On The Monopoly and Oligopoly Madness In Most US Industries

The US is considered as the most competitive market in the world. However in reality most of the major industries are a form of monopoly or oligopoly. When industries are dominated by one company or a handful of companies customer suffer as prices inevitably increase due to pricing shower and lack of competition. But investors and management …

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Public Social Spending as a Percentage of GDP Across OECD Countries

Social spending includes various benefits offered by a country to its residents such as healthcare, pensions, social security,  food stamps, relocation money provided to refugees, funding for community activities for illegals, etc. This expenditure varies widely across OECD member countries. Click to enlarge Source: OECD France tops the list with social spending amounting to over 31% …

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Debt to Savings Ratio As a Percentage of GDP of Select Countries

China is creditor country while the US is the largest debtor country in the world. China has also one of the low debt to savings ratio in the world as shown in the chart below: Click to enlarge Source: 5 Big Risks Posed by China (And Why They Shouldn’t Crash Global Markets in 2017) by Michelle Gibley, Charles Schwab …

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Why International Diversification Is Necessary

US stocks have performed well in the past few years relative to other developed and emerging stocks. Emerging market stocks have been especially poor performers for many years until now. While the S&P 500 is up by about 7% so far this year, emerging markets such as Brazil, Russia have soared by 42% and 30% …

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Infographics: What Rising Interest Rates Mean for You

One of the main themes that is dominating business news nowadays is interest rates. More specifically the question on everyone’s mind is when will the Federal Reserve increase the fed funds rate from the ultra-low rates now. The talking heads, pundits, fed watchers and other experts debate this  issue on a daily basis in the media, …

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