August 4, 2012

Government and government regulations kill businesses and create poverty.

That is why Somalia, without a functioning government, is such a rich country




And why Switzerland, that has more regulations per citizen than any country on earth, is so poor;




The country of Switzerland spends over 11 percent of its Gross Domestic Product on universal health coverage for its citizens. This is a very high expenditure per capita, but gives its residents a high healthy life expectancy of age 71 for men and age 75 for women. Switzerland’s physician density is about 3.61 per 1,000 residents. Switzerland also has a high level of air pollution. There are many gardens and parks located in Zurich for citizens to walk and bike in. Most of the people of Zurich enjoy an active lifestyle and sports are an integral part of Swiss culture. The abundance of sporting facilities make Zurich a gathering place for sport lovers in Switzerland. Several international sport federations make their home in Zurich.

http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GNP.PCAP.CD/countries/CH--XS?display=graph

http://www.studentsoftheworld.info/infopays/rank/PNBH2.html

August 1, 2012

Nate Silver; "Ohio polls show trouble for Romney" downgrades Romney chance to 31%

We are seeing the first major shift in the campaign. The significance of this is big because all pollsters have, so far, noted how static the race has become and the likelihood of a big swing back is not great as so few people are undecided.




Now Drunken Irishman brings us news of yet another poll (Quinnipac Obama + 6) that shows similar results for Ohio:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/125162820#post20

This would seem to indicate that the outsourcing and outbanking ads are having a huge impact in Ohio.

Note that Nate Silver has downgraded Romney's chances of winning the electoral college to 31%.

There is no reasonable path to an electoral college victory for Romney without Ohio. Portman is the only VP pick that helps in Ohio, so Portman's chances of being on the ticket just went up.

Romney's chances on Intrade have gone below 40 %

http://www.intrade.com/v4/home/