Tidbits Political Quotations
To Accompany the September 15, 2020 Edition of Tidbits
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/tidbits/2020/Tidbits091520.htm             
Bob Jensen at
Trinity University




The Jewish Express:  A Brief History of Antifa: Part I ---
https://www.jewishpress.com/indepth/opinions/a-brief-history-of-antifa-part-i/2020/06/14/

The Jewish Experess:  A Brief History of Antifa:  Part II ---
https://www.jewishpress.com/indepth/opinions/a-brief-history-of-antifa-part-ii-antifa-in-the-united-states/2020/06/24/

According to The New York Times, potentially 90 percent of those who have tested positive for COVID-19 have such insignificant amounts of the virus present in their bodies that such individuals do not need to isolate nor are they candidates for contact tracing ---
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/29/health/coronavirus-testing.html

My Latest Web Document
Over 600 Examples of Critical Thinking and Illustrations of How to Mislead With Statistics --
-
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/MisleadWithStatistics.htm

Animated  Visualization of the United States’ Exploding Population Growth Over 200 Years (1790 – 2010) ---
A Visualization of the United States’ Exploding Population Growth Over 200 Years (1790 – 2010)

USA Debt Clock --- http://www.usdebtclock.org/
The published national debt is a lie
Here's the real federal debt ---
https://www.truthinaccounting.org/about/our_national_debt

Debt to GDP Ratio by Country 2020 ---
https://worldpopulationreview.com/countries/countries-by-national-debt/

Human Population Over Time on Earth ---
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PUwmA3Q0_OE 

MIT's Links to Covid-19 Trackers Around the World ---
https://www.technologyreview.com/2020/05/07/1000961/launching-mittr-covid-tracing-tracker/

Johns Hopkins University:  Updated Map and Table on the Number of Coronavirus Cases for Every Nation ---
https://www.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html#/bda7594740fd40299423467b48e9ecf6
Accuracy is subject to wide margins of error for every nation and varies greatly between nations.

Covid019 in New Hampshire ---
https://www.nh.gov/covid19/

The best maps for comparing counties and towns in your state are provided by your state. For example, here's the map showing the distribution of cases for New Hampshire counties and towns ---
https://www.wmur.com/article/new-hampshire-coronavirus-map/32009329#
 


 

Beautiful News Daily (news and statistics to offset all of today's bad news) ---
https://informationisbeautiful.net/beautifulnews/

 

 Here's a humorous and serious TED talk that seriously argues why the world needs billionaires

https://www.ted.com/talks/harald_eia_where_in_the_world_is_it_easiest_to_get_rich
 

Why did Cuba abandon its socialist/communist dream of equality for everybody?
The Guardian:  This was the egalitarian dream of Cuba in the 1960s: For years in Cuba, jobs as varied as farm workers and doctors only had a difference in their wages of the equivalent of a few US dollars a month.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/jun/12/cuba 

 

Here's a somber and serious Guardian article on why the Cuban model of income equality for all is a disaster ---
Fidel Castro says his economic system is failing ---
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/sep/09/fidel-castro-cuba-economic-model

 

Miracle of Chile --- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miracle_of_Chile
Movie:  The Chicago Boys of Chile ---
https://vimeo.com/ondemand/chicagoboysenglish

 

Cuba’s Dubious Miracle ---
https://www.hoover.org/research/cubas-dubious-miracle

 

The Singapore Dream:  How Singapore's richest man went from welding in a factory for $14 per hour to owning a $17 billion hotpot restaurant chain ---
https://www.businessinsider.com/life-of-singapore-richest-man-from-welder-to-hotpot-billionaire-2020-1

 

After 40 years of capitalism, China’s income is divided almost as unequally as America’s ---
https://qz.com/1591961/thomas-pikettys-new-research-shows-rising-inequality-in-china/

 

While a move is underway to destroy the American Dream of rags to riches (by taxing away the riches) the Chinese dream is on the rise.
The Chinese Dream
How a Chinese billionaire went from making $16 a month in a factory to being one of the world's richest self-made women with an $8.3 billion real-estate empire ---

https://www.businessinsider.com/worlds-richest-self-made-woman-wu-yajun-net-worth-2019-2

Top 50 Billionaires in China ---
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Chinese_by_net_worth

Jensen Comment
The question for students to debate is why a supposed communist country allows so many billionaires to rise up from poverty.
That's supposed to happen in the USA where a child growing up in deep poverty (think Oprah Winfrey or Howard Shultz) became a multi-billionaires.
But is it also supposed to happen under communism? If so, why?

 

One reason is that many billionaires can afford to pour lots of money into high risk ventures. When's the last time you heard about a high risk (think Silicon Valley) venture in Europe?


 

Wikiquote from Wikipedia --- https://www.wikiquote.org/

 

I detest what you write, but I would give my life to make it possible for you to continue to write ---
Voltaire

 

"This is perhaps the assembly of the most intelligence ever to gather at one time in the White House, with the exception of when Thomas Jefferson dined alone"
John F. Kennedy at a White House party

 

Harper's:  A Letter on Justice and Open Debate --- |

https://www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a/thomas-chatterton-williams-on-race-identity-and-cancel-culture

 

When the Great Scorer comes to write against your name, one unforgiveable sin (racial profiling) outweighs all the good you've done in life.

Bob Jensen

 

Kobe Bryant:  We need to make the most of every minute we have ---
https://www.newsweek.com/i-wont-take-see-you-later-granted-148449

 

It is not knowledge, but the act of learning, not possession but the act of getting there, which grants the greatest enjoyment.

Carl Friedrich Gauss

 

James Baldwin Talks About Racism in America & Civil Rights Activism on The Dick Cavett Show (1969) ---
http://www.openculture.com/2020/08/james-baldwin-talks-about-racism-in-america-civil-rights-activism-on-the-dick-cavett-show-1969.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed:+OpenCulture+(Open+Culture)

 

Hermann Weyl born in Hamburg, Germany. He wrote, "One may say that mathematics talks about the things which are of no concern to men. Mathematics has the inhuman quality of starlight---brilliant, sharp, but cold ... thus we are clearest where knowledge matters least: in mathematics, especially number theory." ---
http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Biographies/Weyl.html
Also see Mathematical Analytics in Plato's Cave
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/TheoryTAR.htm#Analytics

 

And nevertheless conclude that the optimum amount of restriction of immigration is zero point zero, zero, zero? Amazing. Economics are generally skeptical models that yield corner solutions ---
https://www.econlib.org/do-you-talk-about-it-in-open-borders-yes/
Jensen Comment
To the list of questions I would add "Do your talk about the Tragedy of the Commons?"
The problem with open borders is somewhat related to the economic problem of "The Sharing of the Commons" where giving everybody the right to use a free resource leads to everybody losing that resource. At what point will allowing billions of people share in the free medical care, free college, and other scarce resources ruin it for everybody ---
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tragedy_of_the_commons

 

History of United States Immigration Laws ---
https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#inbox/FMfcgxwGCkZzrvQkcFbRplBPwBFwmFDs

 

Open immigration can’t exist with a strong social safety net; if you’re going to assure healthcare and a decent income to everyone, you can’t make that offer global ---
Paul Krugman
https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/724654-open-immigration-can-t-exist-with-a-strong-social-safety-net

 

History will prove former President Donald Trump was correct about Mexico one day funding an impenetrable wall --- to keep out over 2 billion starving green immigrants seeking to enter Mexico from the north.
Bob Jensen

 

Assorted Charlie Munger Quotations ---

https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/warren-buffett-berkshire-hathaway-charlie-munger-12-best-quotes-2020-5-1029210949

 

Walter E. Williams:  Insults to Black History ---
https://townhall.com/columnists/walterewilliams/2020/06/24/insults-to-black-history-n2571095?utm_source=thdaily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nl&newsletterad=06/24/2020&bcid=b16c6f948f297f77432f990d4411617f&recip=17935167

 

Walter E. Williams:  The Leftist Effort to Revise American History ---

https://townhall.com/columnists/walterewilliams/2020/08/05/the-leftist-effort-to-revise-american-history-n2573650?utm_source=thdaily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nl&newsletterad=08/05/2020&bcid=b16c6f948f297f77432f990d4411617f&recip=17935167

 

Walter E. Williams:  The True Plight of Black Americans

https://townhall.com/columnists/walterewilliams/2020/06/10/the-true-plight-of-black-americans-n2570249

 

 

Walter E. Williams:  Institutional Racism ---
https://townhall.com/columnists/walterewilliams/2020/08/26/institutional-racism-n2574936?utm_source=thdaily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nl&newsletterad=08/26/2020&bcid=b16c6f948f297f77432f990d4411617f&recip=17935167

 

Walter E. Williams:  Back to Academic Brainwashing ---
https://townhall.com/columnists/walterewilliams/2020/08/19/back-to-academic-brainwashing-n2574500?utm_source=thdaily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nl&newsletterad=08/19/2020&bcid=b16c6f948f297f77432f990d4411617f&recip=17935167

 

Is Racism Responsible for Today's Black Problems? ---
https://townhall.com/columnists/walterewilliams/2020/07/29/is-racism-responsible-for-todays-black-problems-n2573212?utm_source=thdaily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nl&newsletterad=07/29/2020&bcid=b16c6f948f297f77432f990d4411617f&recip=17935167

 

Some Fatherly Words of Wisdom from Jack Bogle, Founder of Vanguard Investments, to My Sons ---
https://jborden.com/2019/06/16/some-fatherly-words-of-wisdom-from-jack-bogle-founder-of-vanguard-investments-to-my-sons/

 

Walter A. Williams:  The Nation's Report Card
How are K-12 schools doing under President Trump versus President Obama?
https://townhall.com/columnists/walterewilliams/2020/05/06/the-nations-report-card-n2568167?utm_source=thdaily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nl&newsletterad=05/06/2020&bcid=b16c6f948f297f77432f990d4411617f&recip=17935167

Jensen's Comment
Most K-12 schools were probably doing better when I was a child than they're doing today. The downhill slide is greatest in the gang-ridden schools, drug-infested urban schools like Chicago and New Orleans. Throwing money at such schools is not the answer until life at home recovers. Finland knows this, which is why Finland's dads spend more time with school children than the moms or the teachers.
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2017/dec/04/finland-only-country-world-dad-more-time-kids-moms

 

Walter E. Williams:  Insane News Tidbits ---
https://townhall.com/columnists/walterewilliams/2020/05/27/insane-news-tidbits-n2569329?utm_source=thdaily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nl&newsletterad=05/27/2020&bcid=b16c6f948f297f77432f990d4411617f&recip=17935167

 

Milton Friedman:  The Lesson of the Spoons ---
https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2019/08/spoons-are-in-aisle-9.html
Chopsticks would be even better

 

Rep. Ilhan Omar Calls For “Dismantling” of US “Economy and Political Systems” (VIDEO) ---
https://www.blabber.buzz/conservative-news/944250-radical-seattle-city-councilmember-kshama-sawant-vows-to-overthrow-the-united-states-and-replace-with-a-socialist-world?utm_source=c-alrt&utm_medium=c-alrt-email&utm_term=c-alrt-GI&utm_content=1Cugtgg08BDw-1AwBlaN1Qmmriw..A
Jensen Comment
Republicans are most grateful that Omar played a huge role in getting Biden nominated

 

They Know How to Prevent Megafires. Why Won’t Anybody Listen?
https://www.propublica.org/article/they-know-how-to-prevent-megafires-why-wont-anybody-listen

 

NFL Dropping Military Honor Guards for National Anthem ---
https://www.breitbart.com/sports/2020/08/24/report-nfl-dropping-military-honor-guards-for-national-anthem/

 

Radical Seattle City Councilmember Kshama Sawant Vows to Militantly Overthrow the United States and Replace with “a Socialist World” ---
https://www.blabber.buzz/conservative-news/944250-radical-seattle-city-councilmember-kshama-sawant-vows-to-overthrow-the-united-states-and-replace-with-a-socialist-world?utm_source=c-alrt&utm_medium=c-alrt-email&utm_term=c-alrt-GI&utm_content=1Cugtgg08BDw-1AwBlaN1Qmmriw..A
Also see
https://mynorthwest.com/1850633/rantz-socialist-kshama-sawant-militant-takeover-amazon/?

 

NYC Shootings Hit Record Numbers as Victims Question Defund the Police Movements ---
https://legalinsurrection.com/2020/09/nyc-shootings-hit-record-numbers-as-victims-question-defund-the-police-movements/

 

"In Praise of Cheap Labor," by Paul Krugman, Slate, March 21, 1997 ---
https://slate.com/business/1997/03/in-praise-of-cheap-labor.html

 

Tens of thousands of loans issued under the government’s $670 billion Paycheck Protection Program are vulnerable to fraud, waste and abuse, according to a report from a House panel ---
https://www.wsj.com/articles/house-panel-criticizes-lack-of-oversight-on-ppp-loans-11598981252?mod=djemCFO ---
 

 

Corruption in general has a deleterious effect on the readiness of economic agents to invest. In the long run, it leads to a paralysis of economic life. But very often it is not that economic agents themselves have had the bad experience of being cheated and ruined, they just know that in this country, or in this part of the economy, or this building scene, there is a high likelihood that you will get cheated and that free riders can get away with it. Here again, reputation is absolutely essential, which is why transparency is so important. Trust can only be engendered by transparency. It's no coincidence that the name of the most influential non-governmental organization dealing with corruption is Transparency International.
A Conversation with Karl Sigmund:  When Rule of Law is Not Working
https://www.edge.org/conversation/karl_sigmund-when-the-rule-of-law-is-not-working

Great fleas have little fleas upon their backs to bite 'em, And little fleas have lesser fleas, and so on ad infinitum ---

Augustus De Morgan

Prior to 1980 what was unique about the year of his birth in 1871?
http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Biographies/De_Morgan.html

Also see
 

The enemy is fear
We think it's hate
But, it's fear

Gandhi

 

12 inspiring quotes from Martin Luther King Jr.---
https://www.businessinsider.com/inspiring-martin-luther-king-jr-quotes-2017-1

 

Biden called Ella Baker a giant of the civil rights movement. Her life was extraordinary ---
https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/21395152/ella-baker-activist-joe-biden-speech-dncc

 

Bertrand Russell's observations on the value of leisure were made in an era of mass unemployment – and they are just as pertinent today ---
https://www.newstatesman.com/2020/08/why-bertrand-russells-argument-idleness-more-relevant-ever

 

‘Never Be Afraid’: William Faulkner’s Speech to His Daughter’s Graduating Class in 1951 ---
http://www.openculture.com/2020/05/never-be-afraid-william-faulkners-speech-to-his-daughters-graduating-class-in-1951.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+OpenCulture+%28Open+Culture%29
Also see
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2020/09/michael-gorra-william-faulkner/614206/

 

Hydroxychloroquine reduces risk of death from coronavirus by 30 percent, Italian study shows ---

https://www.studyfinds.org/hydroxychloroquine-reduces-risk-coronavirus-death/

 

Trump sending federal law enforcement (and National Guard) to Kenosha, says Dem gov. accepting offer to restore order ---
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-jacob-blake-shooting-kenosha-wisconsin-federal-law-enforcement

 

Report: Seattle Rioters Tried to Burn Police Officers Alive By Sealing Precinct Door Shut ---
https://legalinsurrection.com/2020/08/report-seattle-rioters-tried-to-burn-police-officers-alive-by-trying-to-seal-door-shut-at-precinct/

 

CNN:  The Rioting Has Got to Stop… It’s Showing Up in the Polls ---
https://legalinsurrection.com/2020/08/don-lemon-the-rioting-has-got-to-stop-its-showing-up-in-the-polls/

 

UK retail jobs have nearly halved over the past year, as job cuts reach their fastest rate since 2009 ---
https://www.businessinsider.com/uk-retail-job-losses-fastest-cuts-since-2009-footfall-rising-2020-8

 

The Social and Economic Side Effects of Negative Interest Rates ---
https://mises.org/wire/social-and-economic-side-effects-negative-interest-rates?utm_source=Mises+Institute+Subscriptions&utm_campaign=d192de5f7f-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_9_21_2018_9_59_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_8b52b2e1c0-d192de5f7f-228708937

 

The quality-adjusted rate of price inflation is much higher than measured ---
https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2020/08/the-quality-adjusted-rate-of-price-inflation-is-much-higher-than-measured.html

 

Why China Prospered With Corruption ---
https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2020/08/why-china-prospered-with-corruption.html

 

How can NYC escape its worst economic crisis in decades?
https://www.data-z.org/news/detail/how-can-nyc-escape-its-worst-economic-crisis-in-decades
Plans drawn to lay off 22,000 municipal workers

 

Minneapolis businesses fight ban on exterior shutters owners wanting to protect their windows after riots face obstacle ---
https://www.startribune.com/mpls-business-owners-wanting-to-protect-their-windows-after-riots-face-obstacle/572206032/
Twin city St. Paul allows external shutters --- Go figure!

 

The Cost of Variance Around a Mean of Statistically Discriminating Beliefs ---
https://blog.supplysideliberal.com/post/2020/8/27/the-cost-of-variance-around-a-mean-of-statistically-discriminating-beliefs

 

Nuclear plants in Illinois are slated for closure. Will the state’s Democratic politicians save them? ---
https://www.data-z.org/news/detail/nuclear-plants-in-illinois-are-slated-for-closure-will-the-states-democratic-politicians-save-them

 

The CBO says the federal debt will nearly equal the size of the entire US economy after surge in coronavirus spending ---
https://www.businessinsider.com/federal-debt-equal-size-us-economy-2020-cbo-2020-9

 

Why the US federal budget deficit could reach $3.3 trillion ---

https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/2020/0904/Why-the-US-federal-budget-deficit-could-reach-3.3-trillion

 

Who Wins if China Dumps US Treasuries? ---
https://www.thestreet.com/mishtalk/economics/who-wins-if-china-dumps-us-treasuries

 

The Fed Now Owns Nearly One Third of All US Mortgages ---
https://www.thestreet.com/mishtalk/economics/the-fed-now-owns-nearly-one-third-of-all-us-mortgages

 

Business Recovery Hampered for Some by Foreign-Worker Visa Bans ---
https://www.wsj.com/articles/business-recovery-hampered-for-some-by-foreign-worker-visa-bans-11599393600?mod=djemCFO
Note the ranking of states by number of foreign workers

 

Argentina Will Be the First South American Country to Legalize Abortion ---
https://informationisbeautiful.net/beautifulnews/1322-abortion-legal-argentina/

 

Global analysis shows major electric utilities not moving to greener alternatives ---
https://techxplore.com/news/2020-09-global-analysis-major-electric-greener.html

 

Suffolk Community College students call out professor for apparent rant on President Trump ---
http://longisland.news12.com/suffolk-community-college-students-call-out-professor-for-apparent-rant-on-president-trump-42616283
Thank you Eliot Kamlet for the heads up

 

A US ban on cotton from Xinjiang could increase pressure on China to end forced labor of millions of Uighur Muslims, say human rights groups ---
https://www.businessinsider.com/us-cotton-ban-increase-pressure-china-end-forced-labor-xinjiang-2020-9

 

 




 

A Guide to Voting by Mail ---
https://www.usnews.com/news/elections/articles/how-to-vote-by-mail-in-all-50-states-in-the-2020-election

 

How To Vote In The 2020 Election: Click on your state in the map to see a lot of the information you need in order to cast a ballot this fall —
https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/how-to-vote-2020/

 


 

Bloomberg:  The real reason more Americans are renouncing U.S. citizenship ---
https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2020-08-31/why-thousands-of-u-s-expats-are-renouncing-their-citizenship?cmpid=BBD090120_BIZ&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&utm_term=200901&utm_campaign=bloombergdaily

The swearing in of new citizens often makes news in the U.S., especially if it happens in unusual circumstances such as one party’s national convention. Much less reported are the many citizenship renunciations by Americans, and the travails leading up to these life decisions. Almost all those giving up their U.S. nationality are expats. And for each renouncer going through the ordeal, there are countless others thinking about it. Why?

 

One recent press release in particular has caused quite a stir. It suggested that, after “a steep decline” in recent years, renunciations in the first half of this year soared to 5,816, more than twice as many as gave up their passport in all of 2019. The implication, as reported breathlessly in the American media, was that expats, already fed up with President Donald Trump, finally despaired over his mishandling of Covid-19 and quit. Other factors were cited as merely secondary.

 

But these renunciation numbers are notoriously flawed. They’re based on a list of names of renouncers published every quarter by the Internal Revenue Service — experts call this a form of “doxxing.” That list lags in time and jumbles data. In reality, most embassies and consulates stopped making renunciation appointments this spring, owing to the pandemic. And the dip in prior years, according to experts, was due to backlogs and underreporting.

By the best estimates (see chart), renunciations have been rising since 2010, when the Obama administration passed the notorious Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), inflicting misery on U.S. expats everywhere. In 2014, the government raised the renunciation fee from $450 to $2,350. Undeterred, expats kept at it. The American bureaucracy then indirectly slowed the pace with red tape in the first three Trump years. But we’re back on trend in 2020.

 

Now, it may be true that most expats aren’t crazy about Trump. Americans abroad tend to be cosmopolitan professionals, often married to foreigners or following international career paths. Watching their home country in their host nation’s news, or talking about it at local dinner parties, has stopped being fun. The images occasionally evoke a banana republic succumbing to pestilence while arming for civil 

But that’s clearly not the reason why so many expats have been trying to drop their nationality for the past decade. Instead, as I described last year, it’s the nightmare of American tax and financial reporting, in which any accounts or assets deemed in Washington, D.C. to be “foreign” are automatically suspect, requiring extra disclosures that can be ruinous in time, expense and peace of mind.

The U.S. is almost unique in the world in taxing based on citizenship rather than residency. It’s also uniquely parochial in being unable or unwilling to distinguish between, say, a rich American living stateside and stashing money offshore and, for example, a middle-class American married to a German and teaching elementary school in Berlin. The hell starts with that conflation.

Before 2010 America’s citizen-based taxation didn’t necessarily disrupt the lives of expats like this school teacher. That’s because few expats even knew about the horrendously complex reporting rules or bothered with them. But FATCA required them to make new and redundant disclosures or face the prospect of tens of thousands of dollars in fines or even prison. It also required their foreign banks, brokers and insurers to report on them to the IRS, or face draconian sanctions.

Unsurprisingly, many foreign banks and brokers therefore stopped taking “U.S. persons” or green-card holders as customers. So American expats have increasingly been locked out of retail finance in their host countries.

Worse, the European Union then started passing laws with bureaucratically sublime names such as MiFID II and PRIIPs that imposed new rules on everything from mutual funds to life insurance. This scared the U.S. banks and brokers of American expats living in Europe, so they also started kicking out their customers with foreign addresses. Many Americans overseas are financially marooned.

 

Continued in article

 


After 40 years of capitalism, China’s income is divided almost as unequally as America’s ---
https://qz.com/1591961/thomas-pikettys-new-research-shows-rising-inequality-in-china/

Now, the Chinese government wants Piketty’s publisher to remove parts where the author draws on extensive research to show growth in economic inequality to a level comparable to that of the US. Piketty has so far refused to remove the offending passages, which means Capitalism and Ideology most likely won’t be sold in China.

While a move is underway to destroy the American Dream of rags to riches (by taxing away the riches) the Chinese dream is on the rise.
The Chinese Dream
How a Chinese billionaire went from making $16 a month in a factory to being one of the world's richest self-made women with an $8.3 billion real-estate empire ---

https://www.businessinsider.com/worlds-richest-self-made-woman-wu-yajun-net-worth-2019-2

Top 50 Billionaires in China ---
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Chinese_by_net_worth

Jensen Comment
The question for students to debate is why a supposed communist country allows so many billionaires to rise up from poverty.
That's supposed to happen in the USA where a child growing up in deep poverty (think Oprah Winfrey or Howard Shultz) became a multi-billionaires.
But is it also supposed to happen under communism? If so, why?

 


 

From an OZY Newsletter on September 4, 2020

CRACKING POVERTY

1. POVERTY STOPLIGHT

What if a simple color-coded self-assessment project could help families prioritize limited resources to fight poverty? That’s the idea behind the Poverty Stoplight program that launched in Paraguay but has spread to some 30 nations, helping families gain agency to lift themselves out of poverty. Read more.

2. BANGLADESH MIRACLE

Henry Kissinger once described the South Asian nation as an economic “basket case.” Today, the country is a global model for pulling millions of people out of extreme poverty. And central to that success have been microcredit loans as small as $10 to the very poor, a concept that earned a Nobel Prize for Bangladeshi entrepreneur Muhammad Yunus.

3. EARN AS YOU LEARN

One retailer’s trash can be another person’s treasure. The Clothing Bank, a South African initiative, is training thousands of poor women to become microentrepreneurs, taking surplus clothes cast off by giant retailers and selling them at taxi stands, flea markets and offices on payday. Read more.

 

 


 

How to Mislead With Statistics

Ranking of State Economies ---
https://247wallst.com/special-report/2020/08/25/the-states-with-the-best-and-worst-economies-4/2/

01 Utah (best)
02 Idaho
03 Washington
04 Colorado
05 Washington
05 Maryland
06 Arizona
07 Nebraska
08 Oregon
09 Minnesota
10 Georgia

. . .

41 Rhode Island
42 New Jersey
43 Michigan
44 Alaska
45 Illinois
46 Delaware
47 West Virginia
48 Mississippi
49 New York
50 Louisiana (worst)

To determine the states with the best and worst economies, 24/7 Wall St. ranked states based on an index comprising five measures: GDP growth, job growth, unemployment rate, poverty rate, and the bachelor’s degree attainment rate among adults. The average annual GDP growth rate from Q1 2015 to Q1 2020 came from the Bureau of Economic Analysis and was included in the index at full weight. The average annual employment growth rate from June 2015 to June 2020 came from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and was included in the index at full weight. The seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate as of June 2020 also came from the BLS and was included in the index at full weight. The share of adults living below the poverty line came from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2018 American Community Survey and was included in the index at full weight.

In addition to the components in the index, we considered additional state data. Real GDP and contributions to real GDP growth by industry came from the BEA. Median household income, college attainment rate, and the share of workers commuting outside of the state for work came from the 2018 ACS. The affordability ratio of median home value to median household income is a 24/7 Wall St. calculation based on ACS data. Data on regional price parity, a measure of cost of living, came from the BEA and is for 2018. Population change due to natural causes and net migration from 2010 to 2019 came from the U.S. Census Bureau. All data are for the most recent period available.

Continued in article

Jensen Comment
This is misleading in the sense that the ranking does not necessarily reflect states with the greatest flexibility for changing their rankings. For example, Delaware is a relatively low taxation state with no income tax. It has more ability to raise its ranking than New York that, like Illinois, has taxed just about everything to the maximum and has almost run out of options other than begging for bailouts from Washington DC. There are also states in the middle that are in more desperate needs for additional revenue than the bottom 10 states above. For example, California has been hit by both natural disasters (think wild fires) and bad management (think of phasing out gas power plants too quickly to avoid risk of electricity shortages that have very expensive solutions). Oregon and Washington are at greater risk of expensive civil war with entrenched Antifa factions.

The Jewish Express:  A Brief History of Antifa: Part I ---
https://www.jewishpress.com/indepth/opinions/a-brief-history-of-antifa-part-i/2020/06/14/

The Jewish Experess:  A Brief History of Antifa in the USA:  Part II ---
https://www.jewishpress.com/indepth/opinions/a-brief-history-of-antifa-part-ii-antifa-in-the-united-states/2020/06/24/

 




Updates on Medical Insurance

 

Here’s what your Medicare costs could look like in retirement (until Congress messes with the costs and/or coverage) ---
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/08/19/heres-what-your-medicare-costs-could-look-like-in-retirement.html

Jensen Comment
I recommend some degree of Medicare supplemental coverage from the private sector. Because we can afford it, my wife and I both have premium Blue Cross Anthem supplements costing us each over $600 per month. This eliminates the deductibles for medical and pharmacy billings that are not covered by Medicare and, when available, will get us private hospital rooms. We've both been hospitalized recently after  emergency room visits. Never were we billed anything for the ambulance service, ER, hospitalization in private rooms, physician services, or medications.

There are supplemental plans costing less that cover less. Look into such options well in advance of retirement.

Keep in mind that Medicare only covers very short-term nursing care outside a hospital. Medicaid does provide long-term nursing care although that coverage is usually not sufficient for the better nursing homes that now charge $9,000 per month or more depending upon where you live and what nursing home quality you choose. Fortunately, Erika and I do not yet need nursing care. What's important is that you put away savings to cover long-term nursing care should the need arise. I have a friend who paid $17,000 per month for a relatively long time until her husband passed away. At those rates it often does not take long to wipe out retirement savings.

It's extremely important to plan ahead well in advance of retirement and to carefully track changes in Medicare legislated by Congress.

Begin by carefully examining the Medicare Website ---
https://www.medicare.gov/
Then look at options available for supplemental plans where you intend to live in retirement. Then create a sufficient savings plan before retirement.

If medical cost inflation soars before you retire, things will only get worse.

 

 


 

Open immigration can’t exist with a strong social safety net; if you’re going to assure healthcare and a decent income to everyone, you can’t make that offer global ---
Paul Krugman
https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/724654-open-immigration-can-t-exist-with-a-strong-social-safety-net

 

Bob Jensen's threads on health insurance ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/Health.htm

 




Bob Jensen's Tidbits Archives ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/tidbitsdirectory.htm 

Bob Jensen's Pictures and Stories
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/Pictures.htm

Summary of Major Accounting Scandals --- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accounting_scandals

Bob Jensen's threads on such scandals:

Bob Jensen's threads on audit firm litigation and negligence ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/Fraud001.htm

Current and past editions of my newsletter called Fraud Updates ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/FraudUpdates.htm

Enron --- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/FraudEnron.htm

Rotten to the Core --- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/FraudRotten.htm

American History of Fraud --- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/FraudAmericanHistory.htm

Bob Jensen's fraud conclusions ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/FraudConclusion.htm

Bob Jensen's threads on auditor professionalism and independence are at
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/Fraud001c.htm

Bob Jensen's threads on corporate governance are at
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/Fraud001.htm#Governance 

 

Shielding Against Validity Challenges in Plato's Cave ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/TheoryTAR.htm

·     With a Rejoinder from the 2010 Senior Editor of The Accounting Review (TAR), Steven J. Kachelmeier

·     With Replies in Appendix 4 to Professor Kachemeier by Professors Jagdish Gangolly and Paul Williams

·     With Added Conjectures in Appendix 1 as to Why the Profession of Accountancy Ignores TAR

·     With Suggestions in Appendix 2 for Incorporating Accounting Research into Undergraduate Accounting Courses

Shielding Against Validity Challenges in Plato's Cave  --- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/TheoryTAR.htm
By Bob Jensen

What went wrong in accounting/accountics research?  ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/theory01.htm#WhatWentWrong

The Sad State of Accountancy Doctoral Programs That Do Not Appeal to Most Accountants ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/theory01.htm#DoctoralPrograms

AN ANALYSIS OF THE EVOLUTION OF RESEARCH CONTRIBUTIONS BY THE ACCOUNTING REVIEW: 1926-2005 ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/395wpTAR/Web/TAR395wp.htm#_msocom_1

Bob Jensen's threads on accounting theory ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/theory01.htm

Systemic problems of accountancy (especially the vegetable nutrition paradox) that probably will never be solved ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/FraudConclusion.htm#BadNews

Bob Jensen's economic crisis messaging http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/2008Bailout.htm

Bob Jensen's threads --- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/threads.htm

Bob Jensen's Home Page --- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/