Words matter. These are the best Mark Skousen Quotes, and they’re great for sharing with your friends.
Lawmakers who interfere with commerce and the normal creation of jobs in an economy run the risk of doing harm rather than good. Unintended consequences from regulating or legislating to achieve a goal can occur and cause havoc in the markets or an economy.
I have on my bookshelf a series of books with opposite titles: ‘The Alpha Strategy’ and the ‘Omega Strategy’; ‘Asia Rising’ and ‘Asia Falling’; ‘Free to Choose’ and ‘Free to Lose’; ‘How to Win Friends and Influence People’ and ‘How to Lose Friends and Alienate People.’ Visitors love the collection.
Market capitalism survived and prospered after the boom-bust industrial revolution of the 19th century, and the Great Depression and world wars of the 20th century. It will recover from the financial panic of 2008-09 and Obamanomics.
If you subscribe to any online service, whether it be AOL, Google, Yahoo, or the Huffington Post, have you noticed that you are forced to watch a seemingly endless ad before the video story appears about a news item that caught your eye? AOL and the Huffington Post are especially annoying.
One suggestion my wife and I have used in our personal finance courses we teach at college is simply writing down all expenditures and seeing where the money goes. That alone will cause heads of households to think twice about x, y or z expenditure, and to consider carefully whether they really need something or not.
The media simply does not understand Econ 101.
Contrary to what President Obama said in his inaugural address, going on Medicare and food stamps does not strengthen us. Just ask people who are fourth-generation welfare recipients.
The income tax is flawed for a number of reasons – it discourages economic growth and encourages a bloated government.
Taxation is the price we pay for failing to build a civilized society. The higher the tax level, the greater the failure. A centrally planned totalitarian state represents a complete defeat for the civilized world, while a totally voluntary society represents its ultimate success.
In the early 1980s, I wrote a book called ‘The Complete Guide to Financial Privacy.’ If I would write that book today, it would be a pamphlet. There is precious little privacy left.
In my book, ‘The Big Three in Economics,’ I found that the press has frequently and prematurely written the obituary of Adam Smith and his free-market philosophy, only to see a new and more vibrant global marketplace reemerge after being savagely attacked by Keynesians, Marxists, and assorted socialists.
The triumph of persuasion over force is the sign of a civilized society.
Even though I’ve reached retirement age, I still plan to work – writing my investment newsletter, speaking at conferences, publishing books, and producing conferences like FreedomFest.
For those of us in the financial world, Black Friday has a strong negative connotation, referring to a stock market catastrophe.
Society can take two roads – the road to genuine prosperity, or the road to artificial stimulus. The first results in a permanent higher standard of living for all; the latter creates an inflationary boom that cannot last.
I find it ironic how New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg is so focused on such small issues as drink sizes, while ignoring the massive infrastructure challenges in New York – lousy roads, third-world airports, traffic jams, etc.
I am tired of the constant demonizing of people via political labels.
If you are wealthy enough, use part or all of your Social Security proceeds to invest in a favorite cause or two. Invest 10 percent or 100 percent of your monthly Social Security check in your favorite charity, foundation, think tank, church or synagogue, or other good cause.
Who uses funds more productively – private citizens or the government? I dare say that Warren Buffett can use his surplus funds more effectively in private business and creating jobs than the government can.
I’ve felt for some time that economics needs to be taught differently by economists who actually have had experience making a payroll or investing on Wall Street. When economics is taught by pure academics, watch out.
Remember, gold and silver always have had value and never have gone to zero. Can you say the same for stocks and bonds?
Negative books can be bestsellers, but seldom classics.
All workers, whether they are employed in the private or public sector, should avoid living ‘paycheck to paycheck.’ Studies show that every household wastes 10% or more of its salary or income on unnecessary expenditures or by not taking the time to shop for better prices. It’s all a matter of proper budgeting.
Millions of Americans were duped by the federal government and the Federal Reserve into buying homes they could not afford and failed to count the cost. When the financial crisis of 2008 hit, they could not keep up the monthly mortgage payments and defaulted.
The true principle of taxation is the benefit principle – those who benefit from a government service should pay for it. It’s also known as the ‘user pay’ principle. Every effort should be made to link the payment of taxes or fees to the cost associated with the government service.
The U.S. Constitution was meant to be universal, not just something that only America would observe. The principle of defending liberty for all people ideally should apply everywhere in the world.
In my lifetime, as a younger man, you were assumed to be an honest person. Your word was your bond, and a handshake was as good as a contract in business.
Banking technology has made it simple and efficient to invest in good causes.
Bill Gates and Warren Buffett have their ‘Giving Pledge,’ where billionaires promise to give away the majority of their wealth when they die. My Social Security Pledge is better – to give money to good causes when you are alive. Besides, more Americans can participate.
We shall never change our political leaders until we change the people who elect them.
Fraud is common when you give away billions. Fraud related to Hurricane Katrina spending is estimated to top $2 billion. In addition, debit cards provided to hurricane victims were used to pay for Caribbean vacations, NFL tickets, Dom Perignon champagne, ‘Girls Gone Wild’ videos, and at least one sex change operation.
Life is full of joys and sorrows, much of it our own making. Sadly, the West has voted time and time again for bigger government, more inflation, higher taxes and excessive regulation – all policies that have kept us from Adam Smith’s vision of an opulent society.
In the early 1980s, I burned my Social Security card at the New Orleans Investment Conference in protest of the state pension system.
We should not forget the principles of Christian mercy and justice: to welcome back those who are repentant and need our assistance, while encouraging the faithful to endure to the end.
YouTube offers the best solution by running an ad before showing the video, but also offering a ‘skip ad’ button that you can click after five seconds to go directly to the video if you are not interested in the ad. Now, that’s what I call consumer sovereignty!
