Category: Economics

U.S. Presidents Who Participated Within the Practice of Slavery

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10 of the first 12 U.S. presidents owned slaves, with the only exclusions being the 2nd president John Adams and the 6th president John Quincy Adams, the son of John Adams. George Washington owned an estimated 200 – 600+ slaves, Thomas Jefferson owned an estimated 200 – 600+ slaves, and Zachary Taylor owned an estimated 300 slaves. The U.S. president with the least number of slaves, not including presidents who did not own slaves, is a tie between the 8th president, Martin Van Buren and the 18th US president, Ulysses S. Grant, each owning one slave. It should be noted, 12 U.S. presidents owned slaves at some point in their lives, however of these 12, 8 owned slaves while in office. The last U.S. president to participate within slavery whilst still in office was Zachary Taylor, and the last U.S. president to own an enslaved person at any time was Ulysses S. Grant. The last person enslaved by a U.S. president was William Andrew Johnson, who was enslaved by the 17th U.S. president, Andrew Johnson. It is believed that Johnson paid $500.00 for William Andrew Johnson’s mother, which equates to $19,348.46 as of 2023 when accounting for inflation using the base year of 1850, 10 years after Johnson’s first slave purchase and 15 years before he became president of the U.S.

The Parasol and the Advent and Evolution of the Umbrella

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Parasols, the precursor to the umbrella, were initially comprised of tree leaves, specifically eucalyptus and palm branches. The original intent of the parasol was to stop ultraviolet radiation from the sun, from penetrating the skin and causing it to become tan. The term “parasol” is derived from the French term “para” which means “to shield from”, from the root Latin term “parare” (pronounced “pah-rah-ray”), and the French term “sol”, which means “sun”. Parasols and umbrellas can be separated by their appearance as parasols are typically colorful and lively whilst umbrellas are generally solid, muted colors (e.g. black, grey, white etc.). It was not until the 1750’s when English philanthropist Jonas Hanway began carrying an umbrella in public with the intent to avoid rain that the idea caught on as a social trend and a new technology. Umbrellas up until the 19th century were heavy, weighing approximately 10 lbs. as they were comprised of whale bone with wooden rods setup to support the canvas. In the 1920’s, Hans Haupt helped usher the next generation of umbrellas in by inventing the foldable umbrella, the same kind of umbrella used during the modern day

The Universal Income Tax Bracket of U.S. Hedge Fund Managers

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The highest paid hedge fund managers and public equity managers are taxed at 15% which is much lower than virtually all other public income tax rates, because of the U.S.’ income tax code, specifically the “carried interest” provision which states that the income of a hedge fund and/or public equity manager is subject to the tax rate of capital gains, even though unlike normal capital gains, hedge fund managers and public equity managers are not required to risk their own financial capital, as they use the capital of their clients. This law is within U.S. income tax legislation because of the incredible lobbying effort of the private sector financial industry. Since 2006, every democratic president, including Barrack Obama, has strived to close the carried interest legislative loophole. The bill designed to strike down this provision passed the House twice, but consistently falls short of being passed as a bill into law due to pressure from the financial industry, a powerful collective who help raise record amounts of financial capital for the campaigns of members of U.S. politicians

International Post Secondary Education at No Cost

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All public post secondary institutions within Germany, Iceland, Norway, and Finland are free for both domestic and foreign students. Due to the soaring costs of education within North America, many North American students are opting to study abroad to acquire an education whilst reducing the overall debt associated with post secondary education

The Fashion Police of North Korea

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In North Korea, music that is not state approved is illegal, international telephone calls are illegal, smiling in public upon the anniversary of Kim Il Sung’s death is illegal, and perhaps most bizarre, leather coats are illegal, with this last law passed in December of 2021 to dissuade North Korean citizens from imitating Kim Jong Un who wore a black cow hide coat in public on numerous occasions. This style of black leather coat became massively popular after Kim wore it in news media coverage in 2019 and because of this, imitation coats have become more readily available in North Korea. Surprisingly, fashion police are employed by the North Korean state to patrol and search for anyone wearing this style of garment as well as to search and help take down companies found manufacturing the coat

Tudor Period Mining and Metal Smelting

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During the Tudor period, lead was utilized to build roofs and windows because it was easily mailable and resistive to corrosion. Farmers would mine for lead during the summer months when their crops did not need tending to in order to generate additional income. Mining during the summer months could earn an extra £5.00 which equates to £25,000 as of 2012 when accounting for inflation. Entire families often worked within the mines because 50 barrels worth of ore and soil would be extracted per day to meet the quota of what was required to be profitable. Smelting involved the use of white coal which is effectively dried wood from a kiln and was always setup upon windy hilltops or mountains because the wind would cause the fire blaze with more intensity therefore reaching higher overall temperatures. The best wood to make white coal is oak. Kilns must be airtight, so gaps were filled with clay. Knowing a kiln to be airtight was easily verifiable by searching for smoke as if smoke only came out of only the front entrance, the kiln was considered airtight. Ore was smashed into small pieces to help it smelt more rapidly which yielded approximately an 80% return upon investment. Metals were then refined using a secondary kiln, and smelted to remove any ash or impurities. The first burn removes ore from the rock, and the second burn removes impurities with the main impurity being sulphur. Molds were constructed using sand and wood to create divots which allowed the ore to be molded into blocks much the same as a modern day bar of gold. The sand gives the mold an indentation which archeologists use to identify Medieval bars of smelted ore

Large Technology Corporations Purchasing Competition to Monopolize the Marketplace

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Large technology corporations have the ability to analyze potential competitors and acquire them before they have a chance to compete. This is detrimental to consumers as it eliminates competition in the marketplace. Facebook has acquired more then 75 companies (e.g. WhatsApp, Instagram, Lightbox etc. ), Amazon has acquired more than 100 (e.g. Audible, Whole Foods, Ring etc.), and Alphabet, the umbrella organization which owns Google, has acquired more than 200 (e.g. Picasa, YouTube, Songza etc.). In 2010 and 2011, these technology juggernauts were acquiring competition at a rate of more than 1 company per week

The Ecologically Destructive Technique of Blast Fishing and Cyanide Fishing

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Blast fishing was introduced in Southeast Asia post World War II, by American soldiers who threw grenades into bodies of water to yield a large cache of fish, a technique which is used  during the modern day to produce fish as a food resource in local markets. Dynamite is often used but any explosive will perform the task effectively, even improvised devices which utilize an explosive chemical within a glass drinking bottle with an improvised wick lit by a cigarette. Cyanide fishing is an ecologically destructive method of catching fish in which a diver takes bottled cyanide and pumps it into reef areas where fish reside, stunning the fish and making them easier to catch, so that they can be extracted for the pet and live fish trades. These techniques result in coral reefs losing their color and ultimately dying, eliminating a major food source for marine life within the region. Both methods are extremely damaging to the ecosystem and left unchecked, can decimate entire ecosystems within a few short years. Portions of and entire coral reefs which have slowly built over thousands of years can be destroyed in a matter of seconds by using either of these harmful techniques. Fortunately, both methods of fishing are illegal in most of Southeast Asia

The Reason the Chinese Government Censored Footage of Soccer Games During the 2022 Fédération Internationale de Football Association World Cup

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During the 2022 Fédération Internationale de Football Association World Cup in Qatar, the Chinese government intercepted and censored all footage displayed in China in a concerted effort to prohibit Chinese citizens from observing World Cup fans from around the world enjoying and celebrating the games without masks as the Chinese government does not want the Chinese public to believe that doing so is a potential possibility

The U.S.’ Attempt to Combat Fraudulent Currency in 2013

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The U.S. $100.00 note was updated in 2013 to employ better and more advanced security measures. The $100.00 bill released in 2013 was a marvel of engineering which included the portrait watermark from the 1996 rendition, as well as the security strip which glows under ultraviolet light. In addition to these security features, color shifting ink was employed upon the bell which appears in the bottom right hand corner next to the text which states “100”, microprinting was implemented on Benjamin Franklin’s jacket cuff to inscribe “The United States of America”, “USA100” around the blank space containing Franklin’s portrait, “ONEHUNDREDUSA” along the golden quill, small 100’s in the notes borders, and a three dimensional ribbon which causes the bill to change its bell icons into text which states “100” when tilting the bill either up or down while continuing to focus upon the blue ribbon shown