Business Commons^™

Tax Reform: What Are The Options?, James Simeone, Ruth Ann Friedberg, Diego Mendez-Carbajo

Roundtables

This roundtable used the claim-objection-rejoinder format to address the strengths and weaknesses of tax policy reforms brought before the public in 2005. Using a liberal arts format, the discussion aimed to help citizens understand the principles, values and tradeoffs at stake in the tax policy debate.

From Academia To Diplomacy And Back, Eng Fong Pang

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Prof Pang talked about his experiences as a diplomat in South Korea and Europe during the period 1994-2002.

"Offshore” Or “Shorn Off”: The Oecd’S Harmful Tax Competition Initiative And Development In Small Island Economies, Richard Woodward

Books/Book Chapters

The difficulties of developing and executing a sustainable development program in Small Island Economies (SIEs) are well documented. Comparatively small domestic markets, remote export markets, a dearth of natural and human resources, susceptibility to environmental change and natural disasters, plus limitations on the state’s capacity to govern economic activity have narrowed the range of feasible development strategies resulting in a reliance on sectors vulnerable to the vicissitudes of the global economy.

Land Value Taxation: Persuasive Theory But Practically Difficult, Tom Dunne

Articles

While the theoretical case for Land Value Taxation is regarded as being very persuasive, most people looking closely at the idea form the view that the practical difficulties of introducing it into an established modern economy are compelling. Nevertheless, in Europe and America the ideas put forward by George continue to influence many people discussing issues around land use planning, urban development and methods of funding infrastructure and local government.

La Alianza Cubano-Venezolana:¿”Neobolivarianismo Emancipador” O Expansión Del Totalitarismo?, Hernán Yánez

Institute for Cuban & Cuban-American Studies Occasional Papers

El estudio examina algunos de los antecedentes, así como los principales fundamentos ideológicos y de pragmatismo político que subyacen en la nueva alianza cubanovenezolana, incluido el eje político continental que Castro y Chávez intentan consolidar ahora en América Latina, según los lineamientos de un “nuevo mapa estratégico” y el financiamiento básicamente proveniente de la llamada diplomacia del petróleo de Hugo Chávez. Se subrayan ciertas coincidencias con el caso cubano, presentes en los métodos y secuencia para el ascenso al poder por Hugo Chávez, aportando además elementos de juicio sobre las etapas más tempranas de la colaboración del régimen de Castro …

The Cuba-Venezuela Alliance: “Emancipatory Neo-Bolivarismo” Or Totalitarian Expansion?, Hernán Yánez

Institute for Cuban & Cuban-American Studies Occasional Papers

This study examines the background as well as the ideological foundations underpinning the Cuba-Venezuela alliance. Castro and Chavez are now trying to consolidate a new political axis in Latin America, funded by Chavez’ oil diplomacy. Similarities with the Cuban experiment are highlighted, as well as Castro’s collaboration with the leadership of the Movimiento Revolucionario Bolivariano-MBR 200. The various dimensions of the cooperation between Venezuela and Cuba are explored, with emphasis on its political objectives and impact on each country. Following are some of the main conclusions of the study:

• Venezuela is providing in excess of 90,000 barrels of petroleum …

How Do Corporations Play Politics? The Fedex Story, Jill E. Fisch

All Faculty Scholarship

Corporate political activity has been the subject of federal regulation since 1907, and the restrictions on corporate campaign contributions and other political expenditures continue to increase. Most recently, Congress banned soft money donations in the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 ("BCRA"), a ban upheld by the Supreme Court in McConnell v. FEC. Significantly, although the omnibus BCRA clearly was not directed exclusively at corporations, the Supreme Court began its lengthy opinion in McConnell by referencing and endorsing the efforts of Elihu Root, more than a century ago, to prohibit corporate political contributions. Repeatedly, within the broad context of campaign …

Solving The Bargaining Democracy Problem Using A Constitutional Hierarchy Of Law, Clas Wihlborg

Business Faculty Articles and Research

In the “bargaining democracy” groups form coalitions that are able to grant benefits to themselves through legislation. These benefits may lack popular support. A constitutional hierarchy of conflicting laws is proposed to resolve this democratic problem. In the hierarchy more “rule-oriented” legislation dominate. The hierarchy would create a momentum of the political process towards more rule-oriented legislation and policy debate. The difficulty of defining a rule operationally is overcome by limiting the task of a constitutional court to simply rank conflicting policy actions in terms of criteria for rules.