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  • In Germany, the State Can Seize Your Dog if You’re Late on Taxes

    In Germany, the State Can Seize Your Dog if You’re Late on Taxes0

    Bloomberg recently ran an article detailing how difficult high-tax states in the US can make it on wealthier individuals trying to leave. The idea of the state using teams of investigators to determine if one passes the “Teddy Bear Test” is likely to strike many Americans as creepy and slightly authoritarian. The Germans, however, show

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  • The Unbundling of America’s Political Parties

    The Unbundling of America’s Political Parties0

    Should movies be seen in theaters, at least in their first runs, or are they just as good when they premiere on the home screen? To put that question in business jargon terms, should movies continue to be bundled to theaters, or should they be unbundled to appear anywhere—even on a tiny-screened smart phone? That’s the big fight in

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  • How Toxic Masculinity Permeates the Intellectual Takeout Office

    How Toxic Masculinity Permeates the Intellectual Takeout Office0

    When the #MeToo movement was at its height some months ago, I threw my shoulders back, took a deep breath, and let loose with my own story of the “toxic masculinity” I have experienced while working as the sole female in an entirely male office.   Time has passed, and instead of seeing the toxic

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  • What an Old Sears Roebuck Catalogue Teaches Us About Gun Control

    What an Old Sears Roebuck Catalogue Teaches Us About Gun Control1

    As I write these words, a reproduction of the 1897 Sears Roebuck Catalogue, published in 1968 by Chelsea House, sits at my elbow. The fat catalog is a casual reader’s delight and a historian’s treasure trove. Here are medicines like laudanum, herb tea, and castor oil. Here are tools, bobsleds, gasoline stoves, windmills, bicycles, clothing

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  • Quiz: How Strong is Your Thriftiness Quotient?

    Quiz: How Strong is Your Thriftiness Quotient?0

    Ben Franklin knew a lot about—preached and practiced —  thrift. So how do you go about measuring thrift or any individual‘s thriftiness quotient? I get asked this question all the time, so I devised this handy Thrift Meter. Try it and pass it along. Is there an Index or some gauge that can give you a reliable account

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  • Minimum Wage Hike to $15 Wipes Out Jobs in Illinois and New York

    Minimum Wage Hike to $15 Wipes Out Jobs in Illinois and New York0

    Big minimum wage hikes wipe out a lot of jobs. Illinois recently enacted a $15 minimum wage, a large increase in the minimum wage that will be phased in over several years. And businesses are already announcing plans to close up, move out of the state, or curb their expansion in the state. The Daily Gazette

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