In the October 6 issue of Forbes, columnist Claire Obusan tells the surprising story of Eli Broad:

“Broad should be a lot poorer this year. Worth $7 billion last fall, the insurance and housing maven saw his 46.6 million shares of AIG - received a decade ago when he sold his SunAmerica to the insurance giant for $18 billion - drop 70% between last summer and August 29, the day we priced the Forbes 400 (they’ve fallen much further since). That decline erased $2 billion from his personal balance sheet. But Broad’s net worth fell only $300 million. One reason: the soaring value of his 2,000-piece art collection. Comprising mostly contemporary pieces by artists like Jeff Koons, his collection was recently appraised…

The U.S. government is about to close off the last refuge for Americans who seek to escape the clutches of the IRS.

Last week, many of the 280 attendees at our Total Wealth Symposium asked me the same question: They all wanted to know about the possibility of the U.S. government imposing exchange controls.

Already beset by demons of my deteriorating mental and cardiac capacity, the idea that the capital gains tax was already 5% and I hadn’t even noticed had me in a panic! What else wasn’t I aware of? I shuddered to think!

From the Wall Street Journal to the Gulf Daily News…from hungry rioters in Argentina to pasta protesters in Italy…everyone seems to have something to say about rising food prices and the outright deadly inflation that’s sweeping the globe.

Each year, as dependable as the arrival of spring, the fear mongers at the IRS launch into their annual campaign to scare the American public.