Taxes
Taxes should be collected like the honeybee collects nectar from the flowers; without hurting the flowers and pollinating the plants in the process.
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Theory and Practice
"In theory there is no difference between theory and practice. In practice there is." - Yogi Berra
What's Wrong With The World Today?
The world continues to evolve in ways that are hard to imagine. One hundred years ago, we could not have predicted the state of the world today, and we can not predict how the world will be one hundred years from now. However, what we can do is understand how the world is today and discuss why. This may give us some ability to change the trajectory of the world's direction. In the last century seven aspects of life have changed significantly. Let's look at them: 1. Movement: Everything is moving today. We are moving and everything around us is moving. Until the 20th century, the visual arts were mainly paintings that did not move. Today, the popular visual arts are movies, TV shows, documentaries, etc. where the characters move and talk. People did not travel much and now we can drive or fly at will. Speaking on the telephone required us to sit at one place and now we have mobile phones which allow us to move and talk. Same thing for the Internet. The interaction wi
The Equation Running the World
The banks are considered too big to fail: i.e if they go bankrupt the world may plunge into a depression . Ironically, the solution to this "too big to fail" problem from the 2008 financial crises has made the banks even bigger. Since then I have been paying more attention to the banking world. What do you think the banks do? In simple terms, banks are intermediaries between borrowers and savers. All they do is take money from savers who are looking for a return on their savings and give it to borrowers who are willing to pay interest on that money. Banks are at the center of how capitalism works today. And, that is what makes them too big to fail especially after the repeal of the Glass-Steagall act. A simple equation can explain how we got into the 2008 financial crises: Return on equity (RoE) = Return on assets (RoA) x Leverage A bank's equity holders (shareholders) gain when the return on its assets rises. Maximizing RoE means holding fewer