Independent Investor

The firearm industry has a lot going for it. It is responsible for a piece of this country’s economic recovery including job growth as well as providing a hefty contribution to the tax base. It also sold the weapons that recently cut down 26 people, including 20 children, in a Connecticut elementary school. The shooter also killed his mother and himself.

The Fiscal Cliff commands center stage. The nation’s news media is dutifully reporting every syllable uttered by anyone even remotely connected to the negotiations. But what really matters is what is said behind closed doors between Washington’s lobbyists and our elected officials.

Here’s a great cocktail party question. What do Cote d’Ivoire, Uruguay and the United States have in common? Answer: all three nations have about the same level of income inequality among its citizens. For those who didn’t know it, America now ranks lowest of all developed nations in terms of income distribution.

Hurrah for us, as the late, great Neil Armstrong would surely have agreed. The “Curiosity” landing on Mars was the most complex landing NASA has ever attempted. The mission cost taxpayers $2.5 billion, but if history is any guide the economic payback to America will be much greater than that.