Front and center in every form of media is the rising cost of oil and gas. It affects the lifestyles of every American and the costs of all goods and services we use. Many of us are shaking our fists and looking for somebody to blame. Before we start pointing the finger elsewhere maybe we should point it at ourselves.

To our Governments credit, they realized the problem and have done something about it. They passed federal tax incentives that pay each and every American to make their home and business more energy efficient. Our government passes laws that benefit us financially when they want or need us to take action. Have you made your home more energy efficient and done your part to reduce our dependence on foreign countries?

I’ll wager you that the percentage of Americans who have made their property more energy efficient and taken advantage of this tax break is very small. If most Americans took this simple inexpensive step (Almost paid in full by our government) we could dramatically reduce our oil consumption.

There are inexpensive revolutionary new products now available to the public that can slash your prices of both gasoline and your electric bill. Almost all new homes being built now have these energy saving products. Doing their part, our Government continues to raise the energy efficiency requirements for appliances and other items via building codes.

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BRIC is an increasing popular acronym which refers to the nations of Brazil, Russia, India and China. These are the leading “emerging markets” that many feel are economies representing great investment potential. The combined population of the 4 countries is approximately 2.8 billion, or about 40% of the people on the planet. As a comparative example, China’s GDP which has grown about 10% a year for the last 20 years, is now about 1/5 the size of the United States, and while currently ranking 5th, will soon be the second largest. And that’s just China. Brazil, Russia and India were ranked in 2007 as 10, 11, and 12. With GDP growth last year between 5 and 9 percent, it’s no surprise these countries are popular with investors. Will the BRIC’s dominate the business world in the near future? Is your money more likely to grow if invested in BRIC Nation industries?

Of course, 2008 has been a particularly difficult year for investors. The S&P 500 index is down over 30% YTD. Three Exchange Traded Funds, (ETF’s) that track the BRIC nation markets, Claymore/BNY, (EEB), SPDR S&P BRIC 40 (BIK) and MSCI BRIC Index (BKF) are all down more than 50%. As of this writing it is widely accepted that a world wide economic slowdown is occurring. As is always the case, no one rings a bell and announces that markets have bottomed and you should immediately commit funds. However, at some point when the turnaround begins, it is possible that superior gains can be made in the BRIC nation markets.

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City property taxes
are a very important means of collecting much need capital for your local neighborhood or city. Although nobody really likes to pay taxes, we realize that have to, or else we face legal troubles. What many people do not realize, however, is exactly what your city property taxes are used for. And people also fail to realize that without such taxes in place, your city might literally fall to pieces.

One of the biggest things your city property taxes go for is the upkeep and maintenance of your city’s streets and roads. For some areas, road repairs can be a very costly and time consuming job, as well as a huge inconvenience to commuters. But this is a job that is absolutely necessary, however. Without it the roads of our nation’s cities would be lined with potholes and lose stones, all of which can severely damage your car and even increase the risk of crash. So next time you curse your city property taxes, just remember that some of the money will be used to improve some roads that you may drive upon every single day in the city.

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