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Another 508 people renounced their US citizenship last quarter according to documents published this morning by the Internal Revenue Service. This brings the total number of US ‘renunciants’ under the Obama administration to 17,359. It’s a pretty sad state of affairs when a government’s tax policy is so oppressive that it drives people
According to Jacques Necker, everything was just fine. The year was 1781, and Necker, France’s finance minister, had just published a report called Compte Rendu au Roi, an accounting of French public finances. Necker’s report showed that, despite extraordinary public services and military spending, France had a net credit position of +10 million
Have you lost that loving feeling? If so, the United States federal government might just be able to help. Before you swipe right on Tinder or update that eHarmony account, consider instead taking a quick trip out of the country. Because on your way back home into the Land of the Free, US
It was only a few weeks ago that I told you about the government’s annual report on Social Security. It was a veritable death sentence for the program. The Board of Trustees for Social Security (which includes the US Treasury Secretary) wrote that major parts of the program have already run out of
I’ll be brutally honest– I’m so tired right now I can barely write this email. For the past five days I’ve been going on almost no sleep. I’ve been on my feet almost all day, every day, with an absolutely sadistic schedule trying to cram a year’s worth of education into a single
I’m excited. Tomorrow starts our summer Liberty & Entrepreneurship camp, an annual event that our foundation sponsors in which some of my most accomplished friends and I mentor young students from all over the world. This year we have students from dozens of countries, places like Indonesia, Ecuador, Nigeria, Brazil, New Zealand, Ukraine,
Now it’s $13 trillion. That’s the total amount of government bonds in the world that have negative yields, according to calculations published last week by Bank of America Merrill Lynch. Given that there were almost zero negative-yielding bonds just two years ago, the rise to $13 trillion is incredible. In February 2015, the
Two months ago I was with the former President of Colombia, Alvaro Uribe, at his home outside of Medellin. He was telling me some hilarious stories about his interactions in the early 2000s with Hugo Chavez, who had recently seized power in Venezuela. Chavez was a fanatic socialist. He believed so strongly in
In early 1870, the Kingdom of Prussia and French Empire were about to go to war. It was one of countless conflicts between the dozens of European kingdoms and empires throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, and this one was over before it even started. Prussia’s military might was legendary. They had recently
[Editor’s note: Tim Price, London-based wealth manager, is filling in for Simon today.] It’s ironic that some of the most honest words to come out of a politician’s mouth were, “When it becomes serious you have to lie.” That was a quote from Jean-Claude Juncker, former Prime Minister of Luxembourg and President of
19-year old Hannah Cohen should have been partying. Living with multiple disabilities like paralysis, partial deafness, and blindness in one eye, Hannah also suffers from a brain tumor. And five days ago, she and her mother were traveling home via Memphis International Airport to celebrate the end of her cancer treatment with the
[Editor’s note: Check out Simon’s video podcast of today’s Notes.] In the late 12th century while the rest of Europe was choking on feudalism, Venice was rapidly becoming the most advanced power on the continent. At that point Venice had already created a free society where anyone, regardless of origin or class, could work
Last week, a group of analysts published an astonishing report about the future of Social Security in the United States, and their remarks were nothing short of damning. According to their calculations, for example, these analysts claim that Social Security is already running a huge deficit to the tune of tens of billions
In the year 605 AD, Emperor Yang of the Sui dynasty in China formally established what became known as the ‘imperial examination.’ This was a standardized test that public officials were required to take, covering everything from arithmetic to writing to military science. The idea was to ensure that all public servants were
On November 11, 1947, Winston Churchill, then ex-Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, rose to speak at a debate in the House of Commons: “Many forms of Government have been tried, and will be tried in this world of sin and woe. No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed, it