New York Times (October 9)
“Large parts of the world seem to be on the verge of a recession. In many countries in Europe, Asia and Latin America, economic growth has already stalled.” Nevertheless, too many officials “are unwilling or ill prepared to respond.” German officials “continue to insist that countries that use the euro meet restrictive fiscal rules” and “officials in Japan, meanwhile, have hurt that economy by raising a sales tax too fast.
Tags: Asia, Economic growth, euro, Europe, Germany, Japan, Latin America, Officials, Recession, Stalled, Tax
The Economist (May 3)
“After years in the doldrums, big mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are making a comeback. Optimists hope this is a sign of bosses daring to be bold because of improving economic prospects. Sceptics wonder if the managers are in fact doing deals to conceal a worrying lack of growth opportunities—or just cutting costs by merging with companies in kinder tax jurisdictions.”
Tags: Bold, Bosses, Comeback, Costs, Doldrums, Economic prospects, Growth, Jurisdictions, M&A, Managers, Opportunities, Tax
Wall Street Journal (January 26, 2014)
As the Federal Reserve begins tapering, we’ll see which emerging markets have “been swimming naked.” During the days of easy money, nearly anybody could enjoy the party. Now we’ll see which countries squandered the opportunity and left themselves exposed. “The end of Ben Bernanke’s Fed tide will have its uses if it spurs the kind of tax, trade and investment reforms that have been put off in too many places. The question is how much damage will be done as this global adjustment takes place.”
Tags: Ben Bernanke, Damage, Easy money, Emerging markets, Exposed, Federal Reserve, Global adjustment, Investment, Opportunity, Reforms, Squandered, Tapering, Tax, Trade, U.S.
New York Times (March 13)
New Yorkers will still be able to buy their supersized drinks. A court struck down Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s ban on large servings of sugary drinks, the day before it was to be enforced. “The big-drinks ban was ill conceived and poorly constructed from the start.” Instead, the Mayor should work to “impose a penny-per-ounce tax on sugary drinks. Just as taxes helped cut the use of cigarettes, taxes could help cut the public’s indulgence in high-calorie, giant drinks.”
Tags: Ban, Bloomberg, Calories, Cigarettes, New York, Supersized, Tax
Chicago Tribune (December 14)
“The Fed helped the nation through a crisis. Now it could be creating risk.” The Fed has indicated it will maintain near-zero interest rates until the unemployment falls below 6.5% or inflation rises above 2.5%. This monetary policy was championed by Chicago Fed President Charles Evans, an inflation dove and policy activist, but the policy is misguided. “At this stage of the recovery, the biggest drags on the employment market have little to do with credit availability and interest rates — factors where the Fed does have influence — and much to do with the failures of elected politicians to fix spending and tax policies…. The central bank just isn’t all-powerful…. The Fed risks becoming a source of the problems it has done so much in recent years to help resolve.”
Tags: Evans, Inflation, Monetary policy, Risk, Spending, Tax, Unemployment
Washington Post (July 9)
The U.S. made a huge “blunder” in the 1960s and is still paying the price. “Since 1961, the federal government has balanced its budget only five times. Arguably, only one of these (1969) resulted from policy; the other four (1998-2001) stemmed heavily from the surging tax revenue of the then-economic boom. We are now facing the consequences of all these permissive deficits.”
New York Times (November 27)
With popular support, Alabama adopted a strict law to cut down on illegal immigrants, who constituted over 4% of Alabama’s work force. The results have been costly and support is waning. The price of intolerance is proving too high. “Farmers can tally the cost of crops left to rot as workers flee. Governments can calculate the loss of revenues when taxpayers flee. It’s harder to measure the price of a ruined business reputation or the value of investments lost or productivity lost.”
Tags: Farmers, Illegal workers, Immigrants, Law, Tax, U.S.
Boston Globe (October 2)
Warren Buffett complained his tax rate was too low. He believes the wealthiest Americans have an obligation to pay more. In his honor, President Obama has proposed a minimum “Buffett tax’’ on the very rich. The Globe salutes Warren Buffet, contrasting him with other CEOs. Buffett is “a walking indictment of the puffed-up CEO who, in bad times, displaces blame in a torrent of MBA-speak – and takes home big bonuses no matter what.”
Wall Street Journal (May 20)
Japan is back in recession and the problem is bigger than the quake. “The earthquake wrought considerable damage, but Japan was ailing months earlier.” GDP data for the last quarter of 2010 was revised downward from a slight contraction of 0.3% to a pronounced contraction of 0.8%. Politicians should be especially wary of measures, such as hiking the consumption tax, which might further dampen consumer spending. “Japan doesn’t have to suffer another lost decade. But it will unless the effort to rebuild earthquake- and tsunami-ravaged areas is accompanied by an effort to rebuild broken confidence.”
New York Times (May 4)
Harvard Professor Martin Feldstein writes that raising the income tax rate is unnecessary. Limiting tax deductions, allowances and other credits is, however, essential. Feldstein proposed capping these at 2% of each tax payer’s adjusted gross income. This alone, “would raise tax revenue by $278 billion — nearly 30 percent of total projected income tax revenue for this year.”
Tags: Deductions, Rate, Revenue, Tax, U.S.
