Taxation Nation

Taxation Nation new Website

2008-06-11T23:48:00.000-07:00

If you've got time, check out the next website, taxation nation, where it is intended to build a number of resources, useful information and links, on the subjects of taxation and the personal freedom we do or don't actually have. Keep an eye on it!

Benjamin Franklin's autobiography

2008-06-04T13:24:00.000-07:00

Lately, I've been reading the Autobiography of Ben Franklin, one of America's founding fathers. Actually, as great as it is, it's worth noting that this writing is merely him writing on 3 separate chapters of his life. I suspect there are other less noteworthy parts which we will never get to hear about, although the views of the man himself, and the inherent positivity and belief in the nature of man underlyingly ride his texts throughout. One bit that struck me, was his brief mention of coming to London and "enjoying the company of ladies of lower standing". Leaving my imagination about what he might be referring to behind, the main bit that stands out is his semi-ranting chapter on how none of us should feel bitterness or cuss the government in their taking of taxes from us to fund better lives for us all. Ben seems almost naive in this respect, although considering he was talking about decent roads, street sweeping and basic street lighting, one can easily see these are valuable functions which can be more usefully performed by a collective of some sort than individualism.

So far we are in agreement, but the bit which will make any modern scolar laugh is where Ben mentions that we should not cuss, even if the taxes be as much as ten percent. Ten percent? Yes, Ben, I wholeheartedly agree, I would not cuss anyone for providing rubbish collection, clean streets, decent roads and street lighting, for ten percent or less of my income. What I object to is the other forty percent they redistribute to the lazy and useless to remain, er, lazy and useless. It just shows how far backward the world has moved in three hundred years. I bet Ben never saw this kind of forced redistribution , ie theft, coming.

My personal belief in life

2008-06-04T13:03:00.000-07:00

My core belief in life is that no man has any right whatsoever to the earnings or productivity of another man, unless the other man assigns him that right.

Obviously, in todays taxation nation society, this right is not being given, and in fact, governments probably need to become more understanding of the fact that many people today are outwardly resentful of the way others are helping themselves to their earnings, pruductivity and past earnt wealth.

Government is finished long term, simply because for now they choose to spend the earnings of the productive segment of society on schemes to secure the votes of the non-earning, parasitic portion of society.

In fact, the more you look into life in general, the more you realise everything is set up to steal your productivity and "redistribute" it to the lazy and the useless.

But thanks to the internet, globalisation, and the greater and freer movement of people, there is light at the end of the tunnel. Deep down, I'm quite optimistic that governments control over their more productive citizens is coming to an end, although there are many years of struggle on the way. It's a secret war that's already going on in many places, witness the USA and it's "patriot act", supposedly a law to counter terrorism, but really an attempt at controlling its citizens, or the EU savings directive.

Exciting and potentially troubling times ahead. I recommend we all watch governments like a hawk, and be prepared to move if the going gets too tough.

Gordon Brown's Economic Nightmares

2008-05-19T03:58:00.000-07:00

Hot on the tracks of the new political gem of an idea, whereby Gordon Brown adopts an Alan Sugar persona and listens to the political views of young Britons, how about something even better? Step forward;

"Gordon Brown's Economic Nightmares"

Picture the scene, as intrepid Gordon comes in to review the finances of a random nation, going through it's books looking for assets to sell (like Gold reserves), shaking the pockets of taxpayers for any spare change, or any that might be lost down the the back of the sofa, thinking up devious ways to increase the national debt without anybody realising, dreaming up loads of stealth taxes on pensions and ISAs, while maintaining the illusion of "not increasing income tax", and dreaming up endless ways to drag more people into the welfare state and thus vote to retain the status quo in future elections.

First candidate...the UK.

Oh hang on, he's already done that one.

Oil Prices going up...oh what a shame, honest...

2008-05-17T02:44:00.000-07:00

Funny, the news this week that the biggest profiteer of high petrol prices in the Uk happens to be HM Government, who've successfully raked in over half a billion pounds extra as a result of the increased price in the last 6 months. Certainly puts Golden Brown's comments about wanting to "help" the UK consumer into perspective, doesn't it?

Actually, the best help he could give us would be to go away and stop interfering in our lives with his pathetic stealth taxes, ever increasing government indebtedness and selling off the nations the gold.

By the way, the issue of whether oil prices are really going up, or whether in fact the value of the pound is going down, is a subject better covered in How to Invest in Gold and Silver.

If you fancy investing in Oil for tax-free profits, without having to stash a load of barrels of stuff in the garden shed, check out Successful Tax-Free ISA Investing.

Will Charging for Supermarket Carrier Bags Save the Environment?

2008-05-17T02:34:00.000-07:00

This issue of "free" supermarket carrier bags in the UK, and how environmentally friendly it suddenly is to be against them, and start charging for them is one of the most naive pieces of spin I've ever seen.

Firstly, Marks and Spencer are getting a lot of good publicity off their decision to start charging for carrier bags, in a bid to save the environment, but surely one of their carrier bags contains less packaging than 4 of their Coxes apples, for instance? MS are one of the heaviest users of plastic packaging, and biodegradable or otherwise is not the issue here, considering people often forget the amount of greenhouse emissions and waste of oil resources in actually manufacturing all this packaging in the first place. As a store that is big on presentation to help maximise profits, they have successfully managed to deflect attention from their excessive use of packaging.

and they are not alone, I feel guilty every time I look at the huge rubbish bag full of plastic packaging I've generated from cooking even a simple meal. The amount of energy used to produce all that packing and transport it to me was surely way in excess of the calorific value I got out of it.

So, no, banning pastic bags, or a tax on plastic bags is definitely not the answer. But hey, it certainly, temporarily at least, deflects attention from the real issues, doesn't it?

The Con of Home Ownership

2008-05-11T03:36:00.000-07:00

Okay, I'd like this to be a point for discussion, but the con of home ownership, and the importance the government attaches to us all "owning" our own home is one of the biggest cons of all.

For starters, how many of us really own our own homes? As soon as property values start "rising" (although whether they are really rising, or the value of the national currency is being diluted by financial manipulations falls more into my book on How to Invest in Gold and Silver), a lot of people seize on it to make a trip to the bank to increase the size of their mortgage (ker...chinggg!), and use their house as some kind of ATM cash machine. Since any loan, properly viewed, represents a claim on your future productivity, most of us just end up being slaves to our properties, always having live on the treadmill of life, earning to pay the mortgage, the council tax, the utility bills and whatever other taxes the government dreams up to keep the general population slaving away like little hamsters at the wheel, never really moving forward.

Have you ever wondered why there are so many different taxes out there? The real reason, I believe, is to ensure no segment of the population can ever live outside the system. By this, I mean no matter whether you are a young wage-earner, retired and living off your savings, or somewhere in-between, you are required to buy into the system by some form of taxation or other.

and now for the final part of my prediction, now that the last 20-30 years have seen vast majority of the British population have bought into the home ownership con, these taxes and costs of owning a home are about to start going up big time.

Why? Well, quite simply, in a globalised world, where much business is conducted internationally, income taxes and corporation taxes are becoming harder and harder to collect, and where people and corporations can base themselves outside jurisdictions with unfair taxes, taxes on fixed assets are bound to increase simply because those assets are the last ones left that can be taxed.

Property prices may rise in nominal terms, as the pound is devalued, but don't be surprised if in 5 years time, your £200,000 flat is still worth, in paper money at least, £200,000, but a loaf of bread costs £50.

I am so glad I don't own a property in the UK any more.

Should Britain join the Euro?

2008-05-07T13:47:00.000-07:00

I used to be strongly in favour of a single European currency, and my partner is from the continent, but after living over there for 3 years, I've completely revised my opinion.

Culturally, Europe is much more socialist and controlling, when compared with the historic British attitude of an island nation based on international trade and financial freedoms, as evidenced by our reputation as one of the best places to conduct international business, and our base as the world's leading financial centre.

Using the old dictum that "he who controls the currency controls the nation", by giving up the national currency, you are also giving up much of the control and handing it to another power, with vested interests of its own.

Fortunately, at this point in time, most Britons realise this and are opposed to the single currency. We all know this, so why even bother going to the expense and hassle of a referendum?

Think and Grow Rich

2008-05-02T12:07:00.000-07:00

Given the huge amount of government taxation and control of our lives by the nanny state, a lot of us could do with a bit of self-reliance and self-determination of where we are going in their lives.

Over the years, there have been a lot of great minds encouraging us to help ourselves, but no book has had as big an effect on me as Think and grow Rich by Napoleon Hill.

In fact, 37 years after the bloke died, he's on the verge of a major comeback, with loads of new Napoleon products out there. My advice to anyone is to read this amazing book.

How to Protect Yourself from the Hidden Tax of Inflation

2008-05-02T11:59:00.000-07:00

How to Invest in Gold and Silver is now available at all good bookshops, including Amazon and Book Depository.

This is a major release to allow greater access to this this unique guide for beginners to the world of investing in precious metals.

How to Invest in Gold and Silver explains in laymans terms the weaknesses behind the present day financial system and why gold has endured throughout history. It gives clear reasons why you should be investing at least some of your savings in the worlds oldest currency and explains the various ways you can invest profitably. Some of these ways have previously been open to experts and the very wealthy only, but are now available to all. Some of the ways like digital currency are completely newly created by the internet and offer great scope for diversifying your portfolio and improving your investment returns. Unlike many books of this type, the information inside and investing options are just as valid for UK, European Union (EU) or worldwide residents.

An unmissable book full of money-saving information that will help you add a major pillar of safety to your investment portfolio.

Credit Crunch bites the Indebted

2008-04-11T13:02:00.000-07:00

I must be one of the few people enjoying the headlines generated by the "credit crunch".

For too many years, too many people have been adopting a buy now pay later mentality. Swapping leisure time and consumer goods in the present for a life of indebtedness to repay it all back. The problem has been aggravated by the hidden tax levied by governments - inflation, which reduces the value of these debts over time.

Well, to try and keep the Inflation Nation on the rails, the government keeps dropping interest rates, even though common sense of rising commodity prices and increased money supply indicate it should be doing the opposite, if it really wanted a well-managed, sound currency of lasting value.

Funny thing is, despite official government lower interest rates, free market rates are having to apply to the money banks are lending each other through LIBOR. Could this be the beginning of the irrelevance of government rate-setting?

Council Tax and Worker Pensions

2008-04-11T03:11:00.000-07:00

A recently reported statistic on BBC news caught my attention, with the factual statment that 20%, or one-fifth of UK council tax payments goes to fund the pensions of retired council employees.

What an amazing statistic that is, in other words, we are paying for the promises of prior generations, who made these claims on their own children and grandchildren. How fair is that? Is it any surprise essential services such as rubbish collection and street cleaning fall by the wayside, when the actual amount of free cash available for these services is constantly shrinking.

I wonder where the graph of future claims like this is heading, unless it is checked now? Quite simply this is another example of what taxes are really spent on. This whole thing is unsustainable, and some people are in for a shock in the years ahead.

Speeding Fines : The new new form of taxation

2008-04-10T11:13:00.000-07:00

Just in case anyone was under any doubt whether speeding fines were justified, or are a new form of taxation the government feels we need to be scared into paying, they should read this story here.

Basically, this bloke was found guilty of doing 37 mph in a 30 zone. OK, so there is a crime of sorts there, although that is not the bit that should anger anyone. This guy subsequently modified the appearance of the rear of his car with a GB Sticker, newly styled number plates, then claimed to the police it wasn't his car. A bit naive, and they proved he had bought those things since. What sentence could he expect for this "heinous" crime, if any? Well, you might expect an extra £500 fine or so for stupidity, but instead he has been sent to prison for 80 days. Amazing, what independent judge could have justified a sentence of this size?

Can we guess perhaps there is a case of making a high publicity example of someone to scare us all into complying with our driving taxes, ermmm. speeding fines.

Wow, how much safer the streets are now we've locked up this serious criminal...

At the same time, we are aware of this story where some poor girl was allegedly abused by her stepfather for 10 years, yet the police lost her file and told her they wouldn't be proceeding...

Welcome to Police State Britain, controlling the general population our speciality.

By the way, I can honestly say I've never received a speeding ticket in my life (a Fiat Doblo with 4 children in it probably can't do much over 80 anyway...), but even I can see that speed cameras, if their true purpose was to stop road deaths, would be far more usefully placed outside schools, or busy residential roads, instead of motorways and dual carriageways with 50mph limits. Remembrance Avenue in Sittingbourne always spring to mind as a prime example, and anyone who has tried to cross it will know what I mean.

UK Budget robs lower paid taxpayers

2008-04-07T01:32:00.000-07:00

A lot of people are quite rightly pointing out that the latest adjustments in the UK budget that came into effect this tax year are very damaging to the lower paid. The major point made by all is the loss of the 10% starting-rate, which was a great incentive to the lower paid.

I completely agree this was a disgrace, but what has escaped the eyes of most is the way that the drop in standard tax rate from 22% to 20% has also robbed savers who pay into pension schemes. Now, instead of receiving a 22% tax credit, you only receive a 20% tax credit. As if "Golden" Gordon Brown hadn't already done enough to destroy the virtue of saving for retirement.

I would say that if you are a standard rate taxpayer, there is now zero point in contributing to a pension scheme, since I bet that by the time you retire, ever more inventive ways such as "Golden Gordons" famous loss of the tax credit on dividends, will have been invented to siphon parts of your pension pot off, and that your pension will ultimately end up paying more than a 20% tax. Not to mention the atrocious annuity rates available and the loss of capital forever once you are forced to buy an annuity.

Note that the MPs can still claim a 40% tax credit back on payments into their own pension schemes. In fact, they can contribute up to 100% of their salary into a pension scheme and get 40% tax relief on the payments.

Definitely a case of protecting ones own self interest at the expense of the people who voted you in.

Owning all the Wealth in the World

2008-04-04T01:34:00.000-07:00

Socialists often argue that the rich are getting richer and the poor and getting poorer, citing the example of someone like Bill Gates

This argument is fundamentally flawed in that it makes the assumption that wealth can only be measured in terms of a national currency. Indeed, under such a system, the rich will get richer and make ever greater claims on the future of others through interest-yielding debts, etc. but if transactions could be conducted in whatever currencies people wished to use, the reality would be somewhat different. Imagine where a farmer pays for services in vegetables from his farm, or I trade my knowledge of fixing someone's computer in return for a plumber fixing broken pipe. These are economic transactions based on skills, knowledge and a decent work ethic.

The problem with these schemes? None, except that such transactions would not be taxable by governments who prefer us to always be on a treadmill, with a variety of taxes that need paying simply for us to maintain our position in life.

As I get older, the more I realise national currencies are a curse.

Court Jesters and Royal Fools

2008-04-01T13:07:00.000-07:00

People often criticise shows like Jeremy Kyle for their exploitation of the poor and vulnerable.
I tend to think the complete opposite, and liken the whole spectacle to court jesters, the royal fool and circus freak shows of years gone by. Think about it, these people help themselves to huge chunks of our earnt wealth, the least they can do is entertain us a bit for it instead of remaining faceless. In fact, everyone sponging off the state the way these guys are should have to appear on one of these shows at least once in their lifetime to help earn their money, ala Lizzie Bardsley.

How Denmark could do with shows like this, as the Working in Denmark blog shows, Denmark is blighted by an even bigger social security problem than the UK's.

CHEAP LAPTOP OFFER

2008-03-19T16:30:00.000-07:00

3 of ny favourite things in the entire world are :-

1) Shopping online at reputable net stores
2) Getting a bargain
3) paying NO Sales Taxes to Greedy Goverments

And thanks to my contacts in the industry, Play.com, one of the stars of tax-free shopping, have allowed me to pass on this discount code ACER40, which enables you to claim an amazing EXTRA £40 off when you buy an Acer Laptop from them here.

The laptops are available here on the Play.com site and the code to enable the discount on the laptops is ACER40.

The laptop code is only valid against the four products listed and will expire at midnight on Wednesday 26/3/08.

City Fat Cats or Corrupt Politicians - which annoy you most?

2008-02-19T22:22:00.000-08:00

Coming back to the UK, it is so easy to see the media con of the big news stories on TV. By this I mean the news we are spoon-fed and the news we don't even get to hear about. For example, one of the headlines of News at Ten was that Gordon Brown announced his belief that the population of Britain were sick of city fat cats, awarding themselves bonuses of millions. Is that a story or a propaganda feed by the UK government to try and deflect attention from certain other stories, shall we say, that do not reflect the UK government in a good light?

Well,to answer Golden Gordon Brown, the population of the UK are not sick of city fat cats, since these people normally get where they are by contributing something to the well-being of the UK in general. What they are really sick of is corrupt politicians imposing ever more taxes, laws and regulations on all us genuine hard-working people just trying to get along with our lives, while at the same time, awarding themselves huge payrises every year, coupled with enormous expense claims and the opportunity to employ members of their family, friends and mistresses at the taxpayers expense,

Funnily enough, there is a whole raft of Inland Revenue rules, such as Section 660, denying self-employed people the chance to do the same thing, so the message is the usual socialist mantra of do as I say, not as I do.

I still can't watch the news without thinking of the good old Spitting Image sketch where, in a very serious voice impersonation of Trevor McDonald, we were told that someone famous, has died...

New business

2008-01-16T12:16:00.000-08:00

Following on from the disastrous debacle of trying to make a go of working in the hotbed of socialism known as Denmark and paying the price, quite literally, for my mistake, thanks to Ken Lynge Primby, I'm back off to the UK.

Step forward The Intelligent Domain. At least in the UK, it's only 20% corporation tax, and if you're sensible about it and only draw out up to around £35,000 you don't end up paying any more income tax on top. Compare that to Demark, where the corporation tax is 25%, then you have to pay income tax on the dividends afterwards as well. Nice.

Of course, knowing my luck, watch Gordon Brown get rid of the dividend tax credit scheme as he scrats down the back of the sofa looking for spare change to fund his grandiose social welfare schemes. Actually, I wonder how many people would close down their UK businesses as a result if he did that? I bought something from a German Internet electricals retailer the other day, and even they were operating through a UK Ltd company. To say nothing of how many Danish freelancers operate through a UK Ltd!

How to Euro Shop Online and Get the Best Prices Delivered to Your Door!

2007-11-24T13:39:00.000-08:00

Living in Britain, I'd become used to logging on to the net and ordering whatever I fancied from sites like Amazon, VAT-free and no delivery costs, but two years ago, life took me to Denmark (or rather the missus did!), and boy, was I in for a shock! Get this...a 25% sales tax, or MOMs, as it's called here on everything you buy, including food! Even so, after I'd been here a few months, I naively logged onto Amazon to buy a few English books I fancied. Everything looked fine as I added to my basket, but once at the checkout, the price of all the items more than DOUBLED, simply as a result of where they were being sent to.

So, get this, Amazon is selling the same goods to you, from the same warehouse, but you have to pay twice the price? Why? Well, turns out it isn't Amazons fault at all. You can blame the EU for this one, and this after all those years of cheek we were sold the EU with the excuse that it was going to be a free trade bloc of one big European Nation. Just because your books are going to be delivered to Denmark instead of the UK you have to pay delivery (okay, that one you can cope with) and an extra 25% sales tax. Ha ha, how I laughed as I gave up on my attempted purchase and prepared myself for a life of no reading ever again.

But then I discovered, completely by chance, a rather nifty outfit called Play, who based themselves in a small island off the coast of France, called Jersey that has zero sales tax. Better still, these guys even do free delivery to Denmark, and best of all to buy from them (or anywhere else in the world for that matter), is 100% legal, subject to certain limits. Wow, I was like a pig in.....err excuse me. Anyhow, to say the least I was a very happy man and logging on every other night from thereon buying all of the books I could possibly get my hands on to make up for lost time.

After this I really got into buying a lot of things I wanted elsewhere in the EU, and once you start getting into this buying abroad off the internet lark you'll realise that Amazon is the exception in charging Sales Taxes at the buyers' rate. Most EU based companies will only charge their local rate, 100% legal again. Well, this little bit of info opened up another new horizon! Blimey, I even found a little-used, SECRET way of buying from Amazon and avoiding the Sales tax. 100% LEGAL again, and you can read about it here as I'm happy to give you this secret for free.

Then I started thinking...how many other websites or shopping opportunities are there out there like this? Completely legal opportunities to beat the taxman and keep more of your own money in your own pocket, while buying exactly what you want. Hell, half this stuff isn't even available here! The same probably applies to whatever European country you happen to be living in right now. Am I right?

Now, just think about all those people out there who know nothing about these sites. Maybe this even includes you? You come back from the UK with a holdall full of English books or decent underwear (my partner does!) simply because you think you'll never get the chance to stock up again. Well, forget it! Now you can buy from the comfort of your own home with delivery to your door!

There is now a site of my favourite online shops! These are personally tested and recommended shops with great prices, a fantastic range, and best of all, free or low delivery costs to Denmark and most of the rest of Europe. You can visit it right now at www.expatshop.eu.

Pound in freefall, but the dollar hides it

2007-11-22T03:00:00.001-08:00

I must admit that I have been worried about the Pound for some time, what with the trade deficit, budget deficit and now the Northern Rock crisis.

Actually, the trade deficit bothers me least of the problems, as Britain has a large reputation for investing abroad. The others are not so good. especially the Northern Rock crisis, since the implication is the government have magically created the necessary backup reserves out of thin air (is there any other method?)

Now, I notice that in the past couple of months, the Pound has dropped about 6% against the Euro and Danish Krone. This has hardly got a mention, as all the media are going on about the weakening Dollar and the bargains available for those taking a shopping trip to the USA.

So please, Germany and Holland, don't give in to whingeing France and Italy about needing a weaker Euro, and the usual rubbish about generating exports. A devalued currency helps no-one long term.

If it carries on like this, the Euro could become the world's new reserve currency, especially for pricing oil, at least until China is ready to claim its spot.

Just a thought.

As for me, I'm off to browse the internet for some bargains from Britain...

The Truth behind the Miners Strike

2007-11-20T02:16:00.000-08:00

Just in case anyone considers me to be some elitist Brit who went to public school, I can honestly say that I come from a North Eastern coal mining background and in fact, my Dad worked in the mines right up to the end in the 1980s and my family was badly affected by the miners strike. In fact, this was probably a pivotal moment in my life for realising the con of socialism and how the world is "every man for himself" whichever way you look at it.

While Arthur Scargill ran the campaign in the style of a World War 1 general, sitting 20 miles behind the front lines sipping claret and sending men and their families to their economic deaths, some of his cohorts really would have come around and put a brick through your window (or worse) had you dared to be a black-leg and go back to work. Ironically, these were the same guys who, a year later, were leaping around at the prospect of 30 grand redundancy money. A little known fact of the miners strike is that many of the collieries closed weren't even on the closure list that had triggered the strike, but a year of being left empty had led to flooding and other high maintenance costs that made it cheaper to pay the men off. And boy, how they all voted for closure when they realised how much money they would get! Sod you "comrade", became the prevailing attitude, and the younger blokes, like my Dad, missed out on the full redundancy and pensions offered to those of more senior years.

God, how Consett was boom town in those next few years. You could tell who the ex-miners were by the new extensions on their houses, new cars and flash new electricals like VCRs, while they all desperately tried to run down their redundancy money enough to qualify for the dole. Years later, you could definitely tell who the ex-miners were by their enormous beer bellies from a retirement life of spending all day in the club.

Socialism? Don't make me laugh.

In Denmark, Some men are more equal than others

2007-11-12T04:40:00.000-08:00

Imagine living in a country that takes huge taxes from you, including a huge cut of your worldwide income.

Imagine that this country prides itself on the alleged principles of fairness and equality.

Imagine then that a chance for the people to decide who runs the country you live in comes around. At last, a chance to make a small difference by voting on the person/party you feel is most likely to improve the lot of the country you live in.

Imagine then that you get told to f**k off since no-one cares what you have to say and you don't even get the chance to vote.

Sounds unlikely? Well, when my Danish partner and I lived in the UK, we could both vote no problem, but move to Denmark and it turns out that foreigners are NOT allowed to vote in the general election.

I can see why, since foreigners aren't brainwashed into Danish socialism from an early age and can see right through it, so imagine the dangers of them enforcing some change for the better, eh?

Funny too that my partner, once she'd lived outside Denmark more than 2 years lost the right to vote in Danish elections. Denmark obviously realises that any Dane living abroad for more than 2 years will be de-indoctrinated in socialist thinking and thus vote sensibly with clear-headed thinking.

Some men are indeed more equal than others, and Stalin would be proud.

The Big Government Inflation Game

2007-11-12T00:58:00.000-08:00

When it comes to the official government inflation figures, these often understate true increases in the cost of living, due to the statistical reporting methods used. As the famous old adage goes, there are "lies, damned lies and statistics", and nowhere could this be truer than here. One trick is to reduce the real price still further if the assumed quality of an item included in the basket of goods has gone up in quality. For example, a 2007 computer could be classified as ten times more powerful than a 1997 computer, and even though they have the same retail price of say, £1,000; the figures are adjusted downward due to the increased processing power: whether you really needed that extra processing power, or whether it is even possible to buy a 1997 specification computer is not considered. Another trick is replacement, or substitution theory, where, say, if high quality beef rises in price, then it is assumed that many households will trade down to cheaper beef, or even some other type of meat.

Neither of these sound like correct ways to measure price increases in anything, but they do sound like nice ways to massage the true inflation figure downward.

What's the best way to get yourself and your savings outside of the inflationary, currency devaluation, welath destruction cycle? Buy Gold and Silver, and any other commodities you use in your daily life. Historically proven to usually work.

Why are Socialist countries like Denmark so apparently rich?

2007-11-12T00:15:00.000-08:00

A lot of people, usually academic economists and fans of socialism who've never actually lived in Denmark make the Nordic model out to be some great utopian society. (un?)Fortunately, I have, so I know they forget two things:-

1) The Scandinavian countries are all very rich in natural resources, even if it is often claimed otherwise. Denmark and Norway are, per capita, two of the world's biggest oil producers. Iceland and Denmark (esp. through Greenland) are two of the biggest seafood producers, then finally Sweden and Finland are so full of trees they supply much of the timber and pulp paper throughout Europe. Without these assets, these countries would run massive trade deficits and be unable to afford their generous welfare state.

2) These countries have successfully monetised many aspects of private family life that was previously outside the scope of inclusion in official economic figures like GDP. Take childcare and elderly care, for example, in Denmark, you'll often find 2 women work as childcarers, and as part of the system they drop their own children off with other childcarers! It's the same as paying someone to paint your house while you pay them to paint yours. A no-brainer for government, since it's more tax-collection opportunities, but bad news for individuals.

Can anyone even put a cost of the long-term social damage it does to families? Funnily enough, Danes are reknowned as "serial mongamists", IE drifting from one relationship to another, collecting kids from various relationships and partners along the way. You almost feel weird here if you keep the same partner for more than 5-7 years (the old 7 year itch, eh?)