Just 2 weeks ago, I lost some money in the Crown casino in Melbourne. Sigh… Haha. It’s okay. Win some and lose some, so just let it be. Well, casinos are big business and New York State has just approved 3 new ones. What’s in in for the state of New York? Imagine earning US$1 billion (RM4.13 billion) every year from gaming taxes alone…
Well, if the tariffs will dampen the consumer sentiment, then demand for goods and services will fall. This means the economy will slow down. No more multiplier effects to the economy since lower demand means lower production. In other words, less workers are needed. Thus, fewer people may have enough money to keep buying things they like. Businesses would think twice about marketing, about expanding or even about employing more people. Uncertainty is the order of the day. What would the central banks do…?
I do still want to think that the tariffs will not affect Malaysia as much as some other countries where their exports can be easily replaced by other countries. Or they lack the number of US companies based there. The reason is because we have many US based companies here in Malaysia. Surely the tariffs are not meant to ‘kill’ all of them since their production is usually meant for export? Especially if it is to be exported back to the US with that huge tariff levied to Malaysia?
Actually, we should move to the country where our income is able to buy more things instead. The reason is because the cost of living could be low but this does not mean we are earning more than other countries. So we could earn less and cost of living is lower. Meanwhile in some other countries people could be earning more and the cost of living is not lowest but because of their much higher earnings, they actually could afford to buy more!
The image below showed my breakfast on one morning in Anaheim, Los Angeles. It’s by a chain called Coco’s and the price is a special promotion currently. Instead of US$13.99 (RM61), it was just US$10,00 (RM44). As usual, the typical tip the restaurants expect would be 15 percent, so it’s higher than US$10. It’s not compulsory to tip but you know… the people say that’s how they have enough salary because their salary per hour is not high enough.
I believe everyone should have a shelter. It does not need to be a property which they own. It could be a rental based unit from the government. Most important point is that the people are not homeless and they do not need to worry that their salary could not sustain them if they need to pay a high monthly rent. I saw with my own eyes how the homeless are putting up tents along the roadside.
My advice when it comes to buying a property is a simple one. Buy something you need and can afford comfortably. Else, it’s perfectly find to keep renting a property you feel comfortable with and you could afford the rental comfortably. It would be foolish to buy a property and struggle to pay the monthly mortgage but it would be super foolish to rent a home which we are struggling to pay the rental every month!
When the US economy is not well, every country in the world will feel its impact. It’s just a matter of how big or how small. Well, their budget deficits are going up and has reached a new high.
According to AI overview by google, this is budget deficit definition. “A budget deficit occurs when a government spends more money than it receives in revenue during a specific period of time. The amount by which spending exceeds revenue is called deficit spending”
Briefly, the government is spending more than the revenue it gets, so it has to borrow to cover this amount and thus it’s in a deficit.
I am in California for Toastmasters’ Convention. I wanted to use UBER as usual but found out that typically Lyft is cheaper. So, I was using Lyft and as usual was speaking to the driver about life, money and anything. He told me that he was born in the Bermuda but then moved to Alaska and stayed there until he started working when he moved to California. He has been here for over 20 years. He thinks it’s easier to get a job with a stable income here.
I have always loved to note down the parking rates in the different countries I visit. For example, it’s as high as AUD12 per half an hour in Sydney that I have seen. Thus, I think many would be tempted to just take the public transport instead. Else, one would have to earn a lot more just to cover the parking rate charges every day. Imagine working whole day for RM100 and then having to pay RM48 for parking in some malls where you work? Crazy isn’t it?
Everyone hates inflation, I think. I could not think of any reason why people love inflation except those who are hoping for prices to rise to gain benefits from it. Maybe this includes people who hoard goods just so that they could sell it at a higher price the next week for example. When inflation is high… then the central bank may step in to control inflation. This is usually done via an increase in rates. However, if inflation is high and the economy is slowing, then the central bank would have to decide which is more critical. Growth in economy or growth in prices.
Yes, it has been increasing and increasing and increasing within just a period of 2 years. From close to zero (0.25 percent), it has risen to current 5.5 percent. If you know a country is about to keep increasing their rates, institutional investors would be attracted to their currency, especially if they are the largest reserve currency in the world. Even if they run deficits and they need to keep borrowing money to pay off their debts which now stands at US$34 trillion.