As in the grocery business that we discussed earlier, you must first study the banking business so that you have a firm grip on what it is all about and feel that you can run such a business. Without this confidence you are fighting a losing battle. This, too, is a very competitive business.
The newfound openness of large numbers of Americans to socialism is, by now, a well documented phenomenon. According to a Gallup poll from earlier this year, 43% of Americans now believe that some form of socialism would be a good thing, in contrast to 51% who are still against it. A Harris poll found that four in ten Americans prefer socialism to capitalism. The trend is particular apparent in the young: another Gallup poll showed that as recently as 2010, 68% of people between 18 and 29 approved of capitalism, with only 51% approving of socialism, whereas in 2018, while the percentage among this age group favoring socialism was unchanged at 51%, those in favor of capitalism had dropped precipitously to 45%
Although the roughly two million affected residents of Northern California are recovering from the rolling blackouts imposed by utility PG&E, the company has warned that these “fire safety outages” may be periodically required for another decade. Naturally, California Governor Gavin Newsom decried the debacle as yet another example of “greed and neglect.” Yet as IER analyst Jordan McGillis explained in a previous article, the episode actually showcases the dangers of a government-imposed monopoly in electricity provision. In this article, I’ll elaborate on McGillis’ insights and show why the conventional economic rationale for government regulation of electric utilities is fundamentally flawed. Read More in BankNotes
Fractional reserve banking arises because banks legally are permitted to use money placed with them in demand deposits. Banks treat this type of money as if it was loaned to them.
It is with this in mind that I wish to take a closer look at the Mutual Insurance Holding Company (MIHC), which is a topic that is relevant to IBC practitioners and all those who may be thinking of implementing IBC policies in the near future. It is especially important now because Bob and I repeatedly stress that we are in the midst of an unsustainable boom that will crash and IBC offers, among other benefits, an exit strategy from the market collapses that are heading our way.
Back in the September 2012 issue of the Lara-Murphy Report, I tackled an older blog post by financial guru Dave Ramsey where he strongly attacked the idea of using permanent life insurance as a savings vehicle.1
Last month, I began this series, which tackles the question: Does IBC “work”
for people who are older and/or in poor health? Many people are concerned
that the “pure cost of insurance” will be so high in such cases, that practicing
IBC will be too expensive, or will have “too much drag,” to be sensible.
One Of the most common questions we get from the public is whether IBC “works” or “makes sense” for someone who is older and/or in relatively poor health. People naturally worry whether the “pure cost of life insurance”— which is more expensive for older and/or sicker individuals, of course— at some point could make IBC impractical. If so, would it be better for people in this situation to take out IBC policies on others who are younger and/or in better health?
A Business Credit survey1 conducted and published in March 2016 by the Federal Reserve Banks of New York, Atlanta, Boston, Cleveland, Philadelphia, Richmond, and St. Louis reports that “cash flow” is the number one problem facing small businesses with fewer than 500 employees. At the same time a Financial Stability Report dated November 2018 by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve cites that business-sector debt relative to GDP is historically high and “debt has been growing fastest at firms with weaker earnings and higher leverage.”2 In essence this report insinuates that the very same cash flow difficulty also exists among the larger companies, that is, those businesses with more than 500 employees.
April 2019 – BankNotes cover the Eulogy, Nelson Nash— The Man
(1931-2019) and Reflections on R. Nelson Nash. He will be greatly missed.
