Commentary on how countries go bust, thoughts on taxation, Chinese robots, and a left-centre merger plea.

Telling it like it is. Thanks to Ross of Toronto.

Sorisomail – Godfrey Bloom

American taxes.

The Atlantic -- How We Pay Taxes: 11 Charts
I'll come right out and say it: Taxes are awesome.

Related. Thanks to David of Victoria. (ed’s note – Canadian corporate income taxes raises about $30 billion, about to 13% of total revene or 3% points of GST).

The Atlantic -- Why We Should Eliminate the Corporate Income Tax
The FT has a piece today on the administration's plans to lower the corporate income tax rate in exchange for simplification--getting rid of a bunch of deductions.

 

5 key reasons: You can't tax a corporation, you only tax people; corporate taxation encourages firms to waste resources on avoiding tax; ending corporate income tax would eliminate the special treatment for dividends and capital gains; corporate income tax doesn't raise that much; and ending corporate taxation would reduce much of the incentive for lobbying.

Canadian tax expenditures.

Pdf below – Department of Finance -- Tax Expenditures and Evaluations 2010

Why the Buffet rule is more politics than smart tax policy.

New York Times -- The Buffett Rule: Right Goal, Wrong Tool
ON Monday, while many of us were scrambling to finish our tax returns, the Senate took up the Fair Share tax, which would require people with incomes over $2 million to pay an income tax rate of at least 30 percent.

As wages rise in China the push for automation increases.

Financial Times -- Robots can solve China’s labour problem
In late March, Apple, the world’s largest company by market value, and Foxconn, the world’s largest contract manufacturer, signed an agreement to improve working hours, pay, union representation and health and safety conditions for the 1.2m workers at the Chinese assembly plants that crank out iPhones, iPads and other products.

Jean Chretien argues for a merger of the NDP and Liberals.

Winnipeg Free Press -- Chretien says Liberal-NDP merger would stabilize Canadian politics
Jean Chretien is still promoting the idea of Liberals and New Democrats merging into one federal party, despite strong objections to the NDP's approach to Quebec independence.