Lessons from Machiavelli's The Prince

British philosopher and Nobel laureate Bertrand Russell once called The Prince a handbook for gangsters.

The book, a slender political treatise by the Italian Niccolo Machiavelli, was offered to Lorenzo de Medici as a sort of job application. Written in 1513, it was not widely published until 1532, five years after the author's death. Upon its publication, The Prince became well known as among the controversial of many advice books for rulers. Generally, these advice books framed their instruction around Christian virtue. The Prince did not.

A voracious reader, Machiavelli stripped out the ideals and drew examples from history. He believed that anyone who ignores reality in a misguided attempt to live up to an ideal will quickly destroy himself. He de-emphasized the importance of moral considerations, and focused instead on effectiveness. He believed that the ends justified the means.

Canadian scholar and politician Michael Ignatieff puts it this way: The Prince forces readers to confront, in the starkest terms possible, the most important questions about politics and morality. In the book, what would normally shock us become simple precepts. The book is wickedly simple.

Some of his most objectionable recommendations are put in ways that make them sound eminently reasonable. In order to get a secure hold on new territories, the book advises, "one need merely eliminate the surviving members of the family of their previous rulers." How innocent-sounding is that "merely." 

Yes, the book can be ruthless. But there are still many surprisingly apt lessons. Here's what I've learned from reading The Prince.

1. Be present
"... if one is on the spot, disorders are seen as they spring up, and one can quickly remedy them; but if one is not at hand, they are heard of only when they are great, and then one can no longer remedy them."

2. Be careful who you trust
"... he who is the cause of another becoming powerful is ruined; because that predominancy has been brought about by astuteness or else by force, and both are distrusted by him who has been raised to power."

3. Learn from the best
"A wise man ought always to follow the paths beaten by great men, and to imitate those who have been supreme, so that if his ability does not equal theirs, at least it will savour of it."

4. Be picky about who works for you
"The mercenary captains are either capable men or they are not; if they are, you cannot trust them, because they always aspire to their own greatness, either by oppressing you, who are their master, or others contrary to your intentions; but if the captain is not skillful, you are ruined the usual way."

5. Read
"... to exercise the intellect the prince should read histories, and study there the actions of illustrious men, to see how they have borne themselves in war, to examine the causes of their victories and defeat, so as to avoid the latter and imitate the former."

6. Prepare for the worst
"A wise prince ought to observe some such rules, and never in peaceful times stand idle, but increase his resources with industry in such a way that they may be available to him in adversity, so that if fortune changes it may find him prepared to resist her blows."

7. Don't be cruel
"... every prince ought to desire to be considered clement and not cruel."

8. Don't steal
"... above all things he must keep his hands off the property of others, because men more quickly forget the death of their father than the loss of their patrimony. ... he who has once begun to live by robbery will always find pretexts for seizing what belongs to others; but reasons for taking life, on the contrary, are more difficult to find and sooner lapse."

9. Appearances matter
"... men judge generally more by the eye than by the hand, because it belongs to everybody to see you, to few to come in touch with you. Every one sees what you appear to be, few really know what you are, and those few dare not oppose themselves to the opinion of the many, who have the majesty of the state to defend them; and in the actions of all men, and especially of princes, which it is not prudent to challenge, one judges by the result."

10. Sometimes your enemies are your friends
"I must not fail to warn a prince, who by means of secret favours has acquired a new state, that he must well consider the reasons which induced those to favour him who did so; and if it be not a natural affection towards him, but only discontent with their government, then he will only keep them friendly with great trouble and difficulty, for it will be impossible to satisfy them. And weighing well the reasons for this in those examples which can be taken from ancient and modern affairs, we shall find that it is easier for the prince to make friends of those men who were contented under the former government, and are therefore his enemies, than of those who, being discontented with it, were favourable to him and encouraged him to seize it."

11. Avoid flatterers
"It is that of flatterers, of whom courts are full, because men are so self-complacent in their own affairs, and in a way so deceived in them, that they are preserved with difficulty from this pest, and if they wish to defend themselves they run the danger of falling into contempt. Because there is no other way of guarding oneself from flatterers except letting men understand that to tell you the truth does not offend you; but when every one may tell you the truth, respect for you abates."

  By Shane Parrish www.theweek.com

BMW drivers really are jerks, studies find

Drivers of BMWs frequently come in for anecdotal criticism for habits on the road that are perceived as aggressive.

Now, a couple of studies, one in the U.S. and another from the U.K., appear to provide statistical evidence that BMW drivers are, to be polite about it, complete jerks.

In the older study, by researchers at the University of California, BMW drivers were far less likely to stop for a pedestrian who had just entered a crosswalk, the New York Times notes.

“In our crosswalk study, none of the cars in the beater-car category drove through the crosswalk. They always stopped for pedestrians," researcher Paul K. Piff told the paper. He added that not only were "fancy cars were less likely to stop," but also that "BMW drivers were the worst."

Drivers of BMWs and other high-status cars (including Prius hybrids) were also more likely to cheat at four-way-stop intersections, according to the research.

In the second study, in the U.K., motorists were asked to identify the make and color of the car from which they have most frequently suffered road-rage incidents, the Daily Mail reports.

The study of 2,837 motorists found men between the ages of 35 and 50 driving blue BMWs were most likely to be reported as having engaged in road-rage behaviors such as aggressive driving and swearing.

The 100 Best Finance Blogs: All The Internet’s a Stage

Best finance blogs at the top: According to popular search ranking site Alexa, there are over 6,000 dedicated news websites in existence today, and a crucial subset of this group is the top names in finance. Like any list-happy journalist, we're going to chronicle the 100 best finance blogs, beginning with No. 100. The rankings are based on a combination of factors, including: quality, value, originality, accuracy, and popularity. 

http://www.insidermonkey.com/blog/best-finance-blogs-199748/?singlepage=1

Never Mind Facebook; Winklevoss Twins Rule in Digital Money

The Winklevoss twins, Cameron and Tyler — Olympic rowers, nemeses of Mark Zuckerberg — are laying claim to a new title: bitcoin moguls. 

The Winklevii, as they are known, have amassed since last summer what appears to be one of the single largest portfolios of the digital money, whose wild gyrations have Silicon Valley and Wall Street talking. The twins, the first prominent figures in the largely anonymous bitcoin world to publicly disclose a big stake, say they own nearly $11 million worth.

Or at least $11 million as of Thursday morning — when trading was temporarily suspended after the latest and largest flash crash left a single bitcoin worth about $120 and the whole market worth $1.3 billion. At one point, the price had plummeted 60 percent.

To skeptics, the frenzy over the bitcoin network created by anonymous programmers in 2009 looks more like the mania for Dutch tulip bulbs in the 1600s than the beginnings of an actual currency.

“To say highly speculative would be the understatement of the century,” said Steve Hanke, a professor specializing in alternative currencies at Johns Hopkins University.

Whatever else it is, bitcoin has become the financial phenomenon of the moment.

In addition to the identical twins, Silicon Valley investment firms, while not holding bitcoins, are starting to show interest in the technology. On Thursday, a group of venture capitalists, including Andreessen Horowitz, announced that they were financing a bitcoin-related company, OpenCoin.

Sean Gallup/Getty ImagesA sticker on the window of a pub in Berlin signifies acceptance of bitcoin for payment. Few places accept the digital currency.

The New York Times

The Winklevosses say this week’s tumult is just growing pains for a digital currency that they believe will become a sort of gold for the technorati.

“People say it’s a Ponzi scheme, it’s a bubble,” said Cameron Winklevoss. “People really don’t want to take it seriously. At some point that narrative will shift to ‘virtual currencies are here to stay.’ We’re in the early days.”

While little is known about the creator of bitcoin, or if it even was a single person, the work involved serious programming chops, building a system that could live on borrowed computer space around the world. It was determined that only a finite number of bitcoins could be created — the count is currently around 11 million. New coins are “mined” by programmers who solve mathematic riddles and can sell their coins on upstart exchanges.

For now, there are few places where bitcoins can be used. One marketplace is an online bazaar, Silk Road, where narcotics are reportedly the main wares for sale. But bitcoin believers imagine a future where the e-cash can be used at their local Starbucks. The Winklevosses have paid in bitcoin for the services of a Ukrainian computer programmer who has worked on their Web site.

“We have elected to put our money and faith in a mathematical framework that is free of politics and human error,” Tyler Winklevoss said.

This is not the brothers’ first gamble on an unproved technology. As students at Harvard, the twins founded a social networking site, ConnectU, and enlisted their schoolmate, Mark Zuckerberg, to help them build the company. After Mr. Zuckerberg went off to start Facebook, the brothers sued him, accusing him of stealing their idea — a story that was dramatized in the movie “The Social Network.” The case was settled with the brothers being given $20 million in cash and Facebook shares that are now worth more than $200 million.

They have parlayed that fortune into Winklevoss Capital. Their first two investments were in Hukkster, a start-up shopping Web site and SumZero, an online community for professional money managers.

The brothers began dabbling in bitcoin last summer when the dollar value of a single coin was still in the single digits. To keep their holdings secure from hackers, they have taken the complex codes that represent their holdings off networked computers and saved them on small flash drives, putting the drives, in turn, in safe deposit boxes at banks in three different cities.

It’s hard to verify how the Winklevoss holdings compare with other bitcoin players, given the anonymity of accounts, and the twins say they believe that some early users of the system probably have holdings that are at least as large.

A Maltese company, Exante, started a hedge fund that the company says has bought up about 82,000 bitcoins — or about $10 million as of Thursday — with money from wealthy investors. A founder of the fund, Anatoli Knyazev, said his main concern was hackers and government regulators, who have so far mostly left the currency alone.

These investments were all in an uncertain state on Thursday after the big price swings and the shutdown of trading on Mt. Gox, a Japanese-based company that claims to handle 80 percent of all bitcoin trades. Mt. Gox said in a statement that the problems were a result of the currency’s popularity, making it impossible to process all the incoming orders. It added that it was not the victim of hackers but “instead victim of our own success!”

The 6-foot-5 Winklevoss brothers were unfazed. The brothers said they took advantage of the low prices to buy more.

“It has been four years and it has yet to be discredited as a viable alternative to fiat currency,” Tyler Winklevoss said. “We could be totally wrong, but we are curious to see this play out a lot more.”

Bitcoin Reading List

• New York Magazine: The Bitcoin Apocalypse Is Nigh (April 10, 2013)
• Medium: The Bitcoin Bubble and the Future of Currency (April 3, 2013)
• FT Alphaville blog: When memory becomes money; the story of Bitcoin so far (April 3, 2013)
• The New Yorker: The Crypto Currency (Oct. 10, 2011)
• NPR’s Planet Money: What Is Bitcoin? (Aug. 24, 2011)
• The New York Times: Speed Bumps on the Road to Virtual Cash (July 3, 2011)

A version of this article appeared in print on 04/12/2013, on page A1 of the NY Times  By NATHANIEL POPPER and PETER LATTMAN

100 Startling Facts About the Economy

By Morgan Housel 

In no particular order...

1. As of January 2013, there are 16 people left in the world who were born in the 1800s, according to the Gerontology Research Group. With dividends reinvested, U.S. stocks have increased 28,000-fold during their lifetimes.

2. If you divide their net worths by their age, Carlos Slim and Bill Gates have each accumulated more than $100,000 in net worth for every hour they've been alive.

3. According to Forbes, if a Google (NASDAQ: GOOG  ) employee passes away, "their surviving spouse or domestic partner will receive a check for 50% of their salary every year for the next decade."

4. According to the Deutsche Bank Long-Term Asset Return Study, the last time interest rates were near current levels, in the 1950s, Treasury bonds lost 40% of their inflation-adjusted value over the following three decades.

5. According to a study by Harvard professor David Wise and two colleagues, 46.1% of Americans die with less than $10,000 in assets.

6. There are 3.8 million fewer Americans aged 30 to 44 today than there were a decade ago.

7. Related: The population of Americans aged 30 to 44 is about to start increasing for the first time since 2000.

8. Since 1928, the Dow Jones has increased more than 10% in a single day eight times, declined more than 10% in a single day four times, and gone either up or down more than 5% in a single day 136 times.

9. "U.S. oil production grew more in 2012 than in any year in the history of the domestic industry, which began in 1859," writes Tom Fowler of The Wall Street Journal.

10. "Last year, for the first time, spending by Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL  ) and Google on patent lawsuits and unusually big-dollar patent purchases exceeded spending on research and development of new products," writes The New York Times.

11. Start with a dollar. Double it every day. In 48 days you'll own every financial asset that exists on the planet -- about $200 trillion.

12. There were fewer state and local education jobs in 2012 than there were in 2005, even though the number of 5- to 18-year-olds has increased by 600,000.

13. Adjusting for inflation, Warren Buffett was a millionaire by age 25.

14. Including dividends, the S&P 500 gained 135% from March 2009 through January 2013, during what people remember as the "Great Recession." It gained the exact same amount from 1996 to 2000, during what people remember as the "greatest bull market in history."

15. "97% of the world's population now lives in countries where the fertility rate is falling," writes author Jonathan Last.

16. The U.K. economy is 3.3% smaller than it was in 2008. The U.S. economy is 2.9% larger (both adjusted for inflation).

17. In 1980, there were 15,099 Americans aged 100 years or more. By 1990, there were 36,486, and by 2012 there were 88,510, according to the Census Bureau.

18. Dell (NASDAQ: DELL  ) "has spent more money on share repurchases than it earned throughout its life as a public company," writes Floyd Norris of The New York Times.

19. From 2006 to 2011, Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ  ) spent $51 billion on share repurchases at an average price of $40.80 per share. Shares currently trade at $16.50.

20. The International Labour Organization estimates a record 200 million people will be unemployed around the world in 2013. If you gave them their own country, it would be the fifth-largest in the world.

21. Despite the overall population doubling, more babies were born in the U.S. in 1956 than were born in 2009, 2010, or 2011.

22. According to The Telegraph, "Four in 10 girls born today is expected to live to 100. ... If trends continue, the majority of girls born in 2060 -- some 60 per cent -- will live to see 2160."

23. Apple's cash and investments are now equal to the GDP of Hungary and more than those of Vietnam and Iraq.

24. Netflix surged more than 50% on Jan. 24 from the previous day's low. $1,000 invested in short-term call options would have been worth $2 million in less than 24 hours. (Please don't try this at home.)

25. In December, a start-up called Contrail Systems was purchased for $176 million two days after it launched.

26. U.S. charitable giving was $298 billion in 2011, according to the Giving USA Foundation. That's more than the GDP of all but 33 countries in the world.

27. According to Bloomberg, "The 50 stocks in the S&P 500 with the lowest analyst ratings at the end of 2011 posted an average return of 23 percent [in 2012], outperforming the index by 7 percentage points."

28. "Globally, the production of a given quantity of crop requires 65% less land than it did in 1961," writes author Matt Ridley.

29. Thanks in large part to cellphone cameras, "Ten percent of all of the photographs made in the entire history of photography were made last year," according to Time.

30. Internal emails caught a team of Morgan Stanley employees sarcastically naming a subprime CDO in 2007. "Nuclear Holocaust," "Mike Tyson's Punchout," "Hitman," "Meltdown," and "S***bag" were all considered.

31. Since 2008, Americans have donated $19.1 million to the U.S. Treasury to help pay down the national debt.

32. Fortune magazine published an article titled "10 Stocks To Last the Decade" in August, 2000. By December 2012, the portfolio had lost 74.3% of its value, according to analyst Barry Ritholtz.

33. From 2005 to 2012, total student loans outstanding increased by $539 billion, according to the Federal Reserve.

34. According to a study by Environics Analytics WealthScapes, the average Canadian household is now richer than an average American household for the first time ever.

35. The 100 largest public pension funds alone have $1.2 trillion of unfunded liabilities, according to actuarial firm Milliman.

36. According to a study by four economists from Cornell, Carnegie Mellon, and Vanguard, "the number of investors who check their accounts drops by 8.7% following a market decline compared to a market increase."

37. The average new American home was 1,535 square feet in 1975 and 2,169 square feet in 2010, according to the Census Bureau.

38. Cambridge Associates estimates that 3% of venture capital firms generate 95% of the industry's returns. It adds that there is little change in the composition of those 3% of firms over time.

39. Growth in America's energy output since 2008 has surpassed that of any other country in the world, according to energy analyst Daniel Yergin.

40. Two news headlines published on the same day last September summed up the U.S. economy perfectly: "U.S. Median Income Lowest Since 1995, " and "Ferrari sales surge to record highs."

41. According to ConvergEx Group, "Only 58% of us are even saving for retirement in the first place. Of that group, 60% have less than $25,000 put away. ... A full 30% have less than $1,000."

42. If you add up annual profits of the entire airline industry going back to 1948, you get -$32 billion.

43. Since 1928, the S&P 500 has closed at a new all-time high 1,024 times, or 4.8% of all trading days.

44. According to California Common Sense, "Over the last 30 years, the number of people California incarcerates grew more than eight times faster than the general population."

45. One in seven crimes committed in New York City now involves an Apple product being stolen, according to NYPD records cited by ABC News.

46. In the first quarter of 2012, the number of iPhones Apple sold per day surpassed the number of babies born per day worldwide (402,000 vs. 300,000), according to Mobile First.

47. On Dec. 5, 2012, Apple stock lost $34.9 billion in market cap. According to CNBC's Carl Quintanilla, 417 of the S&P 500's components had a total market cap of less than $35 billion that day.

48. According to economist Glen Weyl, "Of Harvard students graduating in early '90s and pursuing careers in finance, 1/3 were making over $1 million a year by 2005."

49. According to the Center for Economic and Policy Research, 44% of those working for minimum wage in 2010 had attended at least some college, up from 25% in 1979.

50. According to The Economist, "By 2030, 22% of people in the OECD club of rich countries will be 65 or older, nearly double the share in 1990."

51. According to a study by two Yale economists, if state and local governments acted like they had in the last five recessions, they would have added at least 1.4 million jobs since 2007. Instead, they cut more than 700,000.

52. The number of workers aged 55 and up is about to surpass the number of workers aged 24 to 34 for the first time ever.

53. In 2011, Asia had more millionaires than North America for the first time ever, according to RBC Wealth Management.

54. According to Enerdata, the U.S. consumed less total energy in 2011 than it did in 2000.

55. The IRS estimates that illegal tax-evasion reduced government tax revenue by $450 billion in 2006 (the most recent year calculated). That's roughly equal to what the government spends annually on Medicare.

56. According to The Wall Street Journal, "The average monthly mortgage payment on a median-price home in October, assuming a 10% down payment, fell to $720 at prevailing rates, down from nearly $1,270 at the end of 2005."

57. According to a study by Edward Wolff published in the Bureau of Economic Research, the inflation-adjusted median net worth of American families in 2010 hit the lowest level since 1969.

58. "Household debt is now 163.4% of disposable income in Canada, close to the U.S. level at the height of the subprime crisis," writes The Wall Street Journal.

59. In 2012, the Greek stock market (ATHEX Index) outperformed the Chinese stock market (Shanghai Composite) by 48 percentage points.

60. The International Energy Agency predicts that the U.S. will become the world's largest oil-producer by 2020, overtaking Saudi Arabia.

61. According to CNBC wealth reporter Robert Frank, the population of millionaires in America is now at or above its 2007 high.

62. According to BetterInvesting, the number of investment clubs has declined by 90% since 1998 from 400,000 to 39,000.

63. Public filings show that Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke has owned stock in just one individual company over the last decade: Altria Group (which he sold in 2004).

64. Renaissance Technologies, a hedge fund run by James Simons, has allegedly produced average returns of 80% a year since 1988 (before fees), according to Bloomberg. That would turn $1,000 into $2.4 billion in 25 years.

65. The S&P 500 has returned about 9% a year over the long run, but few years see returns even close to that. Since 1871, the index has risen or fallen more than 20% in one out of every three years. Less than one out of every five years sees a gain of between 1% and 9%.

66. Since U.S. markets bottomed in March 2009, more than $8 trillion of lost wealth has been recouped.

67. During the Federal Reserve's June 2007 policy meeting, the word "recession" was used three times; the word "strong" was used 61 times. The economy entered recession six months later.

68. Franklin Templeton asked 1,000 investors whether the S&P 500 went up or down in 2009 and 2010 in the subsequent year. Sixty-six percent thought it went down in 2009, while 49% said it declined in 2010. In reality, the index gained 26.5% in 2009 and 15.1% in 2010.

69. The share of an average U.S. household budget going toward gas in 2012 was nearly 4%, tying for the highest level in almost three decades, according to Energy Information Administration figures cited by The Guardian.

70. "Of the Americans who earn over $150,000, 82 percent had a bachelor's degree. Just 6.5 percent had no more than a high school diploma," writes Catherine Rampell of The New York Times.

71. According to a survey by Paola Sapienza and Luigi Zingales, effectively all economists agreed that stock prices are hard to predict. Only 59% of average Americans felt the same way.

72. According to the IMF, if Japan's female labor-participation rate rose to levels of Northern Europe, its per-capita GDP could be permanently increased by 8%.

73. Credit card debt as a percentage of GDP is now at the lowest level in two decades.

74. The Energy Information Administration predicts that U.S. oil imports will fall to 6 million barrels a day next year -- their lowest level in 25 years.

75. According to economist Stephen Bronars, the new 39.6% federal tax bracket will only affect 0.7% of taxpayers but will hit 9.5% of aggregate personal income, as top earners earn a disproportionate share of the national income.

76. From 2001 to 2007, new-home construction outpaced household formation by more than 3 million homes.

77. According to Gallup, 51.3% of Americans consider themselves "thriving," 45.1% say they are "struggling," and 3.6% say they're "suffering."

78. An average couple will pay $155,000 in in 401(k) fees over their careers, according to Demos, reducing an average account balance from $510,000 to $355,000.

79. Related: 84% of actively managed U.S. stock funds underperformed the S&P 500 in 2011.

80. According to The Wall Street Journal, 49.1% of Americans live in a household "where at least one member received some type of government benefit in the first quarter of 2011."

81. According to New York Times writer Binyamin Appelbaum: "Average months between US recessions since 1854: 42. Months since last recession: 42."

82. With bond yields near all-time lows, Richard Barley of The Wall Street Journal writes, "For a one-percentage point rise in yields, 10-year U.S. Treasury holders now face a drop in price of nearly nine percentage points."

83. "By 2050, workers' median age in China and Japan will be about 50, a decade higher than in America," writes Robert Samuelson.

84. Of the 3.1 million students who graduated high school in 2010, 78.2% received their diplomas on time, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. That was the highest percentage since 1974.

85. The U.S. birthrate declined 8% from 2007 to 2010, according to Pew. At 63.2 per 1,000 women of childbearing age, the 2011 U.S. birthrate was the lowest since records began in 1920.

86. According to Wired magazine, "In a 2006 survey, 30 percent of people without a high school degree said that playing the lottery was a wealth-building strategy. ... On average, households that make less than $12,400 a year spend 5 percent of their income on lotteries."

87. According to David Wessel of The Wall Street Journal, Americans "spend about half of their food budgets at restaurants now, compared to a third in the 1970s."

88. We are used to hearing how much faster the earnings of the top 1% grow compared with everyone else's, but we often forget that it used to be the other way around. From 1943 to 1980, the annual incomes of the bottom 90% of Americans doubled in real terms, while the average income of the top 1% grew just 23%, according to Robert Frank.

89. According to Vanguard founder John Bogle, the average equity mutual fund gained 173% from 1997 to 2011, but the average equity mutual fund investor earned only 110%, thanks to the tendency to buy high and sell low.

90. According to David Leonhardt, median family incomes have fallen substantially over a decade for the first time since the Great Depression. "By [2011], family income was 8 percent lower than it had been 11 years earlier, at its peak in 2000."

91. The rise in domestic energy-production has already shaved $175 billion off our annual import bill compared with five years ago, according to energy analyst Daniel Yergin.

92. Federal nondefense discretionary spending -- all spending minus defense and entitlements -- is on track to hit its lowest level as a share of GDP in more than 50 years, according to data from the Congressional Budget Office.

93. Bonds have become so richly valued that UBS is reportedly reclassifying brokerage clients who are overweight bonds as "aggressive" investors -- most likely to avoid future lawsuits if and when bonds lose value.

94. According to The Economist, "Over the past ten years, hedge-fund managers have underperformed not just the stock market, but inflation as well."

95. According to Bloomberg, "Americans have missed out on almost $200 billion of stock gains as they drained money from the market in the past four years, haunted by the financial crisis.

96. In the 1960s, wages and salary income made up more than 50% of GDP. By 2011, it was less than 44%, as dividends, interest, and capital gains made up a growing share of the nation's income.

97. S&P 500 companies held $900 billion in cash at the end of June, according to Thomson Reuters. That was up 40% since 2008.

98. "More than 50 million Americans couldn't afford to buy food at some point in 2011," writes CNNMoney,
citing U.S. Department of Agriculture data. In June 2012,

46.7 million Americans received food stamps.

99. Japan's working-age population is on track to decline from 62.6% of its population in 2012 to just 49.1% by 2050.

100. The unemployment rate for those with a bachelor's degree is just 3.7% -- less than half the nationwide average.

Warren Buffett’s Annual Berkshire Letter: The Highlights

Warren Buffett’s Annual Berkshire Letter: The Highlights
Warren Buffett‘s annual letter is known for his folksy witticism and over-the-top compliments. WSJ Deal Journal has pulled out some of this year’s best. Let us know in the comments if you had other highlights from the letter.

Don’t you wish upon a star: “Your chairman has not been free of this sin. In Berkshire’s 1986 annual report, I described how twenty years of management effort and capital improvements in our original textile business were an exercise in futility. I wanted the business to succeed and wished my way into a series of bad decisions (I even bought another New England textile company.) But wishing makes dreams come true only in Disney movies; it’s poison in business.”

Buffett also made a series of warnings to those CEOs who didn’t do much because of “uncertainty” in the economic environment.

Uncertainty? Rubbish: “There was a lot of hand-wringing last year among CEOs who cried ‘uncertainty’ when faced with capital allocation decisions (despite many of their businesses having enjoyed record levels of both earnings and cash). At Berkshire, we didn’t share their fears, instead spending a record $9.8 billion on plant and equipment in 2012, about 88% of it in the United States.

That’s 19% more than we spent in 2011, our previous high. Charlie and I love investing large sums in worthwhile projects, whatever the pundits are saying. We instead heed the words from Gary Allan’s new country song, ‘Every Storm Runs Out of Rain.’”

Always be bullish on America: ”We will keep our foot to the floor and will almost certainly set still another record for capital expenditures in 2013. Opportunities abound in America.”

A history lesson: ”A thought for my fellow CEOs: Of course, the immediate future is uncertain; America has faced the unknown since 1776. It’s just that sometimes people focus on the myriad of uncertainties that always exist while at other times they ignore them (usually because the recent past has been uneventful).”

Don’t risk missing out: “Since the basic game is so favorable, Charlie and I believe it’s a terrible mistake to try to dance in and out of it based upon the turn of tarot cards, the predictions of “experts,” or the ebb and flow of business activity. The risks of being out of the game are huge compared to the risks of being in it.”

Call me, maybe: ”If you are a CEO who has some large, profitable project you are shelving because of short-term worries, call Berkshire. Let us unburden you.”

And as always, he lauded his lieutenants:

His investing managers: “Todd Combs and Ted Weschler, our new investment managers, have proved to be smart, models of integrity, helpful to Berkshire in many ways beyond portfolio management, and a perfect cultural fit. We hit the jackpot with these two. In 2012 each outperformed the S&P 500 by double-digit margins. They left me in the dust as well.”

Ajit Jain, head of Berkshire Reinsurance: “If you meet Ajit at the annual meeting, bow deeply.”

Tony Nicely, head of Geico: “I rub my eyes when I look at what Tony has accomplished. Last year, it should be noted, his record was considerably better than is indicated by GEICO’s GAAP underwriting profit of $680 million.”
Railroad chiefs: “In Matt Rose, at BNSF, and Greg Abel, at MidAmerican, we have two outstanding CEOs. They are extraordinary managers who have developed businesses that serve both their customers and owners well. Each has my gratitude and each deserves yours.”
HomeServices: “Ron Peltier has done an outstanding job in managing HomeServices during a depressed period. Now, as the housing market continues to strengthen, we expect earnings to rise significantly.”

Newspaper editor 1: “Our confidence is buttressed by the availability of Terry Kroeger’s outstanding management group at the Omaha World-Herald, a team that has the ability to oversee a large group of papers.”

Newspaper editor 2: “Credit the editors of those papers – Margaret Sullivan at the News and Mike Reilly at the World-Herald — for delivering information that has made their publications indispensable to community-interested readers. (Margaret, I regret to say, recently left us to join The New York Times, whose job offers are tough to turn down. That paper made a great hire, and we wish her the best.)”. From WSJ Deal Journal.

This Is Why So Many Professional Athletes Are Going Broke

Deep Thoughts With the Homeless Billionaire

Twelve years ago, Nicolas Berggruen sold his apartment, which was filled with French antiques, on the 31st floor of the Pierre Hotel in Manhattan. He said he no longer wanted to be weighed down by physical possessions. He did the same with his Art Deco house on a private island near Miami. From that point on he would be homeless.

Now he keeps what little he owns in storage and travels light, carrying just his iPhone, a few pairs of jeans, a fancy suit or two, and some white monogrammed shirts he wears until they are threadbare. 

At 51, the diminutive Berggruen is weathered, but still youthful, with unkempt brown hair and stubble. There’s something else he hung on to: his Gulfstream IV. It takes him to cities where he stays in five-star hotels. In London, he checks into Claridge’s. In New York, he’s at the Carlyle Hotel. In Los Angeles, he takes a suite at the Peninsula Beverly Hills.

His social calendar tends to be full no matter where he is. A dual citizen of Germany and the U.S. who speaks three languages, Berggruen makes a point of having lunch and dinner each day with someone intriguing. It could be an author, a famous artist, or a world leader. He prefers to meet them at restaurants near his hotel. He makes reservations for three even when he only plans to dine with one. That way he doesn’t get stuck at a small table. He leaves room for dessert. He adores chocolate.

In the evening, Berggruen is frequently photographed at parties with attractive women such as British actress Gabriella Wright. “You could easily look at his life and say, ‘Oh, my gosh, he’s always got a pretty girl on his arm. He’s at every party around the world. Is he just a giant playboy?’ ” says his friend Vicky Ward, a contributing editor to Vanity Fair. Maybe. Every year, Berggruen throws a party at the Chateau Marmont in Hollywood during Oscar week and invites all his friends. They rub shoulders with Hollywood types such as Paris Hilton, Woody Harrelson, and Leonardo DiCaprio.

Berggruen can afford to live like this because he’s chairman of Berggruen Holdings, a New York-based private equity firm that buys troubled companies and fixes them up. Currently it owns more than 30, including an Australian farming operation, a British life insurer, a Portuguese book publisher, a German department store chain, and real estate development projects in Turkey, Israel, India, and Newark, N.J. According to its website, the privately held holding company’s annual revenue is $5 billion. It throws off $250 million in earnings each year. Berggruen’s personal worth is estimated by Bloomberg Markets to be $2.5 billion.

But Berggruen isn’t satisfied with mere wealth and glamour. He also wants to be taken seriously as an intellectual. As the financial crisis unfolded, he became convinced some political systems were failing in America and Europe. He thought he could help rescue them by using his disposable income to advance wonky reforms. By his own admission, he didn’t know much about such matters, but that didn’t stop him.

In 2009 he started the Nicolas Berggruen Institute, a think tank whose stated mission is to improve global governance, and promised to spend more than $100 million to further its goals. In California he’s pushing to overhaul the fiscally troubled state’s tax code, education system, and problematic initiative and referendum system. He would like to see greater political integration in crisis-plagued Europe, preferably under a single leader. He thinks it would be great if the Group of 20 nations become more of a permanent global policymaker.

That’s a large agenda for a balance sheet repairman who only recently began examining such matters. Nevertheless, he got prominent Californians and former world leaders to lend their names to his efforts.

Berggruen will need more than money, charm, and the right names for his think tanks to save the world. His transformation from pleasure seeker to policy guy is a work in progress. Some of his ideas are not exactly made for prime time. For instance, he argues there’s much that Western democracies can learn from autocracies such as Singapore. As he puts it admiringly, the political leaders there really know how to get things done. 

“Can I do something really rude?” Berggruen asks in an accent that’s more French than anything else. “I cannot resist. Can I steal a French fry?”It’s a Saturday afternoon in July. He’s at the Mark Restaurant by Jean-Georges, a block from the Carlyle. He’s finished his pea soup and a plate of artichokes. He becomes animated when he discovers there are French cream puffs on the dessert menu. “This is very unhealthy, but I love dessert,” he says. “Will you join me? Oh, my God, they have lots of bad stuff!” He asks for extra chocolate sauce, too.

For many years, Berggruen avoided the media. When a Dutch magazine profiled him in the 1990s, he bought up every copy of the issue to protect his privacy. Now, as a would-be policymaker, he frequently dines with reporters. Berggruen insists he isn’t interested in publicity for himself. He says he just wants support and attention for his think tank, which has a 12-person staff. “I will do anything to further the institute,” he says solemnly.

Some of his appetites and ambitions are surely inherited from his father, the late Heinz Berggruen, a celebrated art dealer and collector who left Germany in 1936 to avoid persecution for being Jewish. After World War II, 

Berggruen moved to Paris, where he became one of Pablo Picasso’s dealers. He amassed an extensive collection of the artist’s work. Eleven years before his death in 2007, he sold much of it to the German state for a nominal fee. Today it’s housed in the Berggruen Museum in Berlin.

Nicolas Berggruen grew up in Paris. At a young age he immersed himself in French politics, history, and philosophy. Still, he didn’t care much for school. He attended the Institute Le Rosey in Switzerland, known as the “School of Kings” because so many alumni are members of royal families. Berggruen wasn’t destined to join them. He became a Marxist and refused to learn English, calling it the language of imperialism. The school asked him to leave. He ended up getting his high school diploma from the French government.

Unexpectedly, Heinz Berggruen thought his rebellious son had a future in business. He arranged a summer internship for him with his friend Max Rayne, a British real estate developer and member of the House of Lords. His father was right: It turned out that Nicolas liked capitalism after all. Berggruen learned English and got his undergraduate degree from New York University in 1981. After graduating, he spent almost two years working for the Bass brothers in Philadelphia. As soon as he could, he returned to New York. “He was out every night,” says his friend Jonathan Bren, another veteran of the Swiss boarding school circuit. “A lot of people just thought he was a rich European party guy.”

In 1988, Berggruen created Alpha Investment Management, a fund of hedge funds, with the late Julio Santo Domingo Jr., the scion of one of Colombia’s richest families. The firm handled more than $2 billion, but Berggruen wasn’t content with managing other people’s money. He sat in his office and chased his own deals with his own cash. After the savings and loan crisis, he bought discounted commercial real estate debt for himself from Resolution Trust Corp. and profited as the market recovered. He acquired a troubled Spanish soft-drink company, turned it around, and sold it to Schweppes.

Along the way, Berggruen assembled a collection of works by Andy Warhol and bought his private island hideout in Florida and a bachelor pad in the Pierre in New York. He never married. “He’s had some very nice girlfriends in the past,” says his brother Olivier. “We were somehow hoping that he would create a family.” The family didn’t know what to make of his decision to sell his homes in 2000, either. Berggruen says he simply got tired of his fancy digs. “I’m not that interested in material things,” he says. “As long as I find a good bed that I can sleep in, that’s enough.”

Berggruen began spending more time in Los Angeles, at the Peninsula Beverly Hills. There were plenty of deals to do in the mid-Aughts. He spent a decade assembling Portugal’s largest media company and sold it to Spain’s Prisa in 2006. He bought Foster Grant, the American sunglasses company, in 2003. He sold it in 2009 to a French eyewear manufacturer, making $400 million.

Such triumphs, however, no longer seemed to thrill him. He also sounds jaded about his Oscar parties, calling them “frivolous” and “stupid.” It became a chore for him to manage the guest list. “There are the people who don’t get invited and are mad,” he sighs. Berggruen found something to fill the void. He returned to the subjects that fascinated him as a youngster: philosophy and politics. “Frankly, I think I am a fool,” he says. “I never should have stopped.” 

Berggruen concedes he had a lot of catching up to do. He turned his suite at the Peninsula into an intellectual salon. He drafted two professors from the University of California at Los Angeles to instruct him in Eastern and Western philosophy. “Broadly, I think Nicolas is interested in moral philosophy, having to do with questions of right and wrong, good and evil, purpose, agency, action, topics like that,” says Brian Copenhaver, a UCLA specialist in Renaissance philosophy who was one of the mentors.

On other afternoons, Berggruen sat with four local political science professors who tutored him in the fine points of Eastern and Western governments. As he digested Confucius and Plato and reread Sartre, he came up with his think tank’s mission. He believes developed countries are in crisis because their leaders are too focused on getting reelected. The result is political gridlock in such places as Washington, D.C., and California.

Berggruen believes at least part of the solution to Western political paralysis is the Asian equivalent of the smoke-filled room. “If you can do this behind closed doors, you can force or push decisions, which happens in autocracies like Singapore and China,” he says. “The disadvantage is that it’s not very transparent. The advantage is that the people in the room, even if they have ideological views that are not along the same lines, can come up with compromises and solutions.” With Nathan Gardels, one of the institute’s senior advisers, he’s co-written a book in which he explains this unorthodox notion. It’s called Intelligent Governance for the 21st Century: A Middle Way Between West and East.

Berggruen would like to test his ideas in California, which is famous for political paralysis. Governors of both parties come and go, but the state legislature remains in the hands of the Democratic Party, which answers to public employees’ unions. Meanwhile, voters approve mandates that largely dictate the budget process. Since the real estate market crashed in 2008, California has been plagued by deficits.

Berggruen was hardly a household name in California; he wasn’t even a resident. (He pays taxes in Florida.) The only thing he was known for was his yearly soiree at the Chateau Marmont. That didn’t seem to hurt him. He persuaded 15 prominent Californians to help draft a reform package. He wooed former Democratic Governor Gray Davis over lunch at the Peninsula. He won over Bob Hertzberg, a former California Assembly Speaker, at an airport in faraway Panama. He enlisted former Republican U.S. Secretaries of State Condoleezza Rice and George Shultz. Berggruen also recruited business leaders such as former Yahoo! Chief Executive Officer Terry Semel and Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt. He assembled them in a group he called the Think Long Committee for California.

In a series of meetings, some of which Berggruen hosted at Google’s headquarters in Mountain View, Calif., the committee came up with a plan released in November 2011. The members embraced his idea that the California legislature be policed by a “citizens council for government accountability” comprised of ex-politicians, university presidents, and business leaders. It would have the power to subpoena witnesses and place its own initiatives directly on the ballot.

Naturally, there are Californians who find the notion of an unelected advisory board in Sacramento questionable. “Berggruen assembled a blue-ribbon panel of notable Californians to come up with their vision for fixing California,” says Thad Kousser, an associate political science professor at the University of California at San Diego. “Lo and behold, the first big idea was California needs a big blue-ribbon panel that bypasses all the existing political processes.”

Others are more charitable. “You know, when you have those kinds of resources at your disposal, you can buy a football team, you can buy an island, or you can try to make government and politics work better,” says Dan Schnur, director of the Jesse M. Unruh Institute of Politics at the University of Southern California. “I give him a lot of credit for trying.” Schnur, who was the communications director for John McCain’s 2000 presidential campaign, says Berggruen’s biggest challenge may be keeping the electorate awake when he pitches them his governance reform ideas. “It’s not the most scintillating stuff,” Schnur warns. Berggruen says Schnur has a point. Nevertheless, he hopes to begin putting his proposals on the state ballot next year, starting with the tax-reform plan.

He is concerned about Europe, too. Considering the Greek debt crisis and the euro area, Berggruen believes that more democracy is needed, not less. “In theory, Europe should be quite democratic,” he says. “It’s actually run by the heads of two countries, Germany and France. It’s incredibly dysfunctional.”

In 2010, Berggruen flew to the North Sea island of Boken to visit former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder at his vacation home. Schröder was eager to help him. “We talk quite often,” says Berggruen. “He calls up with ideas.” Berggruen was also able to persuade ex-British Prime Minister Tony Blair and economist Nouriel Roubini to join the Berggruen Institute’s 27-member Future of Europe Committee. The Future of Europe Committee champions the establishment of a stronger Continental government. That way, economically powerful countries such as Germany and France might be more inclined to assist their weaker southern neighbors than they are now. Berggruen says he’s aware of how difficult it will be to prevent the dissolution of the European Union, but believes it’s worth fighting for. 

In the meantime, he gets to hang out with interesting people. Over lunch in Beverly Hills in late July, Berggruen says he’s never enjoyed himself more. He finishes his grilled fish. He’s in no hurry to leave. He has nothing planned until dinner. Is he rushing off to a party after that? He shakes his head. “I don’t go to that many parties anymore,” he insists. “I’m really spending almost all my time on this.”

He checks his iPhone. “Oh, look,” he says. “It’s an invitation to a party later tonight.” It’s an awkward moment for a guy who wants to be taken seriously. “Well, I won’t go,” he says. “I can’t go.”

By Devin Leonard-Bloomberg ©2012 Bloomberg L.P.

America: The Next Energy Superpower?

This year, the U.S. will likely surpass Russia and Saudi Arabia as the largest liquids fuel producer in the world. 

From previously challenging the “tyranny of oil,” newly inaugurated U.S. President Barack Obama enters his second term in office as leader of a potential oil and gas superpower.

According to BP’s Energy Outlook 2030, unconventional sources will make the United States virtually energy self-sufficient by 2030, largely thanks to the shale gas revolution.

“The U.S. will likely surpass Russia and Saudi Arabia in 2013 as the largest  liquids producer in the world (crude and biofuels) due to tight oil and biofuels growth…. Russia will likely pass Saudi Arabia for the second slot in 2013 and hold that until 2023. Saudi Arabia regains the top oil producer slot by 2027,” the London-based oil and gas giant said. The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) has forecast that the nation could become a net exporter of liquefied natural gas (LNG) as early as 2016, and a net exporter of total natural gas (including via pipelines) by 2020.

For the Asia-Pacific region, potential U.S. gas exports could undercut higher priced gas from Australia and elsewhere, resulting in lower fuel bills for major importers such as Japan and South Korea. However, fast-growing China and India are expected to become even more reliant on imports to satisfy domestic demand, BP said in its report.

With the world’s population seen reaching 8.3 billion by 2030 and income doubling in real terms from 2011 levels, BP expects an additional 1.3 billion people will require energy. This will result in global energy demand being 36 percent higher in 2030 compared to 2011, with almost all growth (93 percent) coming from non-OECD economies.

The Asia-Pacific region will produce the most rapid growth in energy production, largely from coal, generating 35 percent of global energy production by 2030.

The report states that unconventional sources such as shale gas, tight oil, heavy oil and biofuels will transform the energy balance of the United States. “By 2030, increasing production and moderating demand will result in the U.S. being 99 percent self-sufficient in net energy; in 2005 it was only 70 percent self-sufficient,” it said. Production from unconventional sources will provide all the net growth in global oil supply to 2020, and more than 70 percent of the growth to 2030.

“Fears over oil running out – to which BP has never subscribed – appear increasingly groundless,” BP’s group chief executive Bob Dudley said. “The U.S. will not be increasingly dependent on energy imports, with energy set to reinvigorate its economy.” Aided by gains in technology, the U.S. shale gas boom has already cut household energy bills by an estimated U.S. $1,000 a year and spurred a wave of industrial investment, reversing a 30-year trend of declining manufacturing jobs.

According to Bloomberg News, at least five new U.S. steel plants are planned that would use gas instead of coal to purify iron ore, including a U.S. $750 million Louisiana plant by Nucor Corp. Chemical and fertilizer companies are also reportedly planning new gas-fueled plants, with some analysts saying cheap energy could result in a “re-industrialization” of the United States. While major shale gas and tight oil resources exist elsewhere, including in Australia, BP’s report noted that significant exploitation had thus far only occurred in North America, due to a range of market factors.

In a statement, BP group chief economist Christof Rühl said: “Vast unconventional reserves have been unlocked in the U.S., with oil production following gas. This delivery has been made possible not only by the resources and technology, but also by ‘above-ground’ factors such as a strong and competitive service sector, land access facilitated by private ownership, liquid markets and favorable regulatory terms.

“No other country outside the U.S. and Canada has yet succeeded in combining these factors to support production growth. While we expect other regions will adapt over time to develop their resources, by 2030 we expect North America still to dominate production of these resources.”

Fossil fuels dominant

President Obama’s call in his second inaugural address for action on climate change has also received assistance from the gas boom. In the United States, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), natural gas-fired power plants produce around half as much carbon oxide emissions, less than a third as much nitrogen oxides, and one percent as much sulfur oxide as coal-fired plants. In light of this, the New York Times reports that the EPA is planning tighter emission standards to force power generators to switch from coal to gas.

The National Resources Defense Council estimates that emissions from current coal-fired plants could be cut by more than 25 percent by the end of this decade, helping the U.S. president achieve a pledge of reducing total domestic emissions by about 17 percent from 2005 levels by 2020. Yet the oil and gas boom will see fossil fuels remain dominant in the U.S. energy mix, with renewable energy’s share of total electricity generation forecast to rise from 13 percent in 2011 to just 16 percent in 2040, according to the EIA.

Based on BP’s forecasts, the world’s continued reliance on fossil fuels will see global greenhouse gases exceed recommended levels above 450 parts per million of carbon-dioxide equivalent. BP estimates oil, gas and coal will each command market shares of around 26 to 28 percent by 2030, with non-fossil fuels such as nuclear, hydro and renewables remaining at around 6 to 7 percent each.

Despite reduced energy intensity, growth in renewables and substitution of coal with gas, carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions are still forecast to increase by 26 percent from 2011 to 2030.

“Most of the growth will come from non-OECD countries, so that by 2030 70 percent of CO2 emissions are expected to come from outside the OECD,” BP said.

Renewables are anticipated to be the fastest growing source of energy, growing by 7.6 percent a year, but are only expected to provide 11 percent of global electricity production by 2030, up from 3 percent in 2011.

Despite recent smog, China’s efforts to improve energy use are seen resulting in lower coal demand from 2020 and improved global energy intensity. Without the improvement, BP said the world would need to almost double energy supply by 2030.

Changing energy mix

Natural gas is expected to be the fastest growing among fossil fuels at 2 percent a year, with shale gas seen supplying 53 percent of U.S. gas production by 2030. Coal growth will slow to 1.2 percent a year, with India overtaking the United States as the second-largest coal consumer by 2024 behind China.

Oil demand will increase at just 0.8 percent a year, with its share of energy consumption falling to 28 percent by 2030. All net oil demand growth will come from outside the OECD, with half coming from China, India, and the Middle East alone.

Despite the Fukushima disaster, nuclear energy output is expected to grow by 2.6 percent a year, compared to an average growth rate of 1.6 percent over the last two decades. 88 percent of growth in nuclear energy will come from China, India and Russia. By 2026, China is seen overtaking the United States as the largest producer of nuclear power. Four years later Beijing will account for 30 percent of nuclear energy production, according to BP.

While long a major coal exporter, Australia is forecast to overtake Qatar as the largest LNG supplier by 2018, accounting for a quarter of global production by 2030.

However, U.S. gas exports to Asia could undercut Australian LNG exports, while aiding major importers such as Japan and South Korea.

According to Japanese daily Asahi Shimbun, the subject of U.S. gas exports to Japan has already been raised in top-level talks between the two allies, with Japan eyeing lower costs to manufacturers and households along with a reduced trade deficit.

The United States may reap the gains, but Asia’s policymakers face a careful balancing act in ensuring the region benefits rather than paying the price of the energy revolution.

By Anthony Fensom-hediplomat.com/ 2013/01/23

Restaurants et épiceries: le top 50 des amendes pour insalubrité

Chaque année, des centaines de commerces écopent d’amendes en raison de mesures d’hygiène ou de salubrité déficientes. Pour connaître les établissements qui ont écopé des amendes les plus salées l’an dernier, Protégez-Vous a épluché l’ensemble des condamnations diffusées par le ministère de l’Agriculture, des Pêcheries et de l’Alimentation du Québec (établissements de la province, excluant l’île de Montréal) et par la Division de l’inspection des aliments de la Ville de Montréal (établissements sur l’île de Montréal). À noter que la proportion d’infractions par rapport au nombre d’inspections est plutôt stable d’année en année.

Notre liste inclut les épiceries, les restaurants, les casse-croûte, les poissonneries, les boucheries, les fermes laitières ainsi que d’autres établissements qui vendent ou manipulent des aliments. Nous avons toutefois exclu les éleveurs, les producteurs d'animaux et les commerces ayant depuis fermé leurs portes.

Les jugements ont été rendus en 2012, mais les infractions peuvent avoir été commises en 2012, 2011 ou 2010 – voire même avant – car il s’écoule plusieurs mois entre le moment où l’infraction est constatée et celui où le jugement est rendu. À noter que certaines infractions sont moins importantes que d’autres.

Hygiène et salubrité Les 50 commerces ayant écopé des amendes les plus élevées en 2012*
Établissement	Adresse	Montant de l'amende	Date(s) d'infraction(s)
Eggspectation (établissement fermé**)	201, rue Saint-Jacques à Montréal	26 000 $	Janvier 2012, juin 2011, avril 2011, mars 2011, juillet 2010, juin 2010, mai 2010, mars 2010
Marché Kim Hour	7734, boulevard Saint-Michel à Montréal	17 000 $	Août 2011, mars 2011, février 2011, décembre 2010
Boulangerie du Grand Maghreb	3567, rue Jean-Talon Est à Montréal	12 400 $	Avril 2011, novembre 2010
La Ferme D'oc (Charcuterie)	4495, chemin Royal à Sainte-Famille de l’île d’Orléans	11 750 $	Octobre 2010, juillet 2010
Buffet indienne Maharaja	1481, boulevard René-Lévesque Ouest à Montréal	10 500 $	Juin 2011, novembre 2010
Restaurant Pushap	4777, boulevard des Sources à Pierrefonds	9 950 $	Novembre 2011, juillet 2011
Distribution Viandes Kourieh	388, boulevard Curé-Labelle à Laval	7 500 $	Août 2011, décembre 2010, septembre 2010
Fruits Monkland	6131, avenue de Monkland à Montréal	7 500 $	Juillet 2011
Super Marché B. K.	690, rue Jean-Talon Ouest à Montréal	7 500 $	Août 2011, juillet 2011, mai 2011, février 2011
Veggierama (Cultures)	7999, boulevard des Galeries-d'Anjou à Montréal (arrondissement Anjou)	7 500 $	Août 2011, avril 2011
Restaurant Wah Do	4054, rue Sainte-Catherine Est à Montréal	7 000 $	Mars 2011, février 2011
La Belle Province	388, avenue Dorval à Dorval	6 900 $	Juin 2010, mai 2010
Wok Café	1845, rue Sainte-Catherine Ouest à Montréal	6 300 $	Juin 2011
Restaurant Étoiles des Indes	1806, rue Sainte-Catherine Ouest à Montréal	5 250 $	Avril 2011, décembre 2010
Marché Swadesh	484, avenue Ogilvy à Montréal	5 200 $	Décembre 2010
Monsieur Patates Frites (Royal poulet frit et pizza)	12 680, boulevard Gouin Ouest à Pierrefonds	5 100 $	Septembre 2011, avril 2011
Ferme G.L. Henderson enr.	187, rang de la Rivière Noire Nord à Saint-Chrysostome	5 000 $	Avril 2009
Ferme Stephanic S.E.N.C.	177, route 311 à Lac-du-Cerf	5 000 $	Juin 2011
La Grotte des fromages	4919, rue Jarry Est à Montréal (arrondissement Saint-Léonard)	4 850 $	Juillet 2011, novembre 2010
Restaurant Fung Shing	1102, boulevard Saint-Laurent à Montréal	4 700 $	Juin 2011
Restaurant Vieux Kam Shing Inc.	575, boulevard Saint-Martin Ouest à Laval	4 250 $	Mars 2012, février 2012, décembre 2011
Restaurant Chan	8975, rue Hochelaga à Montréal	4 100 $	Août 2011, juin 2011
Restaurant Tong - Por	12 242, boulevard Laurentien à Montréal	4 050 $	Juillet 2012, janvier 2012
Ferme Stemaphil S.E.N.C.	154, rang St-Georges à Saint-Liboire	4 000 $	Janvier 2012, avril 2011
La Ferme écologique coopérative d'Ulverton	51, route 143 à Ulverton	4 000 $	Novembre 2007
Marché Jolee	5493B, avenue Victoria à Montréal	4 000 $	Juillet 2011
Pizza Pita	6415, boulevard Décarie à Montréal	4 000 $	Janvier 2012, février 2011
Restaurant Beijing	92, rue de la Gauchetière Ouest à Montréal	4 000 $	Juin 2012, avril 2012
Restaurant Samiramiss	885, boulevard Décarie à Montréal (arrondissement Saint-Laurent)	4 000 $	Octobre 2011
Restaurant Tuscanos	106, boulevard Gréber à Gatineau	4 000 $	Août 2009, juillet 2009
Bonanza Lalumière	6852A, rue Jean-Talon Est à Montréal (arrondissement Saint-Léonard)	3 950 $	Juin 2011
La Caverne grecque	105, rue Prince-Arthur Est à Montréal	3 800 $	Juin 2011
Les Aliments Esposito (Paye & Emporte) - Esposito	5375, boulevard Henri-Bourassa Est à Montréal-Nord	3 800 $	Juillet 2011, juin 2011
Kim Moon	7535, avenue Papineau à Montréal	3 750 $	Février 2010
Marché Madhubon	530, avenue Ogilvy à Montréal	3 600 $	Octobre 2010, mai 2010
Restaurant VIP 2010	370, avenue Beaumont à Montréal	3 600 $	Mars 2011, mai 2010
Épicerie Multi Family Service	436, avenue Ogilvy à Montréal	3 500 $	Avril 2010, avril 2009
Le Carillon Tropical	5872, avenue du Parc à Montréal	3 500 $	Avril 2011
Le Restaurant Marven	880, avenue Ball à Montréal	3 500 $	Octobre 2010, Janvier 2010
Boucherie Bismilla S.E.N.C.	766, rue Jean-Talon Ouest à Montréal	3 400 $	Novembre 2010, septembre 2010
Restaurant Saigon VIP	1850, rue Sainte-Catherine Ouest à Montréal	3 300 $	Août 2012, avril 2011
Bourgault Guy (Ferme laitière)	259, chemin de Craig à Saint-Patrice-de-Beaurivage	3 250 $	Juin 2010, février 2010
Jardin du Sud	8080, boulevard Taschereau à Brossard	3 250 $	Décembre 2011, septembre 2011, août 2011, avril 2011
La Maison Thai - Expo Québec (événement spécial)	250, boulevard Wilfrid-Hamel à Québec	3 250 $	Août 2011, août 2010
Magic Idea (Restaurant)	1675, boulevard de Maisonneuve Ouest à Montréal	3 200 $	Avril 2011, juin 2010
Restaurant Kalohin	1240, rue Stanley à Montréal	3 100 $	Juillet 2012

* Information recueillie le 16 janvier 2013; il est possible que des jugements de 2012 n’aient pas encore été rendus publics au moment où nous avons colligé les données.
** Mise à jour: au moment de publier cet article, le registre des condamnations de la Ville de Montréal n'indiquait pas que le commerce avait fermé ses portes.