Licences - from my point of view are necessary. I would say that I prefer to consult a medical practitioner with a licence. But that is just me. lol. Increasing competition does not mean decreasing standards. It just means that : training more people able to compete. Now I do not know what are the barriers to entry for each sector. Federal reserve / banks : That is a very interesting one. It might be interesting to look closely about why ultra-rich business moguls are not opening banks left-right and center. I wonder if there is anything done to encourage business moguls to open banks ? or are they "encouraged" not to. It might also be interesting to find out how impossible it is to bring competition to the federal reserve. After all it is a private company.
Scataphagos : have you ever considered volunteering with people raised in an orphanage, and for instance teaching them business skills,... ? I think this MIGHT bring you some new perspectives on how your line of thoughts has been molded.
What I find pretty sickening is that here in the UK the hogs at the top of the FT100 index companies are giving themselves ( they and their friends sit on each others' remuneration committees ) average yearly increases of about 30% but are then the first to complain about their companies' costs and give a miserly 2% to their workers. Even nationalised bankrupt banks are doling out huge bonuses to fatcats at the top. Stick it to the mean bastards at 75% by all means and make them squeal. Socially aware they ain't.
Just where would you find "former orphans"? Besides, I don't think I have any business skills to teach... made mine trading the markets. There are colleges that offer degrees in Entrepreneurship. With the way things turned out, I'd rather have done that than pursue a science degree. However, trading turned out to be OK too.
Don't worry : any ngo involved with orphanages, or in the West kids who grow up in "Care", will provide training. If you can choose an activity called "revenue generation" or "self-sufficiency" skills building, basically anything that will allow you to help build their skills MIGHT expand your way of thinking.
I always wondered why the British always checked on the French. Here we go! lol. (PS: I do not approave of excessive taxation).
My way of thinking, regardless of how different from yours, needs no "expansion". I'm quite comfortable with the notion of, "survival of the fittest", "provide for yourself or die", "nobody owes anybody anything", "nobody is ENTITLED to anything at another's expense", "Liberalism, Obama and all of their ilk are ENEMIES OF AMERICA". The genius Founders gave us a framework of governance to AVOID exactly what' we're embracing today. That pisses me off SOOOO MUCH!! Most people, including me, are charitable to some degree. But nobody should be required to pay for the lifestyle of another.... especially when political strings are attached.
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That's a thought provoking idea. Tax rates based on personal money velocity. Is that practical? I just read, but not certain where, possibly in John Quiggin's book, that mobility between classes in the U.S. has declined significantly and is now lower than in Western Europe. Most of us naturally recoil at the thought of going back to steeply graduated tax rates. Are there advantages, however, to be gained in class mobility by an increase in the velocity of money obtained, perhaps, from such steep tax gradations? Advocates of the flat tax point out the huge benefit of tax simplification. We might temper our enthusiasm, however, by noting that during the boom years following WWII the U.S. strayed very far from a flat tax --though the differing rates for earned and unearned income acted as a counter weight. On the other hand, during the Reagan years, when the monetarists and privatization hawks held sway, we reached a point where there was only ten percent difference between the highest and lowest tax brackets-- virtually a flat tax without the benefit of simplification. There remained a myriad of deductions and loop holes and the difference between earned and unearned income. We might have got a better result had we, at that time, eliminated the latter difference. The idea that making the rich richer helps the poor has been thoroughly discredited; yet refuses to die. I found E.O. Wilson's book the "Social Conquest of Earth" a fascinating explanation of why we do what we do. I wonder, though, if understanding that we are a eusocial species can help us overcome our self-destructive instincts and forge a better tomorrow. ______________ http://www.amazon.com/Zombie-Economics-Ideas-Still-among/dp/0691154546 http://www.amazon.com/Social-Conquest-Earth-Edward-Wilson/dp/0871403633 http://www.theguardian.com/science/2012/jun/24/battle-of-the-professors
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