Free Republic

If it seems strange that Treasury Secretary Snow and Fed Chairman Greenspan are actually encouraging this weak dollar policy, one can rationalize that they’ve seen the end game and they want to ease their way around the pileup. Better to talk the dollar down now before the balance of payments gets so bad that a true crisis is inevitable. I cannot disagree. And as mentioned in my opening paragraph, alternative solutions to the problem are “pie in the sky” unimaginable. For Americans voluntarily to begin to get the old time religion of saving more money is beyond dreaming, especially with...

Looking ahead, we think the Bush Administration proposal to reduce or eliminate the tax investors pay on dividend income would have a positive effect on the stock market. There are several important reasons why… 1. It would result in a revaluation of the stock market, as the after-tax value of dividends would increase. Many economists and analysts use a dividend discount model and, as corporations are encouraged to increase their payout ratio, the valuation of the overall market could be significantly enhanced. 2. It would encourage more companies to pay dividends, which would in turn increase the popularity of their...