Toma nota.../Take note...

The US Congress could save between 50 and 100 billion dollars by eliminating bad or inefficient government programs. But even an aggresive President like Donald Trump has not succeeded in his announced project to eliminate a range of non-defense programs that the government should not be running, that it runs poorly, or that may be harmful to individuals and society. Vested interest in the US Congress, mainly among Democrats, block most proposals that ultimately go down the drain under the threat to paralize government if the budget is not approved in time. One of them is the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), whose demise is argued in the following article.

The TSA is a waste of money that doesn't save lives and might actually cost them.

• The solution is clear: Airports should kick out the TSA, hire (well-paid and unionized) private screeners, and simply ask people to go through normal metal detectors with their shoes on.

Few post-9/11 security measures have proven as enduring as the creation of the Transportation Security Administration, which effectively nationalized airport security and dramatically increased screening procedures on flights. In a matter of months, flights went from something you could arrive 30 minutes to an hour beforehand and be fine to something you needed to budget two hours for, what with the shoe removal and the liquids and the possibility of a random pat-down.

The European Union has 28 member countries and the €urozone counts 19 of them. Denmark, Sweden and the United Kingdom are among the most important member countries not participating in the single currency, in addition to six other new European Union members who still have to prove that they have taken measures for an ireversible progress toward a functioning free-market and competitive economy and some other requirements to build a lasting macro-economic stability. Within this continental stage, the €uro could have become the currency to consolidate the European Union, turning into a real international reserve currency if the European countries had followed in good faith the progressive course towards a stable Confederation of Nations, but the rejection by 2 of the 28 Union members of the draft Constitution previously approved by the other 26, which could have opened the way toward continental stability, served as fertilizer to the seed of discord. As anyone might expect, a common currency is unsustainable buffeted by a multitude of countries stubbornly clinging to independent monetary and fiscal policies. 

As it is highlighted in the following article, Europe is trying that the puzzle does not disassemble, but if the monetary union collapsed, the project of a United Europe will be dismantled from its own base.

Why the euro was created

by Michael Maibach

There are three reasons the euro was created. First, the euro aimed to deepen the EU single market by eliminating currency exchanges across national borders and creating transnational cost competition. Second, the currency was meant to become an alternative reserve currency to the U.S. dollar. And third, it could set the stage for a unified European superstate. Ironically, the euro has rapidly become a central cause of EU disunity.

While the euro is a single currency, the eurozone has 19 separate parliaments, heads of state, and national banks. These national banks, plus the European Central Bank (ECB), make up the Eurosystem – akin to the U.S. Federal Reserve system. As you might imagine, one airplane and 19 pilots is a formula for an economic plane crash. 

When it comes to the environment, American Christians remain divided along political lines.  Christian doctrine teaches to respect  Creation as a whole, but most Christians do not seem to follow the rule.

Being religious does not make you greener

Jan. 26.– Are religious leaders convincing their followers to care more about the fate of the earth? Catholic, mainstream Protestant and Orthodox Christian shepherds are trying hard to interest believers in environmental questions. But a new study suggests that among Christians in America, concern about the environment is somewhere between static and declining.

David Konisky, an associate professor at the University of Indiana, wanted to find out if there has been a “greening of Christianity” over time. As he notes in his article in the Journal of Environmental Politics, there have been many snapshot studies of religious and ecological sentiment. But little effort has gone into examining long-term trends.

El esperado plan de reforma fiscal del Presidente de EEUU, Donald Trump, incluye importantes recortes de impuestos para las empresas y reducción de tramos para los trabajadores. Hace algunos meses el Secretario del Tesoro, Steven Mnuchin, declaró en rueda de prensa en la Casa Blanca que: "Se trata de uno de los mayores recortes de impuestos de la historia". Y precisó que: "Esperamos que billones de dólares en el extranjero regresen y sean reinvertidos aquí en EEUU en bienes de capital y creación de empleo". En anticipación de su entrada en vigor y, finalmente, una vez aprobado por el Congreso, la Bolsa de Valores ha registrado alzas constantes y ha roto todos los records anteriores. Varias empresas multinacionales han expresado ya sus planes de volver a establecer sus sedes en Estados Unidos para acogerse al sistema fiscal del país. Esta noticia de Apple es uno de tantos casos de empresas que se sienten atraídas a volver a operar desde ese gigantesco mercado.

Apple acepta pagar 31.000 millones en EE UU tras la reforma fiscal de Trump

La repatriación de hasta 252.000 millones de dólares en beneficios supondrá el mayor pago impositivo de la historia

New York, Ene.18.– Apple, la mayor compañía cotizada del mundo, anunció el miércoles que planea pagar en Estados Unidos alrededor de 38.000 millones de dólares en impuestos (equivalentes a 31.000 millones de euros) por los beneficios acumulados en el extranjero. La compañía presidida por Tim Cook tiene embolsados algo más de 252.000 millones de dólares fuera de EE UU por sus ganancias globales y la rebaja fiscal contemplada en la reforma de Trump le permite repatriar buena parte de este dinero.

La tecnológica anunció al mismo tiempo un plan de inversión para los próximos cinco años con el que espera crear hasta 20.000 nuevos empleos en EE UU. Estima que así generará el equivalente a 350.000 millones en actividad económica.