The countries of the developed world are experiencing a new class of refugee — members of the middle and upper classes. These rungs of the socioeconomic ladder are realizing that their countries of residence are in many ways going rapidly downhill without much hope of a short- or medium-term reversal. This is particularly true for national economies, taxes, and regulations, and in terms of deteriorating individual liberty.
[Read more...]The American Dream, Re-revisited
June 23, 2010 by Leave a Comment
Dear DR…
I have been reading your publication for a while now and generally agree with your conclusions about the financial condition of our country. This is my home. It is where my job, family, and friends are here to support me. Someday I will have grandchildren. I don’t want to give up on, or leave our country. After the health care bill passed I decided to see what I could do to help get us back to freedom and fiscal responsibility. I have always been a libertarian at heart, but not politically active. I have no interest in telling anyone what to do. I live my quiet life until government gets too involved in mine. I don’t have any horror stories, but I see a storm on the horizon for everyone.
[Read more...]Don’t Underestimate Canadian Economic Growth
June 23, 2010 by Leave a Comment
The Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled 149 points yesterday. CNBC blamed the selloff on a poor home sales report. Seems as good an explanation as any to explain the inexplicable.
Most financial journalists assume that a certain logic and rationality operates minute-by-minute in the financial markets. Stocks go up when they should…and fall when they should – continuously responding to the macro-economic data of the moment.
[Read more...]The American Dream, Revisited
June 22, 2010 by Leave a Comment
I have a cousin and two very personal friends who decided to leave America permanently to reside in France. They sold everything they owned and moved to France with just one suitcase.
Within two years, all three returned to America. Summing it up, they said, “You just don’t have any idea what it is like to live in another country until you actually do it. If you think politics are bad in the US, you should try living somewhere else. You just can’t believe the nonsense that goes on in France regarding jobs, politics, and social programs.�
[Read more...]Redefining Expatriation
June 22, 2010 by Leave a Comment
As a child growing up in sunny Southern California during the 1960s, life was pretty darn sunny most of the time (at least when the sun was not obscured by the dense smog that would choke the Los Angeles basin all summer long).
I made “mudpies” in the backyard, picked roses for my mom, rode my bicycle all over town, watched Flipper on a black and white TV, idolized the Marlboro Man, “camped” overnight on the back patio, played Marco Polo in the neighbor’s pool, collected baseball cards (and would have sooner cut off a finger than trade away my 1965 Sandy Koufax card) and attended schools I did not hate.
[Read more...]Getting Outta Dodge
June 21, 2010 by Leave a Comment
Edited by Eric Fry and Joel Bowman
Were I without family ties, I might consider expatriating to one of the quiet, out-of-the-way towns in Central- or South America that I drove my VW bus through in 1977-1978. Spending a year and a half living life at a slower pace and speaking in a second language was world view-opening for this California born American. Through it all, I met many wonderful, amazingly generous people. Unfortunately, I also saw a lot of grinding poverty and misery. I finally lost count of how many times I stared into the barrel of a loaded submachine gun held by an edgy 19 year-old soldier at some border crossing or roadblock.
[Read more...]
Behind the “Record” Expatriation Numbers
The number of Americans expatriating in the first quarter of 2013 has set a record.
“More than 670 U.S. passport holders gave up their citizenship — and with it, their U.S. tax bills — in the first three months of this year,” reports Fortune, poring over a list of names released yesterday by the IRS. “That is the most in any quarter since the IRS began publishing figures in 1998.”
[Read more...]Click for detailed story