B.C. Finance Minister Kevin Falcon said Mr. Drummond’s forensic audit of the province’s financial problems, and the tough prescriptions for recovery that flowed from it, convinced him that the tough, restraint-minded budget he was planning to bring in was the right one for the times.
Taxation
Washington’s Knack for Picking Losers: Former Obama adviser Larry Summers warned the administration against federal loan guarantees to Solyndra, writing in a 2009 email that ‘the government is a crappy venture capitalist.’
Like the mythical monster Hydra—who grew two heads every time Hercules cut one off—President Obama, in both his State of the Union address and his new budget, has defiantly doubled down on his brand of industrial policy, the usually ill-advised attempt by governments to promote particular industries, companies and technologies at the expense of broad, evenhanded competition.
Economists Promote GST on Food, Other Exempted Items
The two economists — Michael Smart of the University of Toronto and Jack Mintz, head of the School of Public Policy at the University of Calgary — say the way Canadian governments collect sales taxes is among the most inefficient in the advanced world.
A Taxing Dilemma: What’s the Optimal Rate for the Rich?
In 1980, the top 1 per cent of income earners in the United States paid income taxes equal to 1.5 per cent of the country’s GDP. The top marginal tax rate was 70 per cent. Now the top 1 per cent pays income taxes equal to 3.3 per cent of GDP. The top marginal tax rate is 35 per cent. From a halving of the top tax rate, in other words, came a doubling of revenue.
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The Renewable Part of Hydrogen is the Hype
Once again, the world is staging ClimateFest 26, aka the United Nations Conference of the Parties, where peddlers of alternative energy schemes try to plunge their dippers into the river of climate change funding that flows around the world. This funding is generated...
Small Gestures Speak Louder than Great Deeds
The age-old expression that actions speak louder than words conveys an important insight: character is best judged through action. Anyone can say or promise anything but doing requires ability and skill, discipline and commitment. So, the simplest test of character is...
Soak The Rich, Lose The Rich
States aren’t simply competing with each other. As Texas Gov. Rick Perry recently told us, “Our state is competing with Germany, France, Japan and China for business. We’d better have a pro-growth tax system or those American jobs will be out-sourced.”
The Budget – What You Should Know
The basis of a free society is limited Government. The most obvious interference in the life of the ordinary person is the capacity for the Government to forcibly take money from them to spend on projects. Unless we restrain that capacity, we can be sure the power will be abused and the size of Government will expand.
Ignatieff Must Keep Jean Chretien’s Economic Legacy Alive
Now it’s Ignatieff’s turn to decide which direction his party will take. Which Liberal predecessor will he emulate? Will he follow the lead of Dion or Chrétien? Will he advocate policies which would lead to a more expansive and costly government, or will he seek to restrain and limit government’s growth?
Blond On Blonde: Mrs T’s Unassailable Legacy
She gave people the confidence to buy shares, to start their own businesses, to move on and up in society – and there was more social mobility under Margaret Thatcher than there has been since. She was a liberator, and she gave the Labour party such an intellectual thrashing that they ended up changing their name.
2009: The Year of the Pig
Research Director Mark Milke notes how 2009 is quick becoming the year where businesses max out on government subsidies—though it will do nothing for jobs or the economy.
Spending Won’t Turn Economy Around This Year–But Tax Cuts, Federal Frugality Just Might
Reduce government spending and tax rates, and trust the people to spend their money more efficiently than politicians and bureaucrats would. Unlike government spending, this approach actually works. In the early 1980s, it turned the worst recession in 40 years into the greatest boom.
Moderate Taxes May Lead to Civilization
Director of Research Mark Milke notes how studies which claim taxes are a good deal, but don’t analyze value, are themselves a bad deal.
Follow The Kiwi Leader, Not Obama
Paradoxically, the raft of hasty public spending initiatives implemented across the world may hold back recovery if households and markets become increasingly alarmed about higher future taxation, interest rates and inflation.
Knee-Capping the Competition
This paper examines the tax inequity that arises in Canada as a result of the general tax exempt status for Crown corporations. The legal and constitutional basis for this status, how the courts have interpreted and applied it and how governments have or have not attempted to deal with this inequity is outlined. A fairly simple and uniform legislative solution is then proposed.