Abenomics is Economic Seppuku

Girlfriend forwarded me an article from the New York Times on Abenomics and asked what I thought of it.  I replied by forwarding a video posted on After the West  that covers one of the major problems with Abenomics. Abenomics is essentially a three pronged approach towards jump starting Japans stagnant economy. 

The first prong, massive government investment, is nothing new for the Japanese.  Every Prime Minister of Japan since the early to mid 1990s as tried government investment to little effect.  There is little reason to think that Abe's economic stimulus is faring any better.

What Happens When Put A Socialist In Charge

You get an attempt to confiscate as much wealth as possible by the government. Fortunately for the French, the Constitutional Council has decided that a 66.66% marginal tax rate or higher on income over 1.2 million Euros, around 1.5 million Dollars, is confiscatory. I am sure that this will comfort the wealthy in France and bring the likes of Gerard Depardieu back from Belgium. Having their attempts at fleecing the evil nasty rich rebuffed, Hollande's government is turning their sights onto corporations. I can't what the downside of trying to implement a marginal tax rate above 75% would be for corporations. Whatever does happen I am sure, as the Captain always says, that it will be a feature, not a bug, of Socialism.

In The Ruins of A Republic

In the last post of my series on the Decline of the Roman Republic I ended shortly after Sulla’s dictatorship. The end his dictatorship in 81 B.C marked a transition period for the Roman people. Sulla had assumed the dictatorship due to the machinations of his rival and former superior Marius, and he used his powers to try and purge the Republic of what he saw as the rot of corruption that had festered for far too long. At least this is how Sulla would describe his actions; and I believe it was a real motivation considering that he did voluntarily disband his legions and give up the dictatorship. However, whatever Sulla’s ultimate intentions, the reality is that his proscriptions were a bloody terror that purged the republic of guilty and innocent alike. Most troubling is that the actions of both Marius and Sulla revealed a startling truth that even Sulla's voluntary resignation of dictatorship could not hide. The Republic of Rome was no more.

Detriot Should Just Declare Bankruptcy

And end it all now. There is no way that a city that is as broken as Detroit, with a deficit of 386 million and total outstanding long term debt of over 14 billion, can recover. What's really funny is that out of it's total 400 million in short to medium term liabilities almost 30% of that debt comes from public projects that were supposed to rejuvenate the ailing city.  Time and time again we have examples of cities, that instead of opting for fiscal restraint, aim for hairbrain public works projects as the panacea for their fiscal woes that only hasten the economic suicide of the municipality. This should be front page news and be a cause of foreboding for all Americans, but it will remain under reported and under read. Eventually Detroit will announce bankruptcy and we will hear the gnashing of teeth and the wail: "How could this have happened?"

Leftists Turning Against The Old?

The fact that Social Security and Medicare are slowly strangling this nation financial isn't news to myself, or most anyone else who isn't hooked up to the crap culture opium drip.  For a long time attempting to address this situation was guaranteed political suicide because not only would you have the largest voting demographic out for your blood, but you would also have media encouraging the blood bath.  This may be changing.