Americans Can Still Benefit from Tax Havens

By Nick Giambruno, Senior Editor, International Man

“In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.”
–Benjamin Franklin

You are technically a slave when 100% of the fruits of your labor is taxed or otherwise confiscated by force. So, at what percentage are you not a slave?

When you consider the totality of the countless direct and indirect taxes on the local, state, and federal levels, as well as the pernicious effects of inflation, the hidden tax, many of us are at least halfway to 100%. Continue reading "Americans Can Still Benefit from Tax Havens"

Doug Casey on Crisis Investing in Cyprus

By Nick Giambruno, Senior Editor, International Man

Recently, legendary crisis investor Doug Casey and I put our boots to the ground in Cyprus to search the rubble of one of recent history's most significant financial crises—the financial collapse and bank deposit raid in Cyprus—for incredible bargains. And we found them.

In this newly released video interview below, Doug and I detail the tremendous speculative opportunities available on the Cyprus Stock Exchange. Continue reading "Doug Casey on Crisis Investing in Cyprus"

Syria and Second Passports

By Nick Giambruno, Editor, International Man

All of us by now have seen the latest sales pitch from the Obama administration for yet another so-called "humanitarian intervention" in the Middle East. It is not hard to see that the case for war is a bunch of rubbish and will likely end in disaster for both Syria and the US.

I am not diminishing the tragedy that is going on in Syria. The events there touch me on a personal level. I have good friends who live in Damascus and have been there myself several times when the situation wasn't so hot.

As some of you may know, I used to live in neighboring Beirut while I was cutting my teeth in finance at a regional investment bank. Due to its rich history and importance today, I have long been interested in the Middle East and sought ways to combine it with my professional background in finance. Continue reading "Syria and Second Passports"

A Tight Tax Leash Constrains Americans

By Nick Giambruno, Editor, International Man

Many readers are already well aware that the US government is essentially unique—and not in a good way—in how it treats its citizens living and working in foreign countries. No other country in the developed world imposes and effectively enforces as many burdens on its citizens abroad (and those who would do business with them) as does the US government.

Whether it is filing and paying taxes to both a foreign government and the US government, the reporting of foreign financial assets (FBAR and Form 8938), or saddling foreign financial institutions with extra compliance costs for dealing with US citizens (FATCA), among others, the root cause of these burdens is a system of citizenship-based taxation (CBT). Continue reading "A Tight Tax Leash Constrains Americans"