• Getting Corporate Money Out Of Politics Must Become #1 Priority
• Do We Need A Value-Added Tax To Solve Our Long-Term Budget Deficits?
• Record Number British Shoppers Hit Sales Before Tax Increase
• The Worst Tax Ideas Of 2009
• With Scant Jobs, Grads Create Their Own
• Housing Market Oversupplied At 860,000 Units
• Healthcare Bill Sausage Not Fit For Consumption
• Phased Retirements Are Growing More Popular
• Cell Phone Mania Causes Scramble For Airwaves
• College Aid Ready For The Taking
• China To Stay The Course On Currency
• Ukraine Unable To Pay For Gas, May Have Supplies Cut Off
• On the Edge: Max Keiser with Gail Tverberg from The Oil Drum
• Investors See Farms As New Way To Grow Detroit
• Amazon's Best-Selling '09 Books Focus On Sustainable Living
• China Redirects Trillions Of Gallons Water To Arid North

Economy

Getting Corporate Money Out Of Politics Must Become #1 Priority (M.W.)

We have reached a breaking point where a consumer-based economy can no longer be sustained. But this has not led to any loosening of the grip that money has on our political system. If we don't force the political system out of that grip and restore democracy we will not be able to fix our economic system.

Do We Need A Value-Added Tax To Solve Our Long-Term Budget Deficits? (M.W.)

To the extent that tax burdens are to be increased, there are three options. Tax rates could be raised in the existing system, but that would be extremely inefficient. Tax reform might raise revenues more efficiently, but that is excruciatingly difficult politically. That leaves the possibility of a brand new tax and a value-added tax (VAT) is a very likely candidate.

Record Number British Shoppers Hit Sales Before Tax Increase (M.W.)

Stores reported high demand for so-called big ticket items such as televisions and washing machines as shoppers sought to benefit from the last few days of the lower rate of Value Added Tax. The tax was cut from 17.5 per cent to 15 per cent in November last year, but is due to go back to its former level on January 1.

The Worst Tax Ideas Of 2009 (M.W.)

As 2009 draws to an icy conclusion, Tax Vox is pleased to announce its Third Annual Lump of Coal Award for the worst tax ideas of the year. So many choices. So little time.

With Scant Jobs, Grads Create Their Own (M.W.)

Faced with an unemployment rate of 16% for 20- to 24-year-olds, a growing number of recent college and grad-school graduates are launching their own companies. This push toward entrepreneurship among young people is likely to continue as employers plan to hire 7% fewer graduates from the class of 2010 than they hired from the class of 2009, which saw a nearly 22% drop in hiring from the class before.

Housing Market Oversupplied At 860,000 Units (M.W.)

The overhang represents a direct contradiction to recent headlines: “Home Sales Exceed Forecasts” (Bloomberg) and “Sales Rise 7.4%” (WSJ). If you view the chart you see supply exceeds inventory averages by 32%. The cure rate for delinquent mortgages has fallen into the abyss of “rarely or never”, so you would be right to conclude that the government can only stop this hellfire by actually paying the monthly mortgage for homeowners who are behind.

Healthcare Bill Sausage Not Fit For Consumption (M.W.)

The biggest problem is there is not a single thing in the bill guaranteed to lower health care costs. We have to take it on faith that the plan will save money. It won't. However, when your goal is to get something (anything), passed it should be no surprise that the package is as flawed as it is.

Phased Retirements Are Growing More Popular (M.W.)

Amid the economic turmoil, interest in phased retirement is on the rise. These programs offer a way to ease rather than plunge into retirement.

Cell Phone Mania Causes Scramble For Airwaves (M.W.)

Wireless phone companies fear they're in danger of running out of room, leaving congested networks that frustrate users and slow innovation. So the wireless companies want the government to give them bigger slices of airwaves. "Spectrum is the equivalent of our highways. That's how we move our traffic. And the volume of that traffic is increasing so dramatically that we need more lanes. We need more highways."

College Aid Ready For The Taking (M.W.)

More families are struggling to cover the cost of a higher education.. But there is help out there. Families are requesting professional judgment reviews--a process that allows families to have their expected contributions recalculated based on what they're making currently -- as opposed to the prior year's household income, which is typically what aid and awards are based on.

China To Stay The Course On Currency (M.W.)

Prime Minister Wen said that the currency was facing growing pressure to appreciate, but he insisted that China was committed to keeping it stable, having virtually pegged it to the dollar since the global financial crisis worsened in the middle of last year.

Energy

On the Edge: Max Keiser with Gail Tverberg from The Oil Drum (Video) (joemanc)

A discussion of Peak Oil, credit, shortages, and Saudi Arabia.

Ukraine Unable To Pay For Gas, May Have Supplies Cut Off (M.W.)

Ukraine has cut back on purchases of gas since mid-December and appears to be facing serious cash problems. Ukraine has until January 11 to pay for gas, according to Russian gas supplier Gazprom, which has cut off supplies over unpaid bills in the past. Ukraine will find it hard to cover its next gas bill after the IMF turned down its request for a new loan tranche of 3.8 billion dollars.

Environment

Investors See Farms As New Way To Grow Detroit (M.W.)

The urban agricultural movement has grown nationwide, as recession-fueled worries prompted people to raise fruits and vegetables. Large gardens and small farms have cropped up in thriving cities and struggling Rust Belt communities. In Detroit, hundreds of backyard gardens and scores of community gardens have blossomed and helped feed students in at least 40 schools and hundreds of families. But it is the size and scope of Hantz Farms that makes this project unique.

Amazon's Best-Selling '09 Books Focus On Sustainable Living (M.W.)

Urban farming was a hot topic in books this year. Also popular: tales of people embracing a greener world, whether by building a windmill of spare parts as a 14-year-old boy did in Malawi or living without electricity in New York City.

China Redirects Trillions Of Gallons Water To Arid North (M.W.)

Scheduled to be finished in 2050, the plan to link China's four main rivers and redirect trillions of gallons of water from China's tropical southern mountains to its arid northern plains will have taken 100 years from conception to completion. At £37 billion, the project will cost more than twice as much as the Three Gorges Dam, delivering nearly 12 trillion gallons of water along three networks of tunnels and canals that will branch out into northern, eastern and central China.