Here are a few interesting links to keep you informed about the fiscal crisis in Greece. Richard Rahn has a nice comparison in the Washington Times of Poland’s good policy and Greece’s profligacy. http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/feb/18/poland-versus-greece/ Reuters has a story about some new reforms in Greece, including a very Orwellian proposal to track everyone’s purchases by banning […]
read more...A Swiss court just threw a wrench in the gears of an IRS effort to impose bad US tax law on an extraterritorial basis, ruling that UBS does not have to hand over data to the American tax authorities. This ruling nullifies an agreement that the Swiss government was coerced into making with the US […]
read more...The French government is relentlessly awful in its support for tax harmonization, regulatory harmonization, and other policies to drag other nations into the cesspool of statism. But France’s desire for a one-size-fits-all approach miraculously vanishes when it comes to language. Even though English is now the world’s language, especially for commerce, the French are resorting […]
read more...In a National Review Online article, Kevin Williamson notes that a proposed federal banking tax seems purely inspired by vilification politics, but will none-the-less put American banks at a very real competitive disadvantage in the global market: The new proposed tax on banks — 15 basis points on all liabilities — is not about revenue or […]
read more...German politicians are notoriously bad on European issues, almost always pushing for more centralization, harmonization, and bureaucracy. So it is surprising to see that the German government is rejecting a Luxembourg proposal to give the EU a direct source of tax revenue. This may just be a case of a stopped clock being right twice […]
read more...This has a similar title to an earlier blog post, but the topic is completely different. The U.K.-based Times has a fascinating story about how tax rates are driving business out of London, thus showing the insanity of class-warfare tax policy. Two excerpts are must reading, though the message will fall on deaf ears at […]
read more...A new survey from International Living says that France has the highest quality of life, followed by Australia and Switzerland. The United States, meanwhile, is in seventh place, behind nations such as Germany, New Zealand, and Luxembourg: To produce this annual Index we consider nine categories: Cost of Living, Culture and Leisure, Economy, Environment, Freedom, […]
read more...With Barack Obama planning big tax rate increases in America, it’s useful to see how that policy is working in the United Kingdom. According to the Mayor of London, the answer is not very encouraging. Many successful entrepreneurs and investors are fleeing for other nations, and now companies are joining the rush to the exit. […]
read more...The Center for Freedom and Prosperity Foundation, joined by 21 of the country’s most influential free-market and taxpayer groups, has sent a letter warning President Obama, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and top Congressional leaders “about the fiscal and economic risks of a value-added tax (VAT).”
read more...The Center for Freedom and Prosperity Foundation will co-host a conference on tax competition and financial privacy on October 20, 2009 from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. at the Cato Institute in Washington, DC. The conference is aimed at educating the public policy community on issues such as tax competition, financial privacy, fiscal sovereignty and corporate taxation.
read more...