by Linda Beale David Cay Johnston has noticed a tax giveaway through FERC [hat tip to Tax Prof; edited to correct typo and provide links] David Cay Johnston, writing in Tax Notes, has focused on a tax giveaway that most of us have missed–a provision that permits partnerships that own pipelines to charge consumers for […]
The House-Senate conference committee on financial reform takes up the derivatives issue tomorrow. Will they adopt the Senate version (which covers 90% of derivatives according to the CFTC) or the House version which is riddled with loopholes and covers only 60% of derivatives trading?
by Rebecca Wilder GIIPS labour costs not moving in the “competitive” directionThe GIIPS (Greece, Italy, Ireland, Portugal, and Spain) hope: exports. Fiscal austerity crimps the saving of the private sector. And provided the governments make good their plans to put on the fiscal straight-jacket, there’s no other impetus for growth except foreign demand. Financial crises […]
Hilary Doe, the National Director of the Roosevelt Campus Network, spoke this week at the National Academy for Social Insurance conference in Washington, DC. She thinks ahead to the year 2040 — and fighting to keep Social Security around. Think 2040 is the Roosevelt Institute sponsored platform for Millenial generation input into the whole debate. […]
by Bruce Webb Those of us who follow the Obama Deficit Commission and its seeming hyper-focus on cutting Social Security were heartened last week by what turned into a veritable de-pantsing of Commission co-Chairman Alan Simpson in the course of an 8 minute video interview outside the (closed) doors of the Commission by Social Security […]
Lest readers fall asleep about the idea of proxy access, take note of the Business Roundtable reaction. Business Roundtable voices discontent: Ivan G. Seidenberg, chief executive of Verizon Communications, said that Democrats in Washington are pursuing tax increases, policy changes and regulatory actions that together threaten to dampen economic growth……The final straw, said Roundtable president […]
The NYT has a story on what look to be ‘ruthless’ bankruptcies in store for companies who sought or were forced to take too much leveraged debt: American companies currently have more than $1.7 trillion in S.&P.-rated bonds and loans maturing from 2011 to 2014. The total debt load coming due will climb steadily over […]
Rdan here…The following post is the first of a possible four concerning shareholders, that magic group of owners of publicly traded companies which is invoked as beneficiaries of actions and policies by company officers and Boards. While many readers are well versed in shareholder doings, we also have readers less versed in how this is […]
This idea was lifted from an e-mail exchange with Noni Mausa this morning. The following well seasoned joke reminds me of political communications among the people who write the copy for our leaders: A carpet layer had just finished installing carpet for a lady. He stepped out for a smoke, only to realize he’d lost […]
All the fuss still ignores main driver of popularity says Steve Korniak at Salon: That’s because, for all the talk about whether he gave away too much on healthcare or hasn’t reacted angrily enough to the oil spill, Obama (like every president) is a prisoner to the economy. As long as the unemployment rate remains […]