Category Archives: Taxes

America / Debt / Economy / Fiscal Cliff / Fiscal policy / Politics / Tariffs / Taxes / Trade / U.S. Domestic Policy

Recession Risk in 2025: A Weighted Logit Model with Policy Insights

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An overheating economy, high policy uncertainty, and declining consumer confidence pose recession risks of 53 percent as of April 2025. This paper employs a weighted logit model to aid policymakers in early intervention. Key indicators include consumer expenditure, yield curve, disposable income, and economic policy uncertainty, enhancing prediction accuracy in recession modeling. Continue reading →

Tax / Taxes

The Possible Effects of Pillar Two Taxation on the United States

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Executive Summary  Introduction  The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) proposed a two-pillar international taxation agreement aimed at taxing digital companies and reducing profit shifting. Pillar two aims to create a minimum international corporate tax of 15% on multinational companies that bring in revenue of over €750m a year ($810 million). This tax can … Continue reading →

Economy / Fiscal policy / Tax / Taxes

Tax Cut-Implications for Behavioral Economics

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Richard H. Thaler, professor of behavioral science and economics at the University of Chicago, won the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences this year “for his contributions to behavioral economics.” This is a relatively new field that combines the idea of psychology and economics. Standard economic models assume that humans are rational actors. However, behavioral economists … Continue reading →

Clinton’s Financial Transaction Tax – A Solution Seeking a Problem
Economy / Presidential Race 2016 / Taxes

Clinton’s Financial Transaction Tax – A Solution Seeking a Problem

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Should she win in November, Hillary Clinton’s platform on financial services will likely serve as the financial policy roadmap for the next four years. Notable within Clinton’s Wall Street plan, released last October, is a call for a financial transaction tax (FTT) on high-frequency trading (HFT). A financial transaction tax is an excise tax on trades … Continue reading →

Monsanto: The Latest to Flee from the Harmful U.S. Corporate Tax Rate
Economy / Fiscal policy / Taxes

Monsanto: The Latest to Flee from the Harmful U.S. Corporate Tax Rate

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There is no question that Monsanto has a controversial reputation.  It is the country’s leading producer of genetically modified seeds, and consequently the largest target for anti-GMO activists.  Now, critics are balking at Monsanto for entirely unrelated reasons: the Missouri-based firm recently announced its plan to buyout a Swiss chemical manufacturer and make the joint … Continue reading →

Exchanging Trash for Treasure
Economy / Environment / Fiscal policy / Tax / Taxes

Exchanging Trash for Treasure

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The Michigan state government recently stumbled across a startling statistic. Over the past decade its revenue streams were $8-10 million below what it expected. The cause? Residents of nearby states have been smuggling millions of bottles and cans into Michigan, taking advantage of its nation-leading 10-cent bottle refund. Michigan is one of 10 states nationwide … Continue reading →

U.S. Businesses Dodging Taxes? IRS Pulls Reins Tighter
Economy / Regulation / Tax / Taxes

U.S. Businesses Dodging Taxes? IRS Pulls Reins Tighter

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The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the U.S. Department of Treasury issued a Notice (Notice 2014-52) last Monday that would further their efforts to prevent U.S. companies from using an increasingly prevalent tactic known as inversion to lower their tax bill. Conventionally, an inversion is a negotiation in which a U.S. multinational company restructures with a foreign … Continue reading →