From The Latin Times:
The 2014 World Travel Awards has awarded Peru as the “Best Culinary Destination in South America” for the third consecutive year. The country, which has become a famous tourist destination for Machu Picchu, beat other Latin American competitors, including: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, Paraguay, Uruguay and Venezuela.
With emerging markets showing signs of stress after the end of QE, will Peru also see foreign money leaving the economy? With around 50% of all loans denominated in dollars, a sudden exit could leave Peru vulnerable.
Continue reading Will the Hot Money Leave Peru?
These letters are intended for my grandchildren & all of those who seek to grow & to learn how to be not only a better person, but also to be more successful in life and their endeavors. Here are 9 simple but vital lessons for a better life:
Continue reading Letters to Paige #5 (9 Important Life Lessons)
In it’s ever growing more obvious disregard for the middle class & even the rule of law itself, Congress last week voted to retroactively allow for pension benefits to be reduced in the future. While the media focused on the Torture Report (another blatant disregard for morality & the rule of law,) Congress overturned nearly 40 years of Pension law and opened the door for future reductions of retiree benefits once guaranteed by law.
From an article on Naked Capitalism:
Cromnibus Pension Provisions Gut Forty Years of Policy, Allow Existing Pensions to Be Slashed
Under the bill, trustees would be enabled to cut pension benefits to current retirees, reversing a 40-year bond with workers who earned their retirement packages.
Continue reading After They Take Your Pension, Will They Come for Your Healthcare Too?
Medical tourism continues to grow every year, and is expected to continue expanding as deductibles rise & as more and more companies self insure to save costs. Some employers are covering all travel costs (including expenses for spouses) as an incentive to encourage employees to consider medical travel.
Here are some recent articles regarding medical tourism that may be of interest:
Continue reading Medical Tourism News Roundup 12/12/14
Home Coffee Roasting in a Hot Air Popcorn Maker
One of the best ways to always have the freshest coffee possible is to roast your own at home. There are many ways to accomplish this, but perhaps the easiest & least expensive is to use a hot air popcorn maker. There are quite a few brands that will work just fine, the trick is that it uses hot air to heat the beans rather than an oil method. We’ll go into a little more detail later in this post.
Continue reading Home Coffee Roasting in a Popcorn Maker
Peru has surpassed Columbia to be the top cocaine producer in the world, yet the traffic continues, once again showing the folly of the failed “War on Drugs.”
From The Peruvian Times:
Continue reading Peru Tops Coca Eradication Goal, But Traffic is Booming
Today, the wisdom of times gone by is largely ignored and in many cases not even in the day to day reality of most people. There are cycles in life that appear to be more or less about 80 years. We echo many of these times again and again throughout history.
It’s easy to see why these nuggets of wisdom are lost. 80 years is beyond the life of many people, and while many do live that long, often they begin to fade mentally, forgetting the lessons learned, and not being able to share them with the young people, who while perhaps not choosing to care in the moment, will hopefully recall them later in life when maturity and with it wisdom begin to take hold.
This week, Christine Lagarde of the IMF is visiting Peru & is meeting with the Peruvian President and economic leaders. She spoke this week:
IMFs Lagarde Expects Growth to Continue
As commodity prices & the Peruvian Sol have fallen, the business community and Peruvian government are looking for ways to support continued growth in the economy. Once the fastest growing economy in Latin America, Peru has seen growth rates falling rapidly this year.
Continue reading Peruvian Economy Facing Stiff Headwinds
