July 4th Celebration of Independence: Will Financial Freedom Last?

There are many forms of independence.  Financial independence is one of the most important ones.  No, this isn’t a promotion for life insurance or an invitation to join an MLM company.  It is though a reminder on this particular Independence Day that trade deficits and budget deficits represent gross and growing financial disparities that inarguably create dependency and bondage.  Sorry.  No magic bullets or pharmaceuticals will cure chronic indebtedness.  It is sometimes transferable to the next presidency or even to the next generation.

There is no way around the simple fact that if you spend more than you make, you go into debt.  Debt has attached interest that accumulates relentlessly.  If a country buys or consumes (imports) more than it sells (exports) continuously over time, its national treasury will eventually become depleted.

Developing and dependent countries are forced to sell off their natural resources, import necessary goods and services, surrender undue access (and control) to their consumer market and even forfeit key corporate business organizations to foreign investors, just to keep their economy afloat.  Prospering economies find ways to reverse those fundamentals.

The moral of the story: International Trade is vital to national and individual prosperity and basic financial freedoms.  Trade Intelligence can help provide understanding and create opportunities that will ensure such independence.   Happy Independence Day!

On a lighter note, a little bit of history on the day and a video of the largest fireworks display in history.  In 2009, New York City had the largest fireworks display in the country, with over 22 tons of pyrotechnics exploded.  The Guinness World Record for the largest firework display was achieved on Madeira Island, Portugal on 31 December 2006 by Macedo´s Pirotecnia.

You can also check out the World largest firework (in size -48 inches shell)http://youtu.be/Yh1burSYVlM

Or  the record for the most firecrackers set off at one time- 10,500,000 Firecrackers!!http://youtu.be/wQOKvaYmPFQ

History: Independence Day, commonly known as the Fourth of July, is a federal holiday in the United States commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776 declaring independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain.

During the American Revolution, the legal separation of the Thirteen Colonies from Great Britain occurred on July 2, 1776, when the Second Continental Congress voted to approve a resolution of independence that had been proposed in June by Richard Henry Lee of Virginia.

From the outset, Americans celebrated independence on July 4, the date shown on the much-publicized Declaration of Independence, rather than on July 2, the date the resolution of independence was approved in a closed session of Congress.  A matter of divorce versus legal separation, I guess. 

In a remarkable coincidence, both John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, the only signers of the Declaration of Independence later to serve as Presidents of the United States, died on the same day: July 4, 1826, which was the 50th anniversary of the Declaration.