In his testimony on Capitol Hill, the economist Russel Roberts is exposing the reasons why the The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) has not the anticipated by government effect on jobs creation. He is pointing out that given the lack of success so far and the role uncertainty plays in the decision-making of entrepreneurs, investors and consumers, doing less might, paradoxically, be more successful than doing more, especially if the “more” that is done works in the wrong direction.
Wanna know how much is the US Government spending right now? Or how fast US debt growths? You should add US.Debt.Clock.org on your favourite websites.
Professor J. Garello speaking about his last book :
Recent study of the European Commission on taxation trends confirmed the position of Slovakia among the countries with the lowest tax burden in European Union. With total 29,4 % share on GDP, Slovak government imposed the second lowest taxes upon its economy in 2007. Share of direct taxes on GDP has been the lowest in the whole union.
The Fitch rating agency on Tuesday downgraded Greece’s long-term debt ratings as well as those on four of the country’s largest banks, describing prospects for Greek public finances as negative. Greece is now exposed to the risk of losing the small amount of credibility it still has in front of its creditors. The concerns are growing about its ability to pay its huge public debt, estimated to 110% of GDP and budget deficit above 12.7% of GDP. A look at the evolution of the external debt of Greece is illustrating the concern of credit rating agencies and international financial markets:
While the world is moved deeply by the Copenhagen climate summit, several voices are disturbing the surrounding enthusiasm. The so-called climate skeptics have seen their cause promoted by the recent Climategate affair, which revealed that eminent climate scientists subverted the results of their research, and some other key data for the global warming theory seem to have been fiddled.
The Heritage Foundation launches a campaign against the dreaded estate tax (also known as the “death tax”) in the US. In the coming weeks, Congress will once again take up debate on the death tax, which expires for one year, beginning on January 1, 2010, before coming back in full force on January 1, 2011. Some in Congress are eager to prevent the death tax from expiring for even one year. Those that don’t want the tax to die will likely argue for a one-year extension of the tax at its current rate and exemption levels.
What is in danger today – the climate or our liberty? The Czech President Vaclav Klaus makes the case that policies being proposed to address global warming are not justified by current science and are, in fact, a dangerous threat to freedom and prosperity around the world. IREF is editing the French version of the book in cooperation with Contribuables Associes.
Twenty four countries in the world have already adopted the flat tax. The taxe rate is going from 10% (in Bulgaria, Albania, Kazachstan and Mongolia) to 25% (in Litva and Jamaica). One of IREF’s main proposals is to introduce a 15% flat tax in France.