The Group of Seven (G7), which consists of seven wealthy democracies including Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK, and the US, met over the weekend to consider a ‘global minimum corporate tax rate’. A new minimum rate of at least 15% was tentatively agreed on.
A Sorry Excuse for a Stimulus Package
Congress will soon be passing a new Covid-19 stimulus package worth nearly $900 billion. This new package provides relief for individuals that are unemployed by extending federal unemployment insurance programs as well as providing an additional $300 per week benefit. It also includes loans for businesses, testing and vaccine funds, as well as funding for schools.
Offshore Tax Havens
The collective decision to integrate within the global economic system, like the revocation of the mercantilist Corn Laws in 1846 (Kevin O’Rourke, 1999), propelled states further into interdependency and drastically improved their economies.
The Government Spending Crisis: Part I
Over the course of many years, U.S. citizens have sat idly by and watched as the US government tries to spend its way out of an increasing portion of our nation’s problems. As our spending increases along with our national debt, we will eventually have to bring ourselves to ask the same two questions that we all ask ourselves when we find we’ve made a mistake: What went wrong and how do we fix it?
Trade Liberalization vs. Protectionism: Pros & Cons
Globalization has always instigated debate and disagreement. It’s blamed for the decay of state sovereignty, the rise of transnational organized crime and economic degradation. It’s constantly used as a scapegoat by politicians and world leaders who want to justify cases of economic and social race to the bottom phenomena in their respective nations, and it’s generally used as an easy excuse to defend failures and downsides. Regardless of these accusations, however, it’s important to note that the benefits of globalization and liberalization vastly overshadow their discontents, especially in the context of trade and economic growth.