Thursday, March 27, 2014

Economic news you can use


There are several noteworthy milestones to note tonight.  Follow the links for more information.

In terms of our general economic malaise:


Apart from general economic news, with Tax Day approaching there's a lot of discussion about our broken tax system.

  • Zero Hedge offers a list of 97 taxes Americans pay every year.  It notes:  "Our politicians have become extremely creative in finding ways to extract money from all of us, and most Americans don't even realize what is being done to them.  By the time it is all said and done, a significant portion of the population ends up paying more than half of what they earn to the government.  That is fundamentally wrong, but nothing will be done about it until people start demanding change."
  • The Economic Collapse Blog lists '24 Outrageous Facts About Taxes In The United States That Will Blow Your Mind'.  They certainly blew mine!

Finally - and of very great interest considering the monstrosity that is Obamacare - the Fiscal Times reports that "there’s an increasing trend in the industry toward cutting insurance companies out of the process entirely, as large, regional hospital systems move into the insurance business".  This is a noteworthy development.  If such institutions can cut out the middlemen who currently consume as much as one-quarter to one-third of all medical expenditure in the form of administrative overhead, it should make medical care considerably more affordable for most of us.  Of course, it'll also have a very detrimental impact on those who depend on the current medical insurance system for their livelihood.  I'm going to watch this one closely.

Peter

3 comments:

Mitchell said...

I'm not at all surprised Walmart would see reduced profits if government aid to the poor was reduced. Walmart is often the only store that poor people shop at, and if they have less money to shop then certainly Walmart would see reduced revenue.

Which part of that is shocking? That poor people buy things? That poor people shop at Walmart?

joemedic said...

Keep your eye on the future of healthcare systems--hospitals cutting out middlemen is happening more than you would think.

Hospitals are also gobbling up nursing homes and extended care facilities. It is my understanding that if you are admitted to the hospital for the same diagnosis within 30 days, the second time your admission and treatment will not be reimbursed. However, if you are in a hospital based nursing home, it's just a transfer between facilities.

Understand that the health care system has some sharp people working on all the angles.

Anonymous said...

I have mixed feelings about point 2. No company pays taxes, they pass that on to the consumer (what a scam by politicians; unlimited taxes on the uneducated public). I wouldn't care one bit about it if it wasn't Obama-style crony capitalism with kickbacks to the Party, because that would mean (because of competition) lower prices.
Chanting 'corporate welfare' should be left to the Occupiers. Tax write-offs, depreciation and much more is a good thing. For example, when Obama was pandering about 'bail-outs for the oil companies'? They were taking the same write-offs that his Solyndra buddies were taking, and my dad with his little country store.
All this economic stuff is bad, but what will kill this country is the lack of an informed populace.
-bravokilo