Free Republic

Billionaire software mogul Bill Gates has joined the growing chorus of tech experts who predict that low-skill Americans will face greater unemployment because more jobs are being done by software and robots. The Microsoft founder, whose net worth is $76 billion, suggested the problem could be fixed by reducing taxes on employers and raising taxes on employees, via the reduction of payroll taxes and the addition of new federal consumption taxes.

Greater food system efficiency and curbs to the expansion of cropland are necessary to prevent the collapse of global ecosystems, says a report presented today (24 January) by the UN at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. The report, by the UN Environment Program’s science think tank the International Resource Panel (IRP), says that policymakers must break the link between greater resource consumption and human well-being. The authors say that rising demand for food could lead to a 320 to 850 million hectare expansion of global cropland, putting greater strain of the environment’s capacity for regeneration. …

Population growth and unsustainable consumption are driving Earth towards "unprecedented" environmental destruction, the UN said in a report Wednesday ahead of the Rio Summit. Of 90 key goals to protect the environment, only four have seen good progress, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) said in a planetary assessment issued only every five years. "If current trends continue, if current patterns of production and consumption of natural resources prevail and cannot be reversed and 'decoupled,' then governments will preside over unprecedented levels of damage and degradation," said UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner. The phonebook-sized report, the fifth edition of the...

The average American car owner might be annoyed with gas prices, but despite his opinions on Obama's handling of the nation, he still can afford to drive around in a gas guzzler. Unlike rich Norway and Denmark, where car consumption is heavily discouraged, the car producing nation of Sweden (where I live) could only be rivalled by Switzerland. It shows in Swedish stats on car sales. The average Swede could afford a car the average citizen of no other nation could afford. For 16 consequtive years in a row, the 'close to luxury' Volvo V70 has been the top selling...

Deep down inside we all regret the fact that we have turned Christmas, originally a celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ, into a feast of consumption. Americans view themselves as being the worst example of this attitude and behavior. But are they? Perhaps there are nations even worse. Below, a report from an American ex-pat living in my home country, Sweden. The article; "Rampant holiday consumerism is hard to avoid, writes US-native and parent Rebecca Ahlfeldt, as she struggles to reconcile competing Swedish and American Christmas traditions in finding gifts for her children. Our family has entirely too much...

Sept. 29, 2011, 6:19 p.m. EDT China hard-landing fears hit high-end retailers The tumble came amid growing fears of a hard economic landing in China, which has emerged as a key driver of the world’s economy in the wake of the global financial crisis. The concerns circle around the possibility that China could face a sharp slowdown in exports in coming months, aggravating the headwinds facing the Asian country and dampening the nation’s demand for premium brands such as Louis Vuitton and Tiffany. “Fears of a hard landing in China have once again intensified. While our base case remains a...

"You see, the only way a society can really increase it's future consumption is to save. and by definition saving is under-consumption, it is a lack of consumption, it represents self sacrifice. But when you save and reduce your consumption today, you have money that you can invest, compound interest, and returns, ultimately you can enjoy enhanced future consumption. In America, we have indulged ourselves in the present at the expense of the future." - Peter D. Schiff 2006

Energy prices have been coming down this spring as fears of a Middle East blowup fade. But persistent global demand, tepid supply growth and easy money mean it may not be long till the next damaging spike, Goldman Sachs economists say. Oil prices could surge again by the end of 2012, economists Jan Hatzius and Andrew Tilton wrote in a note to clients this past weekend. They say the snail-like pace of global oil supply expansion – which Goldman projects at 1% or so annually – can't keep a petroleum-addicted world economy rolling without prices rising, perhaps sharply. So don't...

JIM ROGERS ON COMMODITIES: The Bull Market Will Go Up, Consolidate, Go Up, Consolidate, Go Up And Consolidate For Years Gus Lubin May 7, 2011, 8:56 AM Jim Rogers didn't buy or sell anything during last week's commodity sell-off. He says he isn't good at market timing. What he does believe is that we're in the middle of a commodity bull market where everything will go up for years. Rogers tells the Economic Times: "5% correction in gold is meaningless. These things correct 10-15-20-30% every year. Nothing unusual about that. That is the way the markets work. I do not...

U.S. PCE inflation up 0.4%, most since July 2008; spending up 0.3% Real disposable income declined in February as consumer prices jumped by the largest amount in 2 1/2 years, the Commerce Department reported Monday. Economists said the data show that higher prices for gasoline is starting to take some of the steam out of the economy. The personal consumption expenditure index, which Federal Reserve officials say is a more accurate gauge of inflation than the better-known consumer price index, increased 0.4% on the month, the largest monthly gain since July 2008.

A storm of factors, from a decline in demand to more fuel-efficient vehicles, will lead to a long-term decline in U.S. gas demand, according to a recent report from The Associated Press. By 2030, gasoline use in the U.S. will drop “at least 20%” from where it is today, experts say. We’ve already seen an 8% drop in gasoline demand since it peaked in 2006. The more severe decline will be attributed to higher fuel efficiency in new cars mandated by the government as well as electric vehicles and alternative-fuel vehicles that burn ethanol and biofuels. The government will mandate...

China has again warned the US not to use the dispute over the value of the Chinese currency, the yuan, as a “scapegoat” for its high unemployment and flagging growth prospects. The artificially weak Chinese currency has become a political issue in the US where it is blamed for giving Chinese exporters an unfair advantage at the cost of US jobs. Photo: Getty The remarks from China’s ministry of commerce came hours before the US was due to release a report on whether it considers China a “currency manipulator” as fears grow that tensions over the currency could lead to...

Sonya 'The Black Widow' Thomas discusses her eating contest exploits

Tabitha Hale and Brendan Steinhauser represented FreedomWorks, an organization that recruits and mobilizes large volunteer activists groups to fight for smaller government, fewer taxes, and more freedom at the Heritage Foundation’s Bloggers Briefing on August 24, 2010. Two national upcoming events are to take place, the Dick Armey and Matt Kibbe book tour on Give Us Liberty: A Tea Party Manifesto and also the Take America Back convention, on August 27 and September 12, 2010, respectively. Armey, the former U. S. House of Representatives Majority leader, heads Freedom Works. Hale and Steinhauser also promoted four other soon-to-be-released books, in the...

What do banking crises have to do with consumption? Jul 4th, 2010 by Michael Pettis Just three days after returning to Beijing from New York, I had to leave again, this time to a series of conferences in Torino, Italy, so it is hard to do much writing for my blog, especially since I won’t spend my free time in the hotel when there is so damned much food out here that urgently needs sampling. Still, I did want to write a hurried note about a topic of conversation that came up a lot while I was in the US...

World economic recovery driven by global imbalances By Neil Irwin Washington Post Staff Writer Friday, July 9, 2010; A01 The catastrophic economic downturn that began two years ago was supposed to shake up the global economy, ending an era in which Americans consumed too much and saved and exported too little. But the recovery is being driven by a return to the very global imbalances that were a major cause of the crisis. Americans' savings rates have fallen over the past year, imports are rising faster than exports, and countries around the world are again turning to Americans to be...

America’s economy is set to shift away from consumption and debt and towards exports and saving. It will be its biggest transformation in decades, says Greg Ip STEVE HILTON remembers months of despair after the collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008. Customers rushed to the sales offices of Meritage Homes, the property firm Mr Hilton runs, not to buy houses but to cancel contracts they had already signed. “I thought for a moment the world was coming to an end,” he recalls. In the following months Mr Hilton stepped up efforts to save his company. He gave up options to...

What is So Difficult About Transforming the Chinese Economy? By Liang Jing Dec 5, 2009 - 5:17:35 PM What is So Difficult About Transforming the Chinese Economy? by Liang Jing Everyone understands that to transform ChinaÂ’s economy, household consumption must increase, but few have real confidence in this strategy. What is so difficult about making over the Chinese economy? Overseas, people say that ChinaÂ’s consumption is inadequate because Chinese people save too much. This is actually a big misunderstanding. Some people save to buy property, to educate their children or in case of illness, but the bigger problem is that...

About 18 months ago, before the financial crisis swamped the news and obscured more basic trends, the summer 2008 edition of The Lord Abbett Review published an article titled, “Seismic Shifts.” Among other things, that piece pointed out how the need for households to deleverage would slow the growth of consumer spending going forward, especially compared with the free-spending ways of the prior 20 years. That discussion also described how the dollar’s long-term, cumulative weakness against almost every other currency would make American industry more competitive on global markets than previously. The confluence of both trends, it concluded, would shift...

Robert Reich: This Is No Time To Worry About Government Debt Joe Weisenthal|Oct. 2, 2009, 7:09 AM | 350 |12 Echoing fellow traveler Paul Krugman, former Clinton cabinet official Robert Reich is banging the drum on spending: Let me say this as clearly and forcefully as I can: The federal government should be spending even more than it already is on roads and bridges and schools and parks and everything else we need. It should make up for cutbacks at the state level, and then some. This is the only way to put Americans back to work. We did it...