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July 13, 2011 Thessaloniki, Greece I went to dinner last night in an upmarket area of Thessaloniki. It wasn’t a touristy part of town at all, nearly everyone there was local. As we walked down a narrow cobblestone path flanked by traditional Greek restaurants, all the various hostesses and proprietors ran out to
July 12, 2011 Chongqing, China [Editor’s note: Tim Staermose is filling in for Simon today with another boots on the ground report from China.] By some accounts, Chongqing is the largest metro area in the world with a population of some 32 million. They ought to call it the largest construction site in
July 11, 2011 Pristina, Kosovo Can you imagine being trapped inside your home country, unable to leave? It may be closer to a reality than you realize. I’ll tell you a quick story to explain. This weekend I rented a car in Bulgaria with the aim of driving through Serbia, Kosovo, Macedonia, and
Folks… you just can’t make this stuff up. On July 6th, just two days ago, at least a dozen busybody Congressmen sponsored the introduction of HR 2411, the “Reduce America’s Debt Now Act of 2011.” They always come up with fantastic names for these pieces of legislation… and rest assured, the better/more patriotic
July 7, 2011 Wuhan, China When I left my hotel bound for the new Guangzhou South Station the other day , I didn’t know much about the station– where it was, how far from the hotel, etc. After about 25 or 30 minutes in the cab, I still hadn’t seen any signs for
July 6, 2011 Wuhan, China [Editor’s note: This missive was sent in from our partner Tim Staermose in China] Maybe the Chinese politburo has been watching too much deep cable, and, inspired by Kevin Costner’s Field of Dreams movie, decided to churn out a bunch of empty cities. As it turns out, though,
July 5, 2011 Sofia, Bulgaria Do you remember those days, 25+ years ago, when the Olympic games were an extension of the Cold War? We heard stories about these Soviet athletes who were groomed, practically from birth, to become champion athletes, taken from their families at a young age to live and train
July 4, 2011 Sofia, Bulgaria In this bubblicious world of trillion dollar deficits, sovereign bailouts, and fiscal stimulus measures of historical proportions, there is one economist whose theories and underlying philosophy underpin the foundation of modern macroeconomics. His name is John Maynard Keynes, and his most famous work, The General Theory of Employment,
June 30, 2011 Andorra la Vella, Andorra In addition to being one of the most picturesque places on the planet, Andorra is a textbook example of what happens to an economy when a limited government sets up a liberal tax regime. Like conjuring money out of thin air, taxation is just another form
June 28th, 2011 Cercs, Northern Spain I’ve stopped briefly for a quick lunch en route to Andorra, which is a scenic three hour drive due north from Barcelona. The spot that I picked to stop and write to you is absolutely stunning. When I first started traveling years ago, I fell in love
June 28, 2011 Hong Kong For at least a decade now, the world has marveled at China’s amazing economic transformation. Hundreds of millions of people have been lifted out of medieval peasantry and brought into the modern world. Living standards have improved dramatically. China has become the manufacturing hub of the world. And,
June 27, 2011 London, England Are you a US taxpayer? Do you have at least $10,000 in overseas accounts? It’s time to put those annual disclosure statements in the mail… and quickly. Let me explain. Each year by June 30th, US taxpayers are obliged to report all foreign financial accounts in which they
June 24, 2011 London, England A few days ago, I met with a brilliant young geneticist who has been able to devise a unique, cost efficient way to test for the presence of particular genes. He wants to offer a service to test for CCR5-delta 32, a particular mutation of a gene found
June 23, 2011 London, England Harold Camping has a pretty dismal track record. Thrice now, the 89-year old California evangelist has been very public about predicting the end of the world. Somehow he managed to convinced legions of followers that his complex calculations were accurate. Camping was obviously very wrong all three times,
June 22, 2011 London, England In a recent interview with Newsweek magazine, outgoing US Defense Secretary Robert Gates lamented about not wanting to be part of a government that didn’t have the resources and gusto to support a trillion dollar military. “I’ve spent my entire adult life with the United States as a