10 Tuesday AM Reads

the myth that a good guy with a gun stops a bad guy with gun
http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/10/oregon-shooting-gun-laws-213222

seems that hospital bombing isnt what we have been told it was

https://theintercept.com/2015/10/05/the-radically-changing-story-of-the-u-s-airstrike-on-afghan-hospital-from-mistake-to-justification/

Re: Charley Ellis 401k crisis

I think the real solution to the 401k problem is to set up a default 401k, similar to a 529, at the state or federal level. Any employer could use it as long as the employee put in at least 6% of pay and the employer immediately matched 3% with instant vesting with no minimum waiting periods or investment amounts. The contributions would be sent in with FICA taxes. The investment would be a diversified target date fund with an ER of less than 0.5% (preferably less than 0.3% – financial firms could bid at 5 year intervals to manage it). High school students scooping ice cream could be enrolled in it as well as many mom and pop small businesses.

A strong Social Security plan at current levels, which is essentially a government-guaranteed annuity, with a 9% savings plan invested in the markets would likely suffice for most people since the savings would be starting at an early age.

However, it would have to move the financial sector away from its current looting mentality where the primary goal is to plunder 1%-3% annually from savers while mystifying them with complex mumbo-jumbo sales jargon. Given the current war being waged in Washington over the fiduciary requirement, I can’t see that helping savers and society is high on the agenda of these firms.

BTW – the longest I have worked for any firm has been 13 years. Defined benefit plans would have been disastrous for me. However, I have been amassing a fair chunk of change in defined contribution plans over the years so that retirement should be comfortable without having to work until 70.

Handy tool for Republicans who find it easy to express their politically correct feelings with the ladies.

http://techcrunch.com/2015/09/30/the-ejaculator-is-a-vr-based-pleasure-machine-for-the-lads/

Proof that retiree financial advice in general is FUBAR: http://www.wsj.com/articles/a-bracing-year-for-target-date-funds-1444010538

re: Warren Buffett and Jeremy Grantham have been warning us about this moment for years

They are really stating the obvious – the economy is bad during recessions. However their statement highlights their error: “In every period except one, a 0.6% decline in margins in 12 months coincided with a recession.” Coincidence is not a cause or even a leading indicator. If you look at most of the time periods, the dip in margins doesn’t happen until a recession has already started.

Really useful information is in the ‘these three signs show a recession is imminent!’ posts.

What the TPP likely ain’t and likely ain.

That Massive TPP
It is amazing how the elite media can be dragged along by their noses into accepting that the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) can have a big impact on trade and growth. …The reality is that the vast majority of the trade between the countries in the TPP is already covered by trade agreements as can be seen. [pie chart]

This doesn’t mean that the TPP can’t have an impact. It will lock in a regulatory structure, the exact parameters of which are yet to be seen. …We also know it will mean paying more for drugs and other patent and copyright protected material …[and] …the Obama administration gave up an opportunity to include currency rules. This means that trade deficit is likely to persist long into the future.

NB: The relationship between an expensive (AKA “strong”) dollar, increased trade deficit and increased unemployment rate is grossly under- and mis-reported in the financial press. Generally speaking the average working American pays dearly for cheaper foreign goods and less expensive vacations abroad (when they take them which is rarely).