Last week, I heard Chicago Reader columnist Ben Joravsky talked all about tax increment financing, the current complication in the City of Chicago’s budget. Originally designed to help improve blighted neighborhoods, the TIF program has turned into a slush fund with little transparency and a lot of potential for corruption. For example, the 53rd Street… [Read More]
Blog
Category: Political Discourse
Paying for College: Paying for the Athletic Department
The lovely and talented John Warner writes that coach’s salaries should be part of the higher education discussion. At the same time, the Chicago Public Schools have suspended two coaches for bad behavior during a game that ended with a shooting in the parking lot afterward. I’m a believer in sports for kids and adults…. [Read More]
Handy Guide to Derivatives Tax Issues for the Day Trader
I recently had a Day Trading for Dummies reader ask me about the tax effects of an equity options strategy that he was using. His broker was not giving him a clear answer, and that’s not a surprise – derivatives are taxed differently than stocks and bonds, which is part of their appeal for day… [Read More]
Infrastructure Spending, in China and Elsewhere
China has been spending enormous amounts of money on infrastructure. The US should be spending more money in infrastructure. Brazil is embarking on an infrastructure program in advance of the 2016 Olympics. Is this good, bad, or ugly? For the most part, infrastructure is good. We need roads to get around, railroads and shipyards to… [Read More]
Pussy Riot, Emerging Markets, and Social Investing
Punk’s not dead in Russia, although it will be going to prison for a while. Three members of the band Pussy Riot have been sentenced to two years in prison for a protest against both Vladimir Putin and the Russian Orthodox Church. Whether or not you agree with them, their protest would be legitimate in… [Read More]
