Political Equinox

As the world continues to creep closer and closer to ultimate globalization, international finance continues to become a chief concern among those interested in preserving the economic independence present in the current world.

Currently, hedge funds are regarded by many Americans as the largest investment vehicle that has the power to overwhelm markets with large trades. Nevertheless, these hedge funds will soon look like child’s play when the world catches a grasp of the new financial holding vehicle, the Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF). SWF’s are like hedge funds on steroids, rolling in at nearly twice the size in equity value.

These funds haven’t made much news in the US other than a couple of articles in the financial news and few hearings …

Tags: America, china, economy, elections, finance, financial, globalization international finance, hedge funds, international monetary fund, IRS, senate banking committee, treasury bills, world equity

Dear Mayor Henry:

In 2009, Fort Wayne will recieve a windfall of $40 million from the City Light Lease fund. As promised in your campaign, the public will be consulted. I ask that you don’t spend a dime of that money.

Let’s say we spend that money on another huge project all at once, if that project flops we’re out the money and the reserve that could have been hundreds of millions in the future.

If invested at a conservative rate of 8% (not even close to the markets average of 12%), that money will generate a return of over $3,000,000 - so lets be conservative and use half of that to provide city services. We’ll add money to the pot and Fort …

Tags: City Light Lease Fund, finance, financial, fort wayne, IRS, money, spending, Tom Henry

Because of the fiscal juggernaut that is the Obama campaign, The NY Times recently reported that John McCain’s campaign is mapping out a campaign strategy that is closely tied with the Republican National Committee. This after his campaign finance co-chair resigned because of a conflict of interest based on new campaign rules regarding connections to lobbyists.
From the Times:

“Mr. McCain, who abandoned public financing in the primary but has indicated he would employ it in the general election, is aggressively building a joint fund-raising operation with the Republican National Committee and state party committees in four battleground states. These committees can raise money far in excess of …

Tags: America, campaign finance, Congress, Democrats, environment, finance, John McCain, money, ny times, obama, president, republican, strategy

A couple of months ago I was watching a debate between Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and John Edwards. Barack made a statement to the effect that he voted against a bill providing limits on credit card interest rates because he thought the rate of 30% was too high. Edwards called him on the statement, but the debate pressed on.

Barack’s statement stuck with me, why did he vote against that bill. Why? He said that he thought the rate was too high, so I decided that he voted against the bill to keep the debate continuing - it didn’t make a whole lot of sense, but I decided that I’d go with it.

Then I read his website:
Obama supports extending a 36 percent interest …

Tags: America, Barack Obama, credit cards, finance, Hillary Clinton, interest rates, John Edwards, obama, web

Imperial Life in the Emerald City
By Rajiv Chandrasekaran
Understanding the full ramifications of the Iraqi invasion, occupation and insurgency that has become ever so potent in the aftermath of Saddam’s fall will take years and good retrospective analysis to fully grasp. Nevertheless, Mr. Chandrasekaran’s book is an excellent start.
Mr. Chandrasekaran documents the effort and ultimate colossal failure of the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) to lay the foundation of a successful and democratic Iraq. Although their job would be monumental even under the best …

Tags: America, Bush, finance, financial, foreign policy, iraq, president, tution