Jim: Joining me as my special guest on the program today is Martin Armstrong from ArmstrongEconomics.com, and Martin, in December of 2010 the US passed the HIRE Act which increased reporting requirements for US citizens holding assets overseas. It would appear to me Martin that step by step the government is implementing programs of capital control. Do you see it that way?
Martin: Oh, Absolutely! I mean, we’re in a situation where the budget deficits are just blowing out, and its going to get much worse. And so what’s happening is that instead of dealing with the issues the government is going to be much more aggressive to tax people, chase them down, put them in prison. All kinds of crazy stuff. This new act that came in December 19th, effectively they are telling any foreign corporation that they must report any activity with an American overseas. And what they’re going to do to them is what they did to UBS. If they don’t comply, they will confiscate all their assets here. So, honestly, from an international perspective, the best advice I could tell people is that, is to get out. If you’re going to do business in the United States use an agent. Get your branches out of this country. It’s going to get far worse.
Jim: It would almost appear, this is something that happened in Germany under the Nazi’s, where they began to collect and find out where the assets were, and eventually as we know in the case of the Jews, they confiscated them. But it seems like, whenever you have a government that is trying to keep tabs of what you’re doing, what you own, where it’s held…that’s a government that’s intent on taking some of it.
Martin: Yeah, I mean this is, you know the slogans tend to really mask the truth. And that is, “The rich don’t pay their fair share”, etc. What this is really about is that only the United States and Japan tax worldwide income. So, if you’re parents were American and you happen to be born in Kenya or something, and you never come back to this country, you still owe taxes to the United States. So, it’s not a question of paying your fair share. An American is basically, when he’s born, is an economic slave. And you owe money to this country, whether you’re here, whether you receive any of the benefits or not.
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