"A mountain in which are hundreds of meters deep into the rock top-secret data stored? What sounds like a spy thriller, is located in the Bernese Oberland reality: A team of 20 minutes online, paid a visit to one of the most protected places in Switzerland." Continue reading →
"The 'fiscal cliff' legislation passed this week included $76 billion in special-interest tax credits for the likes of GE, Hollywood and even Captain Morgan. But these subsidies weren't the fruit of eleventh-hour lobbying conducted on the cliff's edge. The Family and Business Tax Cut Certainty Act of 2012 was copied and pasted into the fiscal cliff legislation, yielding a victory for biotech companies, wind-turbine-makers, biodiesel producers, film studios -- and their lobbyists. So, if you're wondering how algae subsidies became part of a must-pass package to avert the dreaded fiscal cliff, credit the Biotechnology Industry Organization's lobbying last summer." Continue reading →
"WSJ has the stats on income categories and wealth categories for Americans." Continue reading →
"Your paycheck will most decidedly go down because the bill that just worked its way through Congress failed to extend the 2% payroll tax break. But it is not the same for friends of Obama. I already pointed out that Hollywood will get a tax break, but so will Warren Buffett. Nick Badalamenti emails to point out that the bill has a tax break for railroads in it. In February 2012, Bloomberg reported that in addition to spending billions on core railroad projects, 'Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. plans to boost [other] capital spending at its railroad.'" Continue reading →
"Section 328 of the bill extends tax-exempt financing for the 'Liberty Zone,' the area around the former World Trade Center, for another year. As Matt Stoller points out, this tax provision was supposed to help fund reconstruction after 9/11. Yet a recent Bloomberg investigation found the bonds have mostly helped finance new luxury apartments, not to mention the construction of Goldman Sachs’ new headquarters." Continue reading →
"Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday granted fast-track citizenship to France’s Gerard Depardieu after the movie star complained about the French Socialist government’s proposed 75 percent tax on the rich. The decision appears to give Depardieu — a frequent guest of the Moscow celebrity circuit who nonetheless never asked for a Russian passport — the right to pay the 13 percent tax levied in Russia on everyone from billionaires to the poor." Continue reading →
"The Affordable Care Act will require employers to offer health insurance that covers their workers’ children too, the Obama administration announced on Monday. Though many companies offer family health insurance today, a narrow selection of them do not, meaning the rule will require significant changes for some in the private sector. Nevertheless, it only applies to full-time employees at companies with more than 50 workers, meaning most small businesses are exempt." Continue reading →
"Many businesses plan to bring on more part-time workers next year, trim the hours of full-time employees or curtail hiring because of the new health care law, human resource firms say. The so-called employer mandate to offer health coverage doesn't take effect until Jan. 1, 2014. But to determine whether employees work enough hours on average to receive benefits, employers must track their schedules for three to 12 months prior to 2014 — meaning many are restructuring payrolls now or will do so early next year. About a quarter of businesses surveyed by consulting firm Mercer don't offer health coverage to employees who work at least 30 hours a week." Continue reading →
"Venezuelan inflation reached 19.9 percent in 2012, the central bank said in a preliminary estimate on Saturday, beating its official target thanks to strict price controls that business leaders say are unsustainable in the long term. The government of President Hugo Chavez has capped prices for a wide range of consumer goods, helping contain inflation that has traditionally been the highest in Latin America. The 2012 target had been between 22 and 25 percent. But inflation is seen accelerating in 2013 because Venezuela is expected to devalue the bolivar currency after heavy campaign spending this year that helped ensure Chavez's re-election." Continue reading →
"Shinzo Abe, Japan’s new prime minister, has some exciting new ideas about how to make Japan’s economy grow. How about the government borrows a lot of money and spends it on building bridges and roads all over the country? If that doesn’t sound so new, it is because it isn’t. It is what Japan has been doing for 20 years, and it is the main reason why Japan is now the most heavily indebted nation on the planet. But never mind. The Keynesians agree that this policy was a roaring success, and that this is why the country needs more of it. Mr. Abe also plans to force the Bank of Japan into printing more money, and this is surely going to be a great success, too." Continue reading →