Apple holding more cash than USA

[Camy]

Apple holding more cash than USA

Apple now has more cash to spend than the United States government.

Latest figures from the US Treasury Department show that the country has an operating cash balance of $73.7bn (?45.3bn).

Apple's most recent financial results put its reserves at $76.4bn.

President Barack Obama is known to be an iPad owner, along with 28 million other people.

Read the rest: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-14340470

[The Pecman]

Soon, we'll have the United States of Apple!

And they'll have to brick up the front of the White House... so that it'll have no windows!

[EleCivil]

And they'll have to brick up the front of the White House... so that it'll have no windows!

Zzzzzzzzing.

[JamesSavik]

iNation v 1.0

[DKStories]

Here's something most people just flat out get wrong: Debt is good for the government, just like it's good for individuals and families. Like all things in life, however, moderation is the key.

1. Having no lines of credit, and a surplus of cash in the bank will yield you a NEGATIVE credit score. Having cash in the bank, credit lines that are 40% full (or lower) will yield a very high credit rating. This is the sweet spot (as we recently found out when seeking to buy a home).

2. Some major expenses HAVE to be financed over time, and you MUST make payments on those debts. Most people, when they go to buy a car, get a loan for that purchase and pay it back over 3-5 years. When many people buy a computer from Dell, HP, etc. they often pay over a credit line and pay that purchase off over 1-3 years. When most people buy a home, they end up paying it off over 20-30 years.

When government buys a $167 billion aircraft carrier, expecting them to pay it all up front is sheer idiocy. Same thing with that Saturn V rocket to go to the moon, or the construction of an interstate highway or a vital bridge. There are many regular functions of government that need, that must be financed over time. That is why we have a national debt, and why the national debt can be a GOOD thing for this country.

If you don't make payments on that debt you just incurred, your creditors refuse to give you more credit and put a black mark on your record. Hell, these days credit card companies lower your credit rating sometimes even if you're paying all your debts if they think you might have trouble making that next payment. The same principle applies to the government.

3. Financing your gambling spree at the casino with your equity line of credit is a BAD thing for a family, likewise there are equally bad investments by the government. Providing Tax Rebates for companies that are making record-breaking profits might be one of them. Tax breaks for companies that lay off 25,000 Americans and hire 25,000 Indians overseas is another bad gambling debt.

4. If you're having to use your credit cards to pay for your groceries (as opposed to using the credit card to get reward points and paying it off at the end of the month), you will run into problems sooner or later. Likewise if you're the government and you're amassing debt for things like payments on social security, etc., you're going to face massive problems sooner or later.

5. What happens when your income is no longer enough to cover your expenses? Well, first off the bat you cut the frivolous spending items. However, as the situation becomes more desperate youa re forced to look into other changes. Sometimes more revenue is needed, so you get a second job and start working overtime. It hurts, it sucks, and the entire family suffers as a result, but the extra revenue can keep you from having to cut payments for your health care, stop buying the medication that keeps you alive, or helps you keep your kids fed and healthy.

Most people, when the debt is really, really bad will do a combination of things. They will cut every excess, frivolous spending item they can find. They will work extra hours, get extra jobs, sell non-vital assets, all to make the basic needs. The same goes for government.

You cut every extraneous program - and that includes two unnecessary wars. Osama bin Ladin is dead. We don't need hundreds of thousands of troops overseas. (This does not mean an end of the efforts to stop al-queada, but it wasn't the regular armed forces that got OBL. Drones, special forces and support systems for those efforts need to be continued, but they cost FAR less than the hundreds of thousands of troops spending billions of dollars every day).

What's missing from the current national debate is the second job - or in the case of government the raising of revenue. Our debt load, as a nation, is so high we cannot cut ourselves into solvency. Bill Clinton raised taxes in the 1990's, and as a result we ended the 20th Century with a surplus that immediately dissappeared because of a massive tax cut and a massive set of new wars. We can fix both of those tragedies, and with a little luck return ourselves to the economic solvency that we experienced under Bill Clinton.

Bottom line is Apple has more money in the bank than we do because they're smart. They raise revenues to cover added expensives, and they cut out wasteful practices. They evolve as the market place evolves, and they often lead the way. Instead, we as a country are seeking to fire all of the critical developers that would make our new products, we give away our products instead of selling them for a profit, and we try to build Apple IIe computers that were outdated thirty years ago because we want things to be the way they were before.

Then again, that's conservatism for you...

[colinian]

Outstanding analysis, Dan. Somebody should convince the minions we have in D.C.

Colin

[DKStories]

Outstanding analysis, Dan. Somebody should convince the minions we have in D.C.

Colin

People in Washington either believe what I posted to be false, or they're Democrats and powerless to do anything in the face of uncompromising righteousness by the tea-party republican right.