When I was a kid, I thought people in elected offices were among the brightest and best. Then I grew up, started interacting with politicians and realized they are no smarter than anybody else. And in fact, a lot of them are downright dumb.
Well, I’ve got an Oklahoma lawmaker for you that fits neatly into the downright dumb category.
Every year, the Federal Reserve robs you of a little bit of your wealth.
And it does so by design.
Writing for the Sovereign Man, Jeff Thomas called it a “magic trick.” But it’s not magic in a mystical way. It’s magic in the show business sense of the word. It’s an illusion, facilitated by distraction that fools the audience. As a result, we all miss what’s actually happening.
An increase in the import duty hasn’t dampened Indians’ appetite for gold. It’s just pushed the market underground.
Gold is such an important part of the Indian economy, people will do whatever they have to in order to get their hands on the yellow metal – including skirt the law. According to a recent report by the Hindu, occurrences of gold smuggling have risen rapidly in the wake of higher import taxes.
Ever since the import duty on gold was raised to 10%, the country has reportedly witnessed a rapid rise in the quantum of gold brought into the country illegally. Currently, government levies total 13%, including IGST of 3%.”
Despite rising prices, a tax increase, and government attempts to tighten regulation of the jewelry industry, gold continues to flow into India.
Gold imports into the country nearly tripled year-on-year in August. An estimated 60 tons of the yellow metal flowed into the Asian nation last month, up from 22.3 tons in August 2017. This continues a trend for the year. Over the first 8 months of 2017, India’s gold imports climbed to 617.5 tons, a 158% increase over 2016.
