After 11-hour cross-pacific from Vancouver to Seoul,then 5-hour to connect, 3-hour to fly, landing around 1150am,home around 0230pm finally, the trip of 19 hours (or 26 hours) was finally done. The worst beer experience, sweating and catching a cold in the on-off sleep during flight.
After a simple late lunch or early dinner around 3pm, then a shower, sleep at 6pm and wake up around 0930pm. Jet-lagging is obvious. How the city is so noisy and everyone seems OK with it? From my window, almost every house has their window open. At night the noise seems the same as day. Or there is no day or night, people is always busy. My brother has to work to 10pm because of my interruption.
The subway is well-connected and slightly hot, at least the cooling is not strong. From route 14 to route 10, then route 8 that is a circle. The subway is not very fast and not very often (not in the peak hours). In the subway, it was not that crowded but almost every adult has a mobile phone in his or her hand. Two phones are quite often. Most are captured by the screens. Exit C.
So mobile phones and the noise are the first impression. Capturing your face and fingerprints are mandate at the customs without negotiattion. So many stores along the streets. So many cars and vehicles along the street and around the high-rising buildings. It is hot under the sun to walk. Welcome to home.
- 1030pm July 3
Jet lagging is still there. Yesterday fell to sleep around 6pm and woke up arond 9pm. Then it’s very hard to fall asleep. Today 730pm and 1130pm. A little better. After a few hour break, fell asleep around 3am and woke up around 7am.
Think to get a local sim card so that a phone number at least.
How to transfer money easily? How to get the kids out? How to avoid normalization? It’s very hard. Think about Fang. What he is talking about is all people need here. But he was pushed out. We have one same earth. But there are too many different worlds isolated and connected. Each world has its own set of normalizers.
corporate tax rates and personal income tax rates over the years in the USA
corporate tax rates
1913-1940s: The corporate tax rate started at 1% in 1913, gradually increasing to 40% during World War II to fund military efforts.
1950s-1960s: The post-war economic boom saw rates stabilize around 52% in the 1950s, reflecting a strong commitment to social programs and infrastructure.
1980s: The Tax Reform Act of 1986 significantly reduced the corporate tax rate to 34% from 46%, aiming to stimulate economic growth and investment.
2000s: The rate remained at 35% following the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001, which aimed to provide tax relief to individuals and corporations.
2017: The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) marked a historic reduction, slashing the corporate tax rate from 35% to 21%, a move designed to enhance US competitiveness globally.
personal income tax rates
- 1986 Tax Reform Act was signed into law by Presiden Reagan. For personal income, before the reform, the tax code had fifteen brackets, with the highest marginal rate at 50%. The new law condensed these into two primary rates: 15% and 28%.
questions
How does a market economy generate rising inequality?
What causes changes in income and wealth distributions?
If current technology has the commanding market power, will it slow down the rate of innovation? Further, will it slow down economic growth too? Or its market power is just the nextwork effect of current technology such as telecomm network, internet, and social media?
the IT revolution was supported by the passive and laissez-faire policy set by Reagan admin in the 1980s. the end of golden age of Bell labs means the end of great fundamental innovations? Is current AI a real innovation or just the mix of technological advancement in a new clothes?
the IT itself may be a service. However IT could be used by other products or services? It is like that the computer itself is a product. Telecomm network based on computers is another new service.