Personal Finance

Start Your Own Tax Revolt — Without Getting In Trouble

April 15, 2009

From Human Events “A virtuous and industrious people may be cheaply governed.” ~ Benjamin Franklin “Little else is required to carry a state to the highest level of opulence but peace, easy taxes, and a tolerable administration of justice.” ~ Adam Smith Today, on April 15 Tax Day, hundreds of thousands of citizens are protesting [...]

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A Painless Way to Triple Your Savings

June 1, 2002

From The President’s Desk Published in Ideas on Liberty June 2002 by Mark Skousen “The human mind is charming in its unreasonableness, its inveterate prejudices, and its waywardness and unpredictability.” —LIN YUTANG1 “Behavioral” finance is the hot new field in the rapidly growing “imperial” science of economics. Consider the titles of recent books on the [...]

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Can Money Buy Happiness?

April 1, 2002

Personal Snapshots Forecasts & Strategies April 2002 “I’m tired of Love: I’m still more tired of Rhyme. But Money gives me pleasure all the time.” —Hilaire Belloc I came across a very interesting book the other day called Happiness and Economics: How the Economy and Institutions Affect Human Well-Being (Princeton University Press, 2002), by Bruno [...]

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Are You A Company Man or An Entrepreneur?

May 1, 2001

Forecasts & Strategies Personal Snapshots May 2001 By Mark Skousen The most dangerous advice you can give a child is “Go to school, get good grades, and look for a safe, secure job.” —Robert T. Kiyosaki, author Rich Dad, Poor Dad I don’t normally write about the same book twice, but I received so many [...]

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Rich Investor, Poor Investor

April 1, 2001

Forecasts & Strategies Personal Snapshots April 2001 by Mark Skousen “The poor and middle class work for money…. The rich have money work for them.” —Robert T. Kiyosaki, author, Rich Dad, Poor Dad Many of you may have read the best-seller, Rich Dad, Poor Dad. The author, Hawaiian-born Robert Kiyosaki, criticizes his own father, a [...]

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What If Social Security Was Like a 401(k)?

December 1, 2000

Forecasts & Strategies Personal Snapshots December 2000 by Mark Skousen “Of all social institutions, business is the only one created for the express purpose of making and managing change…. Government is a poor manager.” -Peter F. Drucker, “The Sickness of Government,” The Age of Discontinuity (1969) In the ongoing debate over the privatization of Social [...]

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How Many of You Are on Food Stamps?

November 1, 2000

Personal Snapshots Forecasts & Strategies November 2000 by Mark Skousen “Middle of the road policy leads to socialism.” -Ludwig von Mises At the recent San Francisco Money Show, I asked an audience of several hundred investors, “By a show of hands, how many of you are on food stamps?” Not a single hand went up. [...]

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