The Effect of Trump on Small Business and Economy

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What impacts are Trump’s economic reforms expected to cause?    

Rick Kelo, a resident of Kansas has seen various changes and reform in the American economy over the years. From the various reform policies that have been introduced by Obama’s administration and how Trump has proposed to deal with the persistent issues, there is a lot happening on the current economic horizon.

The major question right now is how Trump stands to affect the economy and what that means for various types of businesses. In the following paragraphs, Trump’s potential impact on the economy in general and small businesses in particular has been discussed.cropped-news.png

When it comes to Kansas, Rick Arthur Kelo says that things don’t look so good from the economic angle, at least at the moment. About a month back, Stephen Mnuchin and Gary Cohn, two of Trump’s important economic allies revealed the basic structure of the much-awaited tax plan. These reforms have been ambitiously called the biggest tax cuts in all of history. These are supposed to slash taxes paid by businesses and make the entire tax filing and return process easier for everyone.

Mnuchin and Gary claimed that these new taxes will stimulate further economic growth where everyone will pay for themselves. However, some members from the Kansas administration like Duane Goossen have expressed their concern at the similarities between this economic plan and the one for which Kansas reached this delirious state in the first place.

Arthur Laffer, an expert on supply-side economics since the time of Raegan is the “economic spirit” behind Trump’s economic plan. Laffer is also one of the architects behind the tax plan proposed by Kansas Governor Sam Brownback. The former member of the economic policy advisory board that assisted Reagan is widely known for the Laffer curve.

In simple words, this is derived from a theory which states that economic activity is directly tied to taxation. If the taxes are lowered, up to a certain point, it will mean more revenue. However, tax reforms based on this tax slashing theory is what is said to have brought Kansas where it is in the first place.

Therefore, while some business owners are positive about the coming change and believe that it will bring benefits for the business, there is no lack of administrators who feel that the entire country will soon be affected exactly how Kansas was. The state has been struggling to balance its books, and the tax breaks have been blamed for the situation.

Rick Kelo- Internet Information Communities

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The Internet Has Provided the Perfect Platform for Intellectual Minds to Come Together and Provide Support for Those Looking For Answers

What is an internet information community? In short, it is a community of online users dedicated to helping each other find information however pertinent or trivial, and use their skills and education to help others. There is perhaps no greater example of this than the famous question and answers forum Quora. Quora allows users to create profiles of themselves also listing their education and qualifications. Then, when questions are posted on the site, regarding literature, economics, philosophy or sport for example, experts in the field can come back with answers. It is, in some ways, like the intellectual version of Yahoo Answers.Richard Arthur Kelo

Rick Kelo is one such thinker who has taken to the forum to offer his advise and wisdom to members of the community. Today, Rick Kelo works as a tax consultant in a large American firm. His interest and studies in economics, and political history, make him an authoritative voice on such matters, where he has answered questions ranging from labor economics to socialism. For Rick Kelo, forums like Quora are important in helping to disseminate unbiased, neutral and professional ideas and opinion.

A good example of this is a recent question, which asked why there was so much wealth disparity say, between a janitor in America and a Janitor in a third World Country. Rick Kelo’s answer was ”There’s more accumulated capital per worker in the American economy (where the U.S. janitor works) than in Nigeria’s economy (where the Nigerian janitor works). This is also the same reason why the American janitor of 2016 earns a higher wage than the American janitor of 1950 even though they’re no more productive.”

An answer like this is typical of Rick Kelo’s style- succinct, to-the-point and informative. He also tackled another pressing question, about the possible effects of reducing corporate tax rates, ”The answer to your question must be considered along three lines. The first line is the impact to the individual firm that now has a lower tax burden. The second line is the impact to the overall US economy, by which is meant the 60% of GDP comprised from the private sector. The third line is the impact on the US federal government in terms of tax receipts and the programs funded by those tax revenues.” For Rick Kelo, using his education to make important intellectual contributions to forums such as Quora, is an important duty of an educated American citizen.

Rick Kelo – What Is Happening With the Estate Tax?

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The Current Estate Tax Rules

Rick Kelo notes that the US Congress is considering a wide range of tax reform proposals currently. One of the many reform proposals deals with the US Estate Tax and its possible repeal. As per statistics, the Estate Tax in its current form has an impact on only 0.2% of all US estates.

According to the current legislation in place, an American citizen gets to enjoy a life-time exclusion amount of $5.5 at the moment. As a result, a married couple can leave behind $11 to their family and/or friends without the need for any Estate Tax. Of course, both of them need to be American citizens.

The effect of Estate Tax has been considered by Rick Kelo. As per the current law, any property that has been passed at death will get a step-up in terms of tax for determining the future capital gains that occur when the property has been sold.Rick Kelo

Illustrating the Effect

Consider an asset that has been purchased for $1,000. When this property is sold for $2,000, the taxpayer will have enjoyed a capital gain of $1,000. Now, if this asset was instead passed after the death of the taxpayer, the recipient’s tax basis will be increased to match the asset’s value at the date of the decedent’s death.

Continuing with the example, the first taxpayer will have bought the asset at $1,000. At his or her death, consider the value of the asset to be $1,500. The taxpayer who inherits the asset ends up selling the asset for $2,000. Now, for this taxpayer, the tax basis was increased to $1,500. As a result his or her capital gain after the sale is just $500.

 What Does the Repeal Bring?

The repeal of the estate tax can affect this transaction. Its repeal may actually cause the step up in the tax basis to be removed as well. Instead, it might be replaced by the carry over basis. In the case of the previous example, the taxpayer inheriting the asset will have a tax basis of $1,000 which was the original basis. As a result, the sale of the asset at $2,000 will bring a profit of $1,000.

While possibly welcome, Rick Kelo believes that repealing the Estate Tax might not actually be that much of a benefit. In fact, there is a chance that the repeal will lead to an increase in the taxes that must be paid than what is currently required.

Rick Kelo – Information, Democracy, and Social Media

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Where can we turn in our modern world for accurate, up to date, and interest information about what is happening in the world? There has been a dramatic shift recently in the way that information is spread throughout the public. Previously, people heard information through word of mouth, through reading a local or national newspaper, or maybe listening to the radio. But with the invention of modern technology, media has taken to social networking sites and the World Wide Web in general, using the power of digital communication to bring information to people around the world almost instantaneously. At the same time, the speed that information can now be shared around the world has meant that a lot of what we see and read online is not entirely accurate. Without a buffer of time, individuals (and more importantly, amateurs) are able to post anything they want about the world online.

If you are looking for interesting and up to date information on the state of our country’s political and economic atmosphere, turn to the articles on Rick Kelo’s blog Ceteris Paribus: “Economics from the Austrian and Monetarist Traditions”, “Political Philosophy from the Classic Liberal Tradition”, and  “Socialism and Star Wars”. Rick Kelo is a professional tax consultant, expert in economics, and active plotter in the political sphere of the United States. Countless individuals have turned to his published articles for interesting reads that promise to engage people while also delivering them hard hitting information about economics and political theory. cropped-news.png

He has also used social media and the digital world as his primary means of communicating. This has had a significant impact on the response to his writings. Many millennials, and in fact more than 60% of all people in the United States, get their news exclusively from social media. Because of this, it is crucial that thought-leaders and those who care about the economy take to the web as a battleground for sharing information. By getting information out there to the majority of people, Rick Kelo and other economists like him are making sure that our country is more informed, even if it is in a relatively small way.

Rick Kelo (on MSNBC) continues to publish his thoughts and ideas online, despite his demanding day job, because he believes strongly in the need for more people to have informed opinions about the state of the American economy and political situation. Only with a fully educated population can we expect to remain one of the world’s main democratic powers.

Rick Kelo And Staff Retention

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Rick Kelo, CEO of Chicago-based recruiting firm, TaxScout Inc., is concerned by the number of employee resignitions that have been conclusively linked with dissatisfaction with their manager or boss. True, there has always been a suspicion that ‘people leave the boss, not the company,’ but until now there has been scant analysis to back up the theory. That has now changed. Recent research has definitively proven that more than half of all employees who resign from their positions do so because of problems with their boss. And it is now clear that urgent remedial action is required to stem the flow of work departures.Rick Kelo

The problem, as Rick Kelo perceives it, is that there is far too much importance placed on intelligence and not nearly enough on emotional response. EQ requires self-awareness. Recognizing that as a manager you are the cause of the problem helps concentrate the mind wonderfully. And as the research makes clear, there are some extremely simple measures that any can adopt to improve the overall situation in the company. Firstly, for example, is the time-honored advice of giving credit where credit is due. Data shows that that when people were asked to describe their worst boss, 33 percent never gave any praise, while 28 percent rarely gave encouragement or recognition for tasks accomplished.

As Rick Kelo emphasizes, that accounts for around 55 percent of all employees who state that their worst boss never gave any form of praise. Look at it another way: that is 55 percent of employees who left  companies because their boss simply did not understand the importance of motivation. And this is further corroborated by an astonishing 60 percent, who stated that the important part of being a manager was to give appropriate praise and make the workforce feel appreciated.

For Rick Kelo, this is an easy, zero-cost fix. The ability to empathize with the workforce should be a mandatory managerial requirement; Forget the gilt-edged MBAs and diplomas lining the walls of the office – try and put yourself in the shoes of others, try to feel as they do about situations. By so doing, we will learn the importance of praise. Do not expect your ‘team’ to go over and beyond their stipulated responsibilities. With no encouragement, there is more chance them scheming behind your back rather than exercising their own intelligence on getting the work completed to the best of their capabilities. Which is surely why they were hired in the first place?

Richard Arthur Kelo – Roadfood

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As Rick Kelo knows, one of the best things about driving cross-country – or simply meandering the byways of America – is finding those delightful little restaurants tucked into out-of-the way spots, or found unexpectedly in otherwise grim strip malls.

The United States is a melting pot of languages, cultures, ethnicities, traditions, and – most importantly – food. From the French and Spanish influence that created the magnificent cuisine of New Orleans, to the gut-bursting hot dogs and deep-dish pizza in Chicago, to the deli food (particularly bagels) of New York City, to the Tex-Mex food of the southwestern United States, this country is a gourmet’s delight. A trip around the United States gives the traveler the opportunity to sample various regional cuisines, creating a thoroughly unique experience.Richard Arthur Kelo

The website Roadfood has many faithful, hungry, appreciative members, and many reviews of restaurants across the United States (and in Alaska and Hawaii). Restaurants can be searched by type of food and by state (and by city within each state). Reviews are consistently well-written, and are accompanied by mouth-watering photographs of the restaurant’s signature dish (or dishes). Some of the photographs are staggering – a pastrami sandwich, for example, piled so high with meat that no human mouth could possibly take a bite out of it. A pizza the size of a truck tire. An enormous, gooey sundae dripping with sweet toppings. An ice-cream cone so big that it runs the risk of toppling over.

Roadfood also features driving tours. This section of the site gives advice to travelers to various areas of the country. One tour, covering twenty-eight miles, is titled “Portland, Oregon in a day”. It covers no less than seven eating establishments. For more adventurous diners, there is a tour that starts in Seattle and travels east. It covers one hundred and twenty miles and encompasses two cafes, a bakery, a coffee house, and a genuine drive-in diner. Visitors to Pittsburgh can visit four fine eateries, one (Primanti Brothers) with the truly enormous sandwiches mentioned above. This sandwich shop features a pastrami and egg sandwich that includes a tomato, cole slaw, and a mountain of French fries – all tucked skillfully between two thick slices of bread. This sandwich shop is not a place for the culinarily timid. All the sandwiches come on large pieces of bread, and most feature French fries as a key ingredient, whether the sandwich is pastrami, roast beef, or kolbassi.

Rick Kelo – Capitalism and True Freedom

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When we talk about the topic of freedom in the Western world, it most often conjures strong feelings. Especially in the United States, land of the free, the concept of freedom seems paramount to our nationality identity. We express our freedom of religion, press, and peaceful assembly, among others, every day in how we choose to live our lives. But few Americans stop think about where our freedom actually comes from. The Western philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau believed that freedom is an inherent quality, part of the individual, and a presupposition as to what it means to be human. But is this really the case? Is freedom an innate part of our human nature? Or is it something that we have constructed for ourselves out of enlightened ideals?Richard Arthur Kelo

According to a paper by economist, financial expert, and blogger Richard Arthur Kelo, Is Human Freedom a Natural Thing?, “freedom of the individual is something that has been allowed to happen because of the rise of capitalism. Under a free market economy, the individual now has more powers as they can contribute to the ideas that large corporations make through choice of product”. This type of “capitalist” freedom is fairly apparent in the way that most individuals go about making purchases, and most companies respond to these purchases. The entire goal of any organization is to provide a product or service that individuals will choose over competitors. This builds the company’s reputation, drives sales, and ensures its future success.

But is this genuine freedom? Is choosing between two options really freedom, or are we limited in the sense that we only have two choices? The bauty of capitalism is that such markets respond to these questions fairly well. If consumers want a third, different option, someone will step forward to fill that desire. Thus creating more options for customers, more “freedom”. However, as consumers we are still reliant on others to put options before us and rarely do we have the economic means or skills to provide for ourselves. This is a product of our industrialized and technologically advanced society. It is impossible to except an elementary school teacher to build a computer for herself, so she goes out and buys one instead.

According to Richard Arthur Kelo—on Dailymotion and a variety of other blogging platforms—“freedom is something that has been enabled over time rather than eroded from an original right”. Instead of being born with the inherent freedom that many believe we possess, we have actually carefully constructed our freedom through capitalism. Enabling individuals to purchase things, rather than provide them for themselves, has made it possible for individuals to pursue careers such as the arts, without having to grow their own food or make their own clothes.

Rick Kelo – The Importance of Tax Professionals

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There is an old saying: it is impossible to be sure of anything except death and taxes. While death might seem like the more daunting of the two, it simply marks the end of life. Taxes, on the other hand, are life. We live with taxes every day of our lives, or at least whenever we are paid. Taxation tends to be one of the hottest topics in the political sphere and our recent election is a prime example of that fact. The concept of taxes is double-edged sword. Of course, most mature adults either agree with the taxes placed on their income, or they have at least grown numb to the missing percent of their paycheck. It is understandable that the country taxes us in order to maintain many of the public services that we take advantage of every day. Still, most people groan at the thought of taxes because of the simple fact that they do not get to access some of the spending power that they worked so hard for.Richard Arthur Kelo

For business owners, the topic of taxes becomes even more complicated. In a recent article published on Rick Kelo’s blog, the economist and financial expert wrote about tax loopholes and the way that business owners deal with the day-to-day struggles of their professional finances. In his article, he explains how Donald Trump, either a genius or madman, was able to avoid paying taxes for so many years, especially in light of the astoundingly large salary he claimed to be making. In short, he was able to take advantage of a tax loophole called net operating loss. As Rick Kelo says in his article “net operating loss is essentially when one’s losses and deductions combined exceed one’s income”. In the real estate industry, developers take advantage of this because they typically have to borrow huge amounts of money before they see a profit. This lets them use their net operating loss for the next 20 years and essentially “cheat” the tax system.

Tax professionals such as Rick Kelo are some of the only individuals aware of these loopholes. However, rather than exploiting their knowledge of the United States tax systems, these professionals use their expertise to share this knowledge with the wider public, making people aware of how some of their own are taking advantage of the country. For Rick Kelo, understanding the complexities of the economy is a means of fixing the economy, not taking advantage of it. We can only hope that the new President-elect shares this point of view as well.

Rick Kelo – Educating Millennials

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For today’s thinkers, there is no greater place than the internet. The rise of the digital technology era has enabled people to exchange information, ideas, and news almost instantaneously from nearly any location on the planet. This free flowing information has generate new perspectives and inspired a generation of thinkers to tap into the World Wide Web in order to access the largest possible audience. Unfortunately, not enough people have taken to the internet as a means of communicating their perspectives and iRick Kelodeas. Of course, the millennial generation has largely championed communication online, but luckily they are not the only ones logging on and sharing their thoughts. There are politicians, celebrities, economists, scientists, authors, and artists who have realized that the internet is a powerful tool for educating people around the world and promoting causes that they believe are important.

For Rick Kelo, using online presence as social service was the primary motivation for his personal blog. As a financial expert and executive recruiter with TaxScout, one of the nation’s largest professional placement services in the country, Rick Kelo’s blog is a trusted source of information and an interesting perspective of the state of the United States Economy. He has written articles about everything from the definition, causes, and implications of economic “bubbles” to tax loopholes and even an article entitled “Socialism and Star Wars”, in which he uses the Empire from the Star Wars franchise to highlight important aspects of socialist systems.

In a recent article posted on his website titled, “Why More People Don’t Understand Basic Economics”, he explained the flawed education system in the United States and how the majority of students graduate with only the barest working knowledge of our nation’s economic structure. Not only does he post interesting articles on his personal website, but he has also diversified his online presence across multiple blogging and social media platforms. This has enabled him to reach a vast amount of people, specifically within the millennial demographic that needs the most education about these important topics. A lot of really brilliant people feel that they do not need or cannot use the internet as a platform for sharing their opinions with the world. This is a huge problem because society is missing out on the opportunity to learn and grow from the shared experiences of such individuals. It is important that people of all ages and backgrounds realize that they can, and possibly should, have their voices heard on the web.

For more information on Rick Kelo, the outspoken blogger questioning the modern age, visit his website or the various social media outlets that he is currently using.

Rick Kelo – Personal Finance in Your Twenties

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In most states around the country, students are required to spend 900 hours in school each year. Given that most students enter the public school system around five-years-old and leave when they are usually eighteen, according to Reference.com, this means that the average individual is spending fifteen percent of their life in school. And that’s not factoring in continuing education or preschool. Despite this staggering statistic, very few students graduating with a degree have even a basic understanding of personal finance and economics. Many experts agree that our school system is more than slightly outdated in this respect and that some of life’s most valuable skills are being ignored in favor of material that is largely irrelevant to most people. Couple this with the fact that personal finance is extremely important, especially for recent graduates, and there is a significant portion of the population that is loRichard Arthur Kelosing money and making poor financial decisions.

Financial expert and economics blogger Rick Kelo (on YouTube and other social media outlets) is one of the rare individuals who is stepping in and educating people on topics about finances. He has personal website (rickkelo.org), that explains many important topics about our economy including, “The Minimum Wage Issue”, “What is the Optimal Progressive Tax?”, “Answering for the 2008 Global Economic Crash”, and “Free Market Capitalism and the Drive Towards Progress”. As a source of information on the current state of the economy, blogs like this are a means for young people to learn more about the world around them and engage with relevant and modern economic issues through easy to read, yet informative articles.

There are also a number of books out there that are crucial for young people trying to get a grip on their personal finances. In an article published by Business Insider, they listed 11 Personal Finance Books Everyone Should Read Before Turning 30. These books include “The Millionaire Next Door” by Thomas J. Stanley and William Danko. This book is based on more than 20 years of research into seven key characteristics that explain how America’s millionaires got rich. There is also “Think Fast and Slow” by Daniel Kahneman, a book directed at younger readers that explains how personal finance is nothing but a serious of decisions and describes what drives people to make the decisions that they make.

For more information about Rick Kelo, or other reading material about personal finance, visit his blog or a number of other websites that contain his articles.