Austerity

The IREF with “Contribuables Associés”, the largest French taxpayers association, published a study showing how fiscal pressure destroys employment. The main figures of the study reveal the Government lethal action on companies and jobs:

– 12.2 bn € of new corporate taxes
– Tax burden making a 0.5% GDP decrease
– 99.500 jobs destroyed in 2012, 160.000 scheduled t be destroyed in 2013
– 70.000 jobs destroyed because of tax burden increase in 2013
– 21.5% in big companies and 78.5% in middle and small business

Read the study in French: La Boîte à outil de François Hollande détruit l’emploi

The May Newsletter explains the austerity concerns heralded during April, the European Banking Union issue, the coming implementation of the Tobin Tax and the fact that there was no major banking fatalities during the month.

The French Cour des Comptes (National Audit Office) published this Monday a new report on public finances. Without surprise, the ambition to limit the budget deficit to 4.4% of GDP in 2012 is confirmed to be unrealistic. An extra six to ten billion euro would be necessary in order to meet this commitment, and this is without taking into account the new promises and expenses scheduled since François Hollande’s election. Meanwhile, the new financial Minister Pierre Moscovici, keeps claiming his profound hostility to austerity and budget cuts.

In recent years, the Baltic States have been showcased as an austerity success story. While the whole world has seen countries such as Greece, Spain and Portugal struggling to reduce their public spending, Lithuania has been hailed as an austerity example. Lithuanian success in public spending cuts has been widely acknowledged; yet simultaneous tax increases and their harmful effects have received less attention. Since the end of 2011, however, the country once again found itself embroiled in a budget crisis and is now moving down the dangerous road of tax hikes.

is the amount that a new austerity plan is supposed to save to Italian public finances. The plan aims to bring Italy’s public deficit down to 0.2% of GDP by…