I realize that we specialize in making t-shirts, and not fixing government's economic issues, but we're going to chime in on this one, because it's that easy.  I went to Italy last year to check out the Fashion Capital, and long before the whole debt issue flared up, it was apparent to me that the Italian economy is unsustainable.

Beyond all the fine leather, Prada bags, and Colosseums, is a cash based, unrecorded economy.  Estimates are that close to 30% of GDP is unreported, and untaxed.  Amounting to about 100 Billion Euros in taxes every year.  I'm pretty sure that they could put that 100 billion Euros to work.  For some reason no one's really talking about this as being one of the underlying issues in Italy, and it boggles my mind.

The Solution: Crack down on unrecorded cash transactions, levy heavy penalties on infringers, and encourage/incentive companies and individuals to use credit cards.

That was easy. Now Italy, get back to making plazas and expensive clothing.  Stop adding to the turmoil in our economy.

Last week was the semi-annual MAGIC tradeshow at the Las Vegas Convention Center. Since we are primarily a wholesaler of funny t-shirts, this is a great spot for us to show our line and introduce our retailers to our new funny and graphic t-shirts.

The graphic shirts, were a big hit at the show, and we'll be introducing them to our website very soon. I love the new graphic shirts because they look awesome. Although they're not funny, they still work within our demographic, and it opens up a whole new market for Crooked Monkey. Pretty soon we won't just be the funniest t-shirt company, but the provider of all awesome t-shirts in the world. Quite a lofty goal, I know, but with your help we can make it happen.The tradeshow itself was certainly less attended than in previous years--there were 1/3 less wholesale exhibitors and probably the same drop in the numbers of retailers attending. We met a bunch of great people out there and got picked up a by few high end stores in Italy. Our shirts will now be in the fashion capital of the world--watch out.

We stayed at the Wynn. If you haven't been there yet, I'd suggest checking it out. It's sweeeet. They've also got a European Pool. The club there, Tryst, is tons of fun--and overlooks waterfalls.

We returned on Friday and are ready to get back to creating awesome shirts, like the one below.