One of the most important things about Eurobonds is that they are, unlike many other types of bonds, not taxed at source. In other words, when investors in a bond receive interest payments (which is a form of income) they...
Despite common misconception, the European Union does indeed allow member states to decide their own rates of VAT on a number of categories of goods and services. In 2009 the EU amended this Directive to allow all member states to permanently reduce...
A report published in the United States in 2014 concluded that property tax is often identified as taxpayers' "most hated tax," surpassing both income tax and sales tax in their low estimation. Not that governments seem to be aware of...
When a country fails to pay its creditors on time, it is said to go into default, the national equivalent of going bankrupt. When a country goes bust, the pain is felt on very deep levels. The most basic systems and...
Since its creation, economists who are familiar with GDP and SNA methodology have emphasized that GDP is a measure of economic activity, not economic well-being. In 1934, Simon Kuznets, the chief architect of the United States national accounting system, cautioned against equating GDP growth...
Over the last decades, the lines between public and private, corporations and government have become uncertain, as more and more things that have traditionally been part of our commons, and controlled by the government, are being sold off to the...
A nation's finances depend on tax and customs administration, so such administrations would seem to be inappropriate candidates for privatization. Nevertheless, some countries have experimented with privatization because their tax administrations have become centers of corruption and incompetence.
