George Marotta, Research Fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institution, is a published author on many areas of expertise. Here is an archive of some of those publications.

List of Related Articles    Sort by    Latest  |   Earliest  |   Most Viewed  |   Most Popular

1. You too can become a billionaire 2005 (2005-04-11)
   There are 691 billionaires in the world according to a recent survey. Most are in the United States, and the others are scattered throughout 46 other countries. Because of the surging world economy, 104 newcomers were added to the list last year. Learning how billionaires amassed their wealth may expand your financial horizons and possibly seed you with an idea that will lead to the inclusion of your name on the list.
   
   
2. We Could be in a Real Estate Bubble (2005-01-24)
   Real estate prices, especially residential, have been increasing for almost a decade. Real home prices have increased nearly 60% since 1996 - roughly triple that of previous housing booms in the late 1970s and 1980s. Home values may be peaking and ready to correct.
   
   
3. You too can become a billionaire 2007 (2007-07-02)
   There are 946 billionaires in the world according to a recent survey. Half are in one country, the United States of America! The others are scattered throughout 53 other countries. Because of the surging world economy, 195 newcomers were added to the list last year and only 32 dropped out. Learning how billionaires amass their wealth may expand your financial horizons and possibly stimulate some ideas that could lead to your name being added in the future.
   
   
4. Invest in Women (2008-01-21)
   Those countries with the greatest economic freedom and the highest level of gender equality also tend to exhibit superior performance in the stock market.
   
   
5. George Marotta: What Is A Contrarian? (2006-08-07)
   A contrarian is one who takes a side different from the masses. When everyone is going in one direction, a contrarian chooses to go in the other direction. I confess. I am a contrarian. In investment terms, it is difficult to be a contrarian.
   
   
6. Taxes are NOT Funny (2005-04-25)
   It's that time of the year again. "April is the month," one wit noted, "when the green returns to the lawn, the trees and the Internal Revenue Service."
   
   
7. Exchange Traded Funds (2005-01-31)
   There has been nothing new in finance in the last fifty years - except exchange-traded funds. Exchange Traded Funds, or ETFs, combine many of the best characteristics of stocks and mutual funds.
   
   
8. ARM Yourself for Mortgage Rate Increases (2006-07-31)
   The party is over for home owners with adjustable rate mortgages (ARMS). Lured by tantalizing rates as low as 3.5 percent in the early 2000s, home buyers jumped at the chance to buy bigger and better. However, in today's environment, borrowers may not be prepared for their inevitable rate adjustment. The bad news is rates are being readjusted in one direction: up.
   
   
9. Tax Freedom Day Arrives on April 17th, 2005 (2005-04-18)
   Tax Freedom Day arrives on Sunday, April 17th this year. That's when we stop working for government and start working for ourselves. For the average worker, all of the earnings of the first 107 days pay taxes to the federal, state and local governments. Starting April 18th, we are free -- at last -- to take care of our own family's needs.
   
   
10. Why We Need to Fix the Social Security Program Now (2005-01-09)
    Every four years, the soundness of the Social Security program is reviewed. The group's report goes to the President and the Congress. The conclusions reached are always the same: the program is broken and needs to be fixed.
    
    
11. Letter to the Wall Street Journal 12/3/2004 (2004-12-03)
    Tom Lauricella's article on 401(k)s in the Dec.1 Wall Street Journal was an excellent recital of how workers might make some mistakes if they were given the opportunity to invest part of their payroll taxes in a partially-privatized Social Security program. While admitting that there is that danger, just consider the massive mistakes made by the government in the overall design and of Social Security in the mid-1930s.
    
    
12. Why We Need to Fix the Social Security Program Now (2005-03-21)
    Speech delivered at the Carmel Valley (CA) Manor, Issues Meeting, March 21, 2005 about (a) the looming financial crisis facing the Social Security Program, (b) the mistakes that got us into our present condition, and (c) outline some of the alternative choices for solving our present predicament.
    
    
13. Twenty Stock Market Tips (2004-09-27)
    Twenty simple rules for investing.
    
    
14. Will Iraq Be Another Vietnam for the US? (2004-10-27)
    I served in South Vietnam as a civilian foreign aid worker. While I was there, on January 30, 1968, North Vietnam and the Viet Cong launched a simultaneous attack on all the major cities in South Vietnam. The attack was a psychological victory for North Vietnam in the eyes of a war-weary and divided American public.
    
    
15. Don't Tax Dividends Twice (2003-01-11)
    The proposal to eliminate the double taxation of dividends is a good one for many reasons.
    
    
16. The Democratization of Wealth (2002-10-01)
    Corporate executives today are held in very low esteem. Many believe that executive pay is excessive and something must be done to bring it down to more justifiable levels. Actually, each of us strives to do the best we can, and that effort automatically serves the larger common good. Although the average annual income for Americans is $26,000, a few earn megabucks as entertainers, athletes, corporate executives and business owners.
    
    
17. The United States: Capitalist Model to the World (2002-09-11)
    A year ago this morning, Osama bin Laden and the terrorist network al Qaeda attacked the United States. They hate us and have given many reasons why. However, I believe the unstated reason is that they envy our economic power and strength -- in comparison to their relative poverty and backwardness. In effect, they were attacking the heart of our capitalistic system.
    
    
18. Tax Freedom Day Arrives in Virginia on April 24th, 2002! (2002-04-24)
    Tax Freedom Day arrives in Virginia on April 24th this year, according to the Tax Foundation. That's when we stop working for government and start working for ourselves. For the average worker, all of the earnings of the first 113 days pay taxes to the federal, state and local governments. Starting April 24th, we Virginians are free -- at last -- to take care of our own family's needs.
    
    
19. The New World Order (2002-06-20)
    On September 11, 2001, two hijacked airliners crashed into the twin towers of the World Trade Center. Soon thereafter, a third hijacked plane struck the Pentagon. A fourth plane, bound for a high-profile target in Washington, D. C., crashed into a field in southern Pennsylvania. In total, more than 4,000 were killed as a result of these terrorists' acts. Usmana bin Laden is the prime suspect and the U. S. is in a state of war against him and international terrorism in general. Everything has changed since September 11, 2001.
    
    
20. One day to take stock of our giant tax burden (2001-04-26)
    May 3 is Tax Freedom Day for the nation as a whole, according to a new report from the Washington-based Tax Foundation. That's when we stop working to pay local, state, and federal government and start working for ourselves.
    
    
21. High Prices for Energy are Good! (2001-05-01)
    Most look at high energy prices as a bad thing. I will concede that high prices will hurt some in the short run, but over time, higher oil prices will be very good for our economy, for our society and for the world.
    
    
22. DOW 36,000 OR 6,000??? (2000-03-02)
    The Dow Jones Industrial Average is now trading at a level of 10,000. Some believe that it is hugely over-valued, that we are in a bubble, and that a big correction is overdue. Others believe the contrary that it is actually undervalued and should continue to go higher. Which school is correct? Let's examine the arguments and then you can be the judge.
    
    
23. Unfortunately, The Stock Market IS a Leading Indicator (2001-04-01)
    The dreaded "r" word (recession) is becoming more and more possible as company after company announces that their sales are rapidly dropping. Economists are divided almost evenly as to whether we are already in a recession. The official definition is two quarters or six months of decline in our national output, the Gross Domestic Product.
    
    
24. We Need a Better Income Tax System (2000-03-31)
    As we come to the end of filing our annual income tax returns, it's a good time to reflect on the tremendous waste of time and the damage we are inflicting upon ourselves, especially here in Silicon Valley.
    
    
25. Privatize Social Security
    (January 1999 NAPFA Journal) (1999-01-01)
    Social Security is a very poor investment for workers to fund their retirement. Workers should be allowed to invest into their own personal savings account at least part of the 12.4 percent that they (and their employers) now pay in taxes to Social Security.
    
    
26. The Wealth Effect (1999-03-01)
    We live in very prosperous times. The economy has been expanding at a very steady rate over the past eight years. More people, 138 million, are employed than ever before. The unemployment rate is at a 29-year low of only 4.5 percent. Inflation is under 2 percent. As a consequence, standards of living are improving for most people, and the times, they are good.
    
    
27. It is Time to "Scrap the Tax Code" (1998-04-08)
    As a Enrolled Agent and a professional tax preparer, I think the current tax code "stinks" and should be completely scraped. The time has come adopt a tax code that looks like someone designed it on purpose.
    
    
28. Tax Freedom Day is May 10th for 1998 (1998-04-10)
    The average American will work 129 days from the beginning of this year through May 9th to pay for taxes at all levels of government. On May 10th, the worker will be free -- at last -- to take care of his or her own needs. The burden of government has expanded by one day from last year and now stands at the highest level since World War II!
    
    
29. Global Financial Crisis
    (November 1998 Newsletter) (1998-11-01)
    We are probably at the beginning of a prolonged bear (down) stock market. the market is still very high compared to average valuations. For the past seven decades the market had an average P/E ratio of 14 and an average dividend yield of about 4.5 percent.
    
    
30. Is the Era of Big Government Really Over? (1998-12-29)
    In 1996, President Clinton said that "the era of big government is over?" At first blush, that good news might appear to be true because we are very, very close to getting rid of the budget deficit and balancing the federal budget for the first time since 1969. On the other hand, in the State of the Union message earlier this week, the President talked about more than a dozen programs that he wanted to start or expand.