I am going to leave the USA

[Recumbent ReCycler]

I think that as long as I am renting instead of owning a home, I will not have as much freedom as I otherwise could have.

As a renter you have the freedom of leaving whenever you desire...n'er to return.

Renters are not required to tie their capital up so that they may earn a better return on capital elsewhere.

The current real estate buble has been ideal for renters as the rent rates have not increased in direct proportion to rocketing home prices. 

If you buy a home then you must be ok with the fact that you have bought your banker a home at the end of the 30 term.

You are mostly right about that, but my rent has gone up and I am not allowed to improve my place of abode without permission from the landlord.  My apartment is very old and has no insulation.  If I owned my own home, I would make sure that it was well insulated so that I wouldn't have to pay $250/month on home heating oil even when I keep the thermostat set at 58 degrees F.  I offered to insulate the attic and fix it up to make it more useable, but my landlord told me not to do anything to it.  It turns out that he doesn't want to improve the place because it would increase the value and cause his property taxes to increase.  When I installed a energy star thermostat, he hired someone to remove it and reinstall the old mercury thermostat.  Unfortunately I cannot afford to move at this time.

[Mrs. Concious]

But heck, once the (economic) shit hits the fan, an island paradise full of well-to-do expatriates will probably be a much better place to weather the aftermath than the US will.

I think that surviving in the USA will get mighty difficult going forward and that those who prosper will be in some way servicing or facilitating international trade abroad.  I say this because domestic American companies certainly feel this way and are acting on it now.  People with kids would do well to give their children international education if at all possible.  A second passport/dual citizenship would be good as well considering that Americans are truly despised by a growing number of countries in the world....would be safer to flash a non-US passport.

Many companies plan more outsourcing

BOSTON, March 4 (UPI) -- Eighty-nine percent of U.S., British and Asian corporate technology decision makers plan to increase their outsourcing budget over the next 12 months.

A survey conducted at the Patni Computer Systems annual conference PatniConnect, found that 39 percent said they expect to increase outsourcing spending by up to 20 percent over current spending, while 11 percent plan a 50 percent or more increase.

Pricing is not the most important factor in selecting an outsourcing partner, the survey found.

Twenty-four percent said cultural fit is the top factor for incorporating outsourcing strategies, and 24 percent said the most important factor is quality of service. Fourteen percent of respondents said price is their single most important factor in selecting an outsourcer.

        ? Copyright 2006 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Want to email or reprint this story? Click here for options.

[Tunga]

"weather the aftermath " - lawofattraction

There is no "aftermath" on this bus.

Yo, Ms. Conciousnesses, are you still here? Don't you have some kind'a commie cocktail party to attend?
Yip ya. Gettalong little piggy.

[Tunga]

"paradigm" - lawofattraction

You know how much I hate that word!!

Does that make me a statist?

I gotta go to bed so I can get up and go to work.

Unlike some folks.

[Tunga]

Oh and thanks to Ms Concious for being the common enemy.

Unity is easyer to acheive with the right catalist.

Now zoop!

[Rochelle]

OMG Singapore? YOU MUST BE KIDDING!!!! This is where they flog people with a cane for throwing gum in the streets!!!!!

New Zealand is about as socialist as you can get.

What I was refering to was more economic freedom, since I tend to believe that personal freedom is derived from economic freedom. A government that takes all your wages is going to be a bit hard of hearing when it comes to your desire to keep them, or own fire arms or educate your children in the way they desire. And why shouldn't they? They have all the money, and thus all the power.
Singapore has a very good history relating to economic freedom, second only to Hong Kong (which is more free), and is also poised to become the next international banking powerhouse since the Swiss sold out. And they don't cane you for throwing gum in the streets; gum is illegal

Nooo...ever heard of a little country called Germany? I believe it's located somewhere in Europe

Anyway, I spent a year there and it is a lot more socialist: you can't shop after certain hours at night, taxes are extremely high, they run homeschoolers out of the country, etc.

New Zealand stands out in my mind simply because of the changes they have made since, say, the '70s. They have decreased their farm and sheep subsidies by quite a lot, decreased government spending, and taxes. Things like health care are still socialized, but if they continue in the direction they have been going, and the US continues in the direction it has been going, then obviously New Zealand will be freer than the US in 10-20 years.

Estonia would also be a good option, due to the changes they've made. The only problems with it are obviously the language, and the fact that they are relatively new to the whole freedom thing. The socialists there are churnign, and are quite eager to undo the good that has been done.

[Dreepa]

Mrs C,

I guess I am still confused a little ok you have a St K passport.  Where do you live?  Where will you get visas to live?

Tell me how to do this practically.

[aries]

Mrs C,

I guess I am still confused a little ok you have a St K passport.  Where do you live?  Where will you get visas to live?

Tell me how to do this practically.

Yeah, I'd like to know as well.

It seems a little far fethced.

An ex-patriate of the USA citizen of St. Kitts, living abroad...
From a realistic viewpoint if you are prosecuted abroad and need help from the St Kitts embassy, they might doubt your passport is even real, and would probably not extend you any help at all. So be prepared to live your entire life within the confines of the law, and they will be laws you have no hand in creating, as you have no right to vote anywhere except maybe St Kitts, where you will never be.

[Tunga]

"paradigm" - lawofattraction

You know how much I hate that word!!

I had no idea. How would I have known?

Does that make me a statist?

Of course not, you silly goose!

I just thought you knew. Sorry, a Paradigm is like kriptonite to a changeless human.

[Tunga]

An ex-patriate of the USA

Ms. Couscous had a choice.

Born into great wealth or born in America.

She chose the former. In order to enjoy unalienable rights one must be born here.

Conversion under law leaves one a statist.

Her sour grapes reflects this situation.

It's really too bad that someone who has gained all this knowledge would rather taunt us with it than share it to benefit others.

Must be nice.

[FrankChodorov]

Singapore has a very good history relating to economic freedom, second only to Hong Kong (which is more free), and is also poised to become the next international banking powerhouse since the Swiss sold out

how do explain HK being the highest on the freedom scale yet no one owns their land?

[CNHT]

OMG Singapore? YOU MUST BE KIDDING!!!! This is where they flog people with a cane for throwing gum in the streets!!!!!
New Zealand is about as socialist as you can get.

What I was refering to was more economic freedom, since I tend to believe that personal freedom is derived from economic freedom. A government that takes all your wages is going to be a bit hard of hearing when it comes to your desire to keep them, or own fire arms or educate your children in the way they desire. And why shouldn't they? They have all the money, and thus all the power.
Singapore has a very good history relating to economic freedom, second only to Hong Kong (which is more free), and is also poised to become the next international banking powerhouse since the Swiss sold out. And they don't cane you for throwing gum in the streets; gum is illegal

YOU MUST BE KIDDING!?! GUM is illegal and you just said so yourself! Thus you WILL BE CANED IF YOU CHEW IT and throw it in the street!!! People don't own their land, and there are no guns allowed. And you think this commie haven is free? How old are you anyway?

Nooo...ever heard of a little country called Germany? I believe it's located somewhere in Europe Anyway, I spent a year there and it is a lot more socialist: you can't shop after certain hours at night, taxes are extremely high, they run homeschoolers out of the country, etc.

Yeah and it's worse than Germany! Most of Europe is socialist....we are still less socialist than any country there.

New Zealand stands out in my mind simply because of the changes they have made since, say, the '70s. They have decreased their farm and sheep subsidies by quite a lot, decreased government spending, and taxes. Things like health care are still socialized, but if they continue in the direction they have been going, and the US continues in the direction it has been going, then obviously New Zealand will be freer than the US in 10-20 years.

Estonia would also be a good option, due to the changes they've made. The only problems with it are obviously the language, and the fact that they are relatively new to the whole freedom thing. The socialists there are churnign, and are quite eager to undo the good that has been done.

I doubt this. Once a country is socialist it's hard to bring it back. I still say you would have quite a culture shock to live in a place where GUM IS NOT ALLOWED. What other pleasures do they not allow, sex before 9 PM? Geesh!

(I definitely ain't going there!)

[Rochelle]

YOU MUST BE KIDDING!?! GUM is illegal and you just said so yourself! Thus you WILL BE CANED IF YOU CHEW IT and throw it in the street!!!

No, but I am beginning to wonder about selective reading on this board. I said that when it comes to ECONOMIC FREEDOM, Hong Kong is ranked first in the world and Singapore is ranked second, both in studies done by the Heritage Foundation and the Cato Institute (link for Cato, it's on page 12)
It is true that things like gum are illegal in Singapore, and you will be in trouble if you bring it in, but at least they have better bank secrecy laws than we do in the US.If you transfer money abroad, they automatically assuming your in the drug trade or a terrorist. You won't have to worry about the government listening in on your phone calls because you *might* be a terrorist. Guilty until proven innocent much?
In anycase, I use economic  freedom as the landing for the development of personal freedom. It matters not to a slave owner if his slaves use drugs, chew gum, smoke, as long as they are productive and continue putting money into his pocket (though of course once this productivity falls, they will ban those). But if you keep your own money, you automatically have the power to tell them to screw themselves and to put your money towards the causes you deem fit. Such as legalizing drugs.

People don't own their land, and there are no guns allowed. And you think this commie haven is free?

Well according to the Cato Institute, Singapore ranked 8.2 out of 10 when it comes to property rights in 2003. The US only ranked 7.9 for the same year. I guess that it doesn't matter whether or not you own your land if the government can take it away from you to build a minimall Btw, if you could please post a link showing information regarding everyone renting in Singapore, that would be nice. I figured most of them lived in apartments, due to the high density, but I assumed they were "owned apartments."

And you think this commie haven is free?

Communist haven? Exactly how is it communist? They have strong property rights, and ranked 9.5 out of 10 when it comes to freedom to trade with foreigners. In most communist countries, talking to a foreigner was a great way to go to the gulag, or have a nice meeting with the secret police.

Are you sure you didn't mistakenly think I typed North Korea?

How old are you anyway?

I fail to see how age relates to this, other than in an attempt to assume that if I'm older than you, I'm clearly old and foolish, and if I'm younger than you, I'm young and foolish. But, out of curiousity, how much coffee do you drink? You seem a bit wound up over this topic. Don't take it personally!

Yeah and it's worse than Germany!

Considering the fact that Germany just now made it out of the "mostly free" category and into the "free" category this year (according to the heritage foundation), I can't see how New Zealand could be much worse than Germany. They at least follow the Anglo-saxon model with fewer labor restrictions and taxes. But just for fun, let's do a side by side comparison, for 2003, New Zealand, Germany, and US:

                                            New Zealand                      Germany      US
Size of Government:                      6.3                               4.4            7.8
Legal Structure and Property rights: 8.9                              8.9             7.9
Access to sound money                 9.5                               9.6             9.8
Freedom to exchange w/ Foreig       8.2                               8.7             7.8
Reg. of credit, labor, and busin.       8.2                               5.7             7.6

So, as you can see, Germany has an extremely large government that loves to regulate everything, especially labor and the like. But New Zealand is better than the US on 3/5 rankings, which is impressive and is why they are tied at 3rd place for "most free." It will be interesting to see, however, how this changes due to our large budget deficit and trade deficit in the coming years. Will the next Freedom of the World Index show that Americans have less access to sound money? It's a scary thing. Like you said, it's easier to become socialist than to desocialize a country.
New Zealand at least has experience with it, but what with the new drug coverage plan, new school spending plans, it seems like the Federal government is more and more determined to become our parents.

Most of Europe is socialist....we are still less socialist than any country there

Still less socialist, true, but not for long if things continue the way they are going, which is my concern. For instance, our tax laws are extremely bad. Singaporeans hardly pay any taxes; they ranked 10/10 for marginal tax rates. The US ranked 8.0/10. Estonia (a European country) has introduced a flat tax system, privatized their railways and much more...what has the US done to compete?

I still say you would have quite a culture shock to live in a place where GUM IS NOT ALLOWED

I imagine it would be more of a culture shock to move to a place where English is not the primary language, and whose primary language I do not speak. But that's just me...

how do explain HK being the highest on the freedom scale yet no one owns their land?

They live in a completely lasseiz-faire society and are free to trade with whomever they want. This is also how I would explain how an island with no natural resources became the richest place on earth. They traded with everyone, and are living prove of Ricardo's theory of comparative advantage. They also have access to sound money (via a currency board), strong legal system, and even if they don't own their land (seriously, links anyone? I would like to read more on this!!), the government does not habitually take their land. Also, their government is very small and doesn't interfere a whole lot.
I'm a bit concerned about the Chinese (you know, the *real* communists). They are in the habit of taking people's houses and building dams and flood plains, being corrupt, and killing people, not for chewing gum, but for speaking out against the government. I hope China liberalizes before the 50 years of "One Government, Two Systems" ends, or Hong Kong will no longer be as free as it is now.

[Tunga]

They also have access to sound money (via a currency board)-Rochelle

Fiat money is not sound. Unless your referring to gold and silver (The metal, not certificates). The rest is just a house of cards.

[FrankChodorov]

They live in a completely lasseiz-faire society and are free to trade with whomever they want. This is also how I would explain how an island with no natural resources became the richest place on earth. They traded with everyone, and are living prove of Ricardo's theory of comparative advantage. They also have access to sound money (via a currency board), strong legal system, and even if they don't own their land (seriously, links anyone? I would like to read more on this!!), the government does not habitually take their land. Also, their government is very small and doesn't interfere a whole lot.

I would also suggest that you study Ricardo's law of rent to understand how a country where no one owns their own land (they lease it from the state) can be rated highest in economic freedom...

Ricardo's law of rent