Steve Forbes

Last week, I also had the opportunity to hear Steve Forbes speak.  He is the editor of Forbes Magazine and has been politically active for decades, including a past run for the presidency.  He was filled with great information.  Some his points were as follows:

·         The US will be re-linking the dollar to the gold standard rather than oil (at least gold keeps its intrinsic value as it has over the last 4000 years).

·         The banking industry is rivaling health care with its regulations.   As I have written in the past, health systems have to adhere to over 122,000 Federal regulations. Banks are closing as they can't keep up with new compliance requirements

·         The Senate is avoiding accountability by not passing a budget in over three years.

He also said we should be growing the economy rather than raising taxes. The US isn't alone in its "taxing not growing" problem, so are most nations.  (Spain's income tax rate is at 52%; Japan is at 55% with a 10% sales tax; and France is at 75%.  The French are emigrating to Belgium for a tax haven with its 50% rate).  Some states are beginning to cut taxes in order to focus on growth (NJ, NC, LA and KS). Forbes also spoke of his desire for a flat tax of 17%, no capital gains tax and no death taxes.  He said that the Gettysburg Address has 52 words, the Declaration of Independence 1300 words, our Constitution 7,000 words, the Bible written over centuries 773,000 and the US Tax Code over 9 million words with 14,000 changes in 25 years, and our tax code is out of control. 

As it relates to health care, Forbes said that there should be nationwide shopping for health care insurance with no restrictions on buying insurance; currently it falls within state boundaries.  He said more competitive insurance markets are needed.  Forbes said that technology is creating so many opportunities in health care and we should see an increase in medical tourism to Indian reservations because it is sovereign territory where many US laws are not applicable.  

Steve Forbes was filled with great information and even made the US Monetary Policy easier to understand.