Category Archives: Taxes

Another Fissure on the Left Flank for Health Care Bill

In what is becoming a typical pattern for the Obama administration, right wing opponents of some of his initiatives (like reappointing Bernanke) are finding common cause with progressives, an alliance that seemed unthinkable a mere year ago. While the left is generally behind the health care reform bill, support is far from universal. And a […]

Goldman Threatens to “Move” 20% of UK Staff to Spain to Escape Bonus Supertax

So we now have an official demonstration of what we all knew to be true: banksters giving their right to loot their companies top priority, and the greater fool public be damned, with Goldman the most egregious sinner. That firm’s self serving protestations to the contrary, it was a ward of the state, and would […]

More Evidence of Froth in China’s Housing Market

If the sky-high prices relative to income aren’t enough to convince you, consider this discussion from Patrick Chovanec (hat tip reader Michael) who contends that China’s latest effort to contain housing prices, the reinstitution of a property sales tax, is likely to be counterproductive: In China, however, “flipping” is not the problem. Some people may […]

“Does US need a second stimulus to create jobs?”

Reader Doug Smith was not happy with an article in the Christian Science Monitor yesterday, titled, “Does US need a second stimulus to create jobs? His remarks: Could you, Edward or someone consider reading this article and responding to it? My sense is that it perfectly captures ‘conventional wisdom’ and, in that sense, is a […]

Guest Post: One Reason that the Stock Market is Rising While Unemployment is Soaring

By George Washington of Washington’s Blog . Daniel Gross points out that part of the reason that the American stock markets are going up even though unemployment is rising and the real economy suffering is because multinational corporations headquartered in the U.S. are experiencing strong sales abroad: Here’s a puzzle: The stock markets are doing […]

Guest Post: California’s IOUs Offer a Way Out of Its Fiscal Crisis

Submitted by Marshall Auerback, an investment manager who also writes at New Deal 2.0: Republicans and Democrats alike embraced legislation last week that would make California IOUs acceptable payment for all taxes, fees and other payments owed to the state – an action that effectively would mean that California is entering the currency business. Some […]

Is a Value Added Tax in Your Future?

The first time I every heard of value added taxes was in the early 1970s, and all the stuff I saw then said the VAT was a bad tax, you raised as much from a sales tax with far lower administrative costs. The economic and policy literature was as one-sided as I have ever seen […]

Martin Wolf on the Need to Rein in Finance

I always enjoy reading the Financial Times’ editor, Martin Wolf, but I sometime forget how refreshing and pointed he can be when he decides to let loose at a deserving target. Today’s lesson is the almost ludicrous efforts of the financial services industry to explain why the debacle that they just foisted on all of […]

The Bad Bank Assets Proposal: Even Worse Than You Imagined

Dear God, let’s just kiss the US economy goodbye. It may take a few years before the loyalists and permabulls throw in the towel, but the handwriting is on the wall. The Obama Administration, if the Washington Post’s latest report is accurate, is about to embark on a hugely expensive “save the banking industry at […]

"An Open Letter to the Western Banking Establishment"

Reader Tim C pointed us to a post on Tim Price’s blog, “The Price of Everything,” which provides astute financial and sometimes social commentary. Below is an excerpt: Dear Western banking establishment, I notice that your unauthorised credit facility from international lenders of last resort now totals approximately $10 trillion. As a taxpayer and therefore […]

"The Tarp is a fiscal straitjacket"

This comment by Jeffrey Sachs in the Financial Times is broader than its title suggests. It says that the US should not run willy-nilly into enacting massive spending plans in haste. Sachs makes two core points: a lot of compromises are being made that will render big chunks of the plan ineffective and/or wasteful, and […]