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| Last Updated: Aug 15th, 2008 - 11:26:43 |
Newsletters
:
2006 Newsletters
:
30 June 2006
Thought for the Day
New technologies continue to produce more oil from existing oil fields. Very heavy oil is now being extracted using steam techniques. This is increasing production in some fields from a paltry 6% to as much as 40%.
Is there no end to our ingenuity? Time for our politicians to show some ingenuity and get some steady economic growth of 4% or 5% per year.
May 2, 2006, 06:49
Newsletters
:
2006 Newsletters
:
30 June 2006
Teaching Basic Economics to Fifth Graders
One of the things about Economics as a subject is that so much mis-information has been published about it. Newspapers continually quote people with really strange, wrong and dangerous ideas about economics so it is no wonder that many citizens just do not know what is right and what is wrong.
This means that we have stupid and ignorant arguments in parliaments about whether it is better to allow workers and employers to have free association or whether Government should legislate for Unions to try to decide conditions. Or even worse, go like Muldoon, and try the old "Wage Freeze" trick. (Shortly before the economy collapsed)!
This little comedy has recently been played out in France with the ignorant manning the barricades and Dominique de Villepin the Prime Minister trying in vain to get more jobs for the unfortunates without jobs. Ignorance and the Unions won on the day! France and the unemployed (and this will produce increasing numbers of them) will be the losers in the short term and all citizens will lose as the economy depresses further.
I know that logic doesn't work in politics. If it did we wouldn't be micro-chipping my aunty's chuhuahua to save me from being savaged to death. However, in the hope that some information may get through Arthur Foulkes has run these small experimental lessons in Economics for children so that they will have an understanding of the real ideas that underpin economics.
We might all learn something.
Jun 22, 2006, 15:05
Newsletters
:
2006 Newsletters
:
30 June 2006
Tax Havens, Tax Competition and Economic Performance
Low-tax jurisdictions play a valuable role in the global economy. Economic research indicates that so-called tax havens provide a tax-efficient platform for cross-border investments, help boost saving and investment, and thus increase global economic growth. Tax havens also encourage good policy in non-haven countries. In part because of jurisdictional competition, maximum tax rates on personal income have fallen by about 23 percentage points since 1980 and top tax rates on corporate income have fallen by almost 20 percentage points. These policies have boosted growth and job creation.
Tax havens are countries with very low tax rates set-sometimes as a matter of long-standing policy and sometimes as a recent and deliberate strategy to draw out-of-jurisdiction investment. This definition is imprecise, but for a good reason:1 many additional characteristics including the nature of corporate registrations, requirements on beneficial ownership information, rules governing trusts, and the financial privacy companies and individuals enjoy could qualify a jurisdiction as a tax haven. In British Virgin Islands, Delaware, and Panama, one can incorporate a company within a few hours with little information about ownership and nature of work. Switzerland, Singapore and Cayman Islands are among countries that generally do not disclose information on personal financial transactions.
The risk of economic failure associated with ineffective competition for funds makes tax havens important sources of economic discipline for the U.S. Tax havens will not be a problem for the U.S. economy, as long as U.S. remains a tax haven itself, with productive and stable investment environment. In other words, presence of tax havens contributes to the long term success of the U.S. economy by making it harder for the U.S. to reduce the "quality" of the investment climate both for domestic and foreign investors.
[ Visit Website ]
Jun 14, 2006, 10:08
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