Different News Articles and Some Thoughts

Fox - Washington Free Beacon - Labor costs to skyrocket for American cars. Since 2008 most auto jobs in the United States saw no cost of living raise. Now, 7 years later they are getting raises of 5 to 9%. This seems to horrify certain conservatives. There are two things I wish to point out. Firstly, American car manufacturers have most of their parts made oversees, not in America. As previously reported, the cars with the highest percentage of American parts are Japanese auto manufacturers. Second, the executives at the companies that took bailouts and were responsible for the economic crash continued getting bonuses since 2008.

Las Vegas Review Journal - Nevada pursues Route 160 widening project. Now, you have probably never heard of this highway as it goes from Las Vegas to Pahrump, Nevada. It is two lanes in both directions and is practically empty most of the time. I have driven it many times and know it well. In fact, I was once snowed in on it's highest point. There is no need to widen it as it is lightly travelled now. Nevada is saying that they are going to widen it for safety and increased traffic. Huh? What increased traffic? What is going to be built north of Las Vegas near Nellis Air Force Base?

Business Insider - Switzerland is about to launch a huge experiment in 'the war on cash'. This is a very interesting article about how the central banks in Switzerland and Sweden are charging negative interest rates on money issued to other banks. Basically, this is charging people a fee for holding their money rather than paying interest. Well, in the countries mentioned about few use actual cash and most transactions are electronic so the people don't notice their money being taken away as much.

Fox - 'Needless experiment': Cities weigh gov't-backed broadband, critics see tax $$ at risk. Basically, some cities and states want to provide their residents with universal Wi-Fi. This is not surprising as it is municipal right of ways that allow the towers to be put up. Certain companies see an opportunity to make lots of money and therefore want to prohibit cities from building wi-fi for their residents. This is amusing as the internet was created by the government and not private industry.

Yahoo - AFP - IMF poised to put Chinese yuan in elite currency basket. I have been saying this was coming for a few years now. While most people will not understand what it means to be a reserve currency or a "hard" currency, it basically means that your currency is accepted in other countries. The dollar has been the world currency for decades; but, that could very well end and that will make it harder for us to pay our debts.