corporate pc market and U.S. college students who have spent four years "training" on their MacBooks may finally be able to put their skills to work on familiar computer systems after graduation.

You can find the article here on the Wall Street Journal website

China Foothold in U.S. Energy, The Wall Street Journal

In the last two years, Chinese companies have invested over $17 billion in U.S. and Canada oil and gas. These investments come in the form of minority stakes that have allowed the Chinese to quietly increase their U.S. presence and perhaps more importantly, their access to U.S. drilling technology. The article discusses this subtle trend and the access to U.S. R&D that may accelerate the development of China's enormous energy companies.

You can find the article here on the Wall Street Journal website

Why This Tuesday Is One of the Worst Days of the Year to Buy a Car, Time

You can find the article here on the Time website

5 Retail Price-Tag Tricks, SmartMoney

Buyers beware. Retailers use subtle price tag changes in order to affect the way people think about the value of the item they are buying (A well known practice is the $39.99 price tag rather than $40). The article discusses come of these tricks and the psychology behind them.

You can find the article here on the SmartMoney website

The Best Seat in the House, The Wall Street Journal

An interesting look into the extravagant movie rooms that the most famous directors and actors build in their houses. The article gives details about these "screening rooms" that cost anywhere from a few hundred thousand dollars to several million.

You can find the article here on the Wall Street Journal website