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Economics and Investing:

SurvivalBlog reader WMJ writes in: “It’s been a while since I’ve gotten a roll of dollars from the local credit union, and I found myself in for something of a shock. I gave the teller USD 25 and asked for a roll of quarters. She didn’t have a roll in her till and went to grab one from the safe. When she got back I was asked for my account number. I thought it odd but gave it to her. While she was pulling up my account I asked why I couldn’t just swap cash for cash. She demurred somewhat. Then I pushed a bit and asked if it was “one of those silly Federal regulations” to which she nodded. Then she said something about internal audits. The receipt showed that I had deposited USD 25 (1 – 20, 1- 5) and withdrew USD 25 (25 – 1). Did I miss something somewhere? Is cash being tracked in some manner?”

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America’s Road To Serfdom: 51% Of Renters Are Over-40 Years Old [1] – Sent in by B.B.

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Items from Mr Econocobas

Middle Class Americans ‘No Longer Majority’ [2]

Items from Professor Preponomics:

U.S. News

The Fed’s Painted Itself Into the Most Dangerous Corner in History [3] (Contra Corner)

America’s Middle Class Has Lost 30% of Its Wealth [4] (Market Watch) Spoiler Alert and an Article Quote: “…the share of income held by middle-income families has plunged to 43% of households in 2015 versus 62% in 1971…”

Obamacare Will Shrink the Workforce by 2M by 2025 [5] (Washington Examiner) Spoiler Alert and an Article Quote: “…the bulk of that reduction in workforce would be due to added taxes contained in the law, including ‘implicit’ taxes placed on people who would lose benefits if they worked more under the law.”

Civil Asset Forfeiture is a License to Steal [6] (Memphis Daily News) Hint: The national debate on civil forfeiture is changing, but a substantial amount of work is ahead. It’s no joke. Tennessee earns the failing grade of a D-. This is about protecting and preserving the Constitution and all of America’s citizens. For a quick and easy read, a Wikipedia link is included here as well: Due Process Clause [7]

International News

Chinese Devaluation is a Bigger Danger than an Increase to Rates by the Federal Reserve [8] (The Telegraph)

Chinese Investment in Africa [9] (Visual Capitalist) Commentary: Chinese investment in development around the world comes with extraordinarily important geo-political implications.

Personal Economics and Household Finance

Great Gift Ideas for Frugal People [10] (Frugal Living) Commentary: These are some neat ideas including a couple of “soft preps”!