Lacessit

I can live with not being part of a rah-rah cult of intellectually-impaired people.

Not only is recession possible, there is a real risk of depression. The Smoot-Hawley tariffs of 1930 averaged 20% on about 40% of goods entering the USA. Now, 10% on EVERYTHING, plus more than 200% on anything out of China. You should lay off the Kool-Aid.

What do you think Trump is doing in the world? When you posted, the irony obviously escaped you entirely. Sure, Trump is giving Americans hope. False hope.

I get tired of the cult BS. Example: DOGE is saving billions by firing public service employees, in the name of "efficiency". When the US population was 150 million, there were 2 million federal public servants. Now there are 330 million Americans, still 2 million federal employees. That's efficiency. For every federal employee, there are 10 public servants i State and local government. Trump and Musk can't fire them, only state governors can. Cult BS.

I am wondering why you are wasting your time on ASEAN threads, when you could be busy elevating yourself to billionaire status with your unerring prognostications of the share market.

Too many conservatives being overly generous with tax cuts and concessions to rich people. In case you have trouble keeping up, that's the cause of a housing and rental crisis in the West. Specifically the UK, USA and Australia. The first sentence of your post is soooo stupid.....

Wealth inequality also causes revolutions.

Thanks for the confirmation.

You don't think companies would exaggerate the cost of their losses? Working for a company that was getting R&D subsidies from the Australian Government was a real eye-opener. It's a bit like liquidators, who charge $200/hr for the office secretary in charge of the photocopier.

How often do loans get rolled over into new loans? It's a game for the wealthy. How much wealth should a family be able to build? You don't seem to understand the middle class is being hollowed out, the poorest classes are being replaced by robots, and wealth inequality of this generation is unprecedented. If that does not trouble you, perhaps you need an empathy transplant.

How will taxing revenue "eliminate any chance of maintaining our edge"? That sounds like a response without any thought behind it, a reflex. So what is your method of reducing wealth inequality?

Someone who keeps his word.

Fred should be flat broke. If he still owns a private jet and a casino, he is not. The solution is not obvious to most. Forget about taxing on profit and deducting on loss, there are too many ways to legally evade taxes with some jiggery-pokery. Tax on revenue instead, 1-2%. Revenue can't be fiddled, it just is. Wealth inequality is created when wages are taxed at far higher levels than billionaires, who can simply take out loans against growing assets to provide the cash for their lifestyle. Wages are revenue. You'll eliminate the debt in 1-2 years. When I was earning six figures, I would have loved to be taxed at 2%.

Quoting from The Matrix doesn't cut it for me. I take medication for BPH. You should take clozapine. OTOH, the laws of Newton and thermodynamics do. Do you remember the one about every action having an equal and opposite reaction? That's what the USA is getting from the rest of the world.

IMO we will have to rely on Asimov's three laws of robotics.

What do you know of the laws of thermodynamics, and how they apply to global warming and climate change? I post facts. I don't post conspiracy theories.

What context would you like? The rich have platoons of tax lawyers working on minimizing the tax they pay, how many does the ordinary wage earner have?

Robots don't need sleep, meal breaks, or health insurance. Once the capital outlay is recovered, it's gravy all the way. Every business using humans for repetitive tasks is looking for a robot to do the job instead.

Trump paid taxes of $750 in 2016 and 2017. Someone working for him on $50,000 pa would have paid $5900.

One less tribe of scooter idiots to contend with on the roads.

It's a common misconception carbohydrates are needed for energy. Fat provides twice the energy sugar and carbohydrates do. Sugar provides rapid energy, hence the term sugar hit. OTOH, fat provides long-term sustained energy. Deprive the body of readily metabolized sugar and carbohydrate, it turns to burning fat instead. With exercise, that means weight loss. Unless excess protein is used to bulk up muscle mass.

Nothing wrong with capitalism per se. When wealth inequality gets to the stage three men in America control more wealth than the bottom 150 million Americans, it's time to say whoa. Trump is whipping the horse instead.

Thai food is healthier because the meals are not super-sized. As for 7/11, nothing wrong with their Caesar salads.

Withdrawing from the WHO means America will be less able to deal with pandemics. Unlike immigrants, bacteria and viruses can evade borders easily. The Paris Climate Accord is aimed at mitigating climate change. America can expect more natural disasters. Check your property insurance premiums. The USA has a positive trade balance with Australia, who charges no tariffs on American imports. Please tell me how Australia is humping America. IMO you are over-optimistic on the savings on government waste. IME any cost-cutting exercise results in overestimates of savings. The real problem is the interest required to service debt. IIRC it's about $1.8 trillion per year, and increases as bond yields escalate. Which is happening now, with a capital flight to the Swiss franc and Japanese bonds.

I can still remember a program in primary school which explained the link between alcohol consumption and cirrhosis of the liver. I wonder if any of that kind of education still exists.