Dumb Tax Idea #27, or, “The (In)Convenience Store Tax” Did you know that the city of Minneapolis just slapped a 50% surtax on small purchases such as ice cream, coffee, dry cleaning, pet grooming, etc.? OK, so they’re not calling it that — but that’s effectively what it is. What I’m referring to, of course, are...Read More
Translating “Minnesota Nice” I’ve got to remind myself when I work with out-of-town Buyers — I have three such clients at the moment — that outside of Minnesota, “interesting” actually can mean “interesting.” As in “unique” (in a good way), “provocative,” or “stimulating.” When Minnesotans say it — especially in the context of house-hunting, and they enunciate...Read More
“If at First You Don’t Succeed . . . “ Maybe they’ll try again. That’s my reaction to the news that North Dakota voters overwhelmingly rejected a constitutional amendment yesterday that would have eliminated that state’s property tax. To be fair, energy-rich (and financially flush) North Dakota is in a better position than most states...Read More
From “Super-Low” to “Outrageously, Absurdly Low” Wait a second — haven’t mortgage rates been, like, dirt cheap since . . . forever? And haven’t interest rates paid on savings been infinitesimal for practically just as long? Well, yes. But, as a result of further Euro zone deterioration last week — and the resulting flight to quality/safety — interest...Read More
Exec Comp 2012: One CEO Equals . . . Everyone in Cleveland?!? In 1989, the chief executives of the seven biggest banks in the country made about 100 times the income of the typical American household, on average. On the eve of the crisis in 2007, they made more than 500 times the median. –Eduardo...Read More
Is Facebook Stock a Bargain? “Small Investors May Get to Own Bit of Facebook.” –Headline, The New York Times (5/4/2012) “I would never want to belong to any club that would have someone like me for a member.” –Groucho Marx (oft-quoted by Woody Allen and many, many others) Is Facebook stock a deal at a...Read More
