Australia: An Arguement for Tax Simplification

Although this articles could have appeared in one of dozens of national newspapers across the developed world, this recent article in The Age (Australia), makes a cogent case for reducing the complexity of the income tax system, and…

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Russia: A Great Historical Survey of the Progress Since 1990, and Where it May Lead!

An inefficient economy, semi-Soviet social sphere, fragile democracy, negative demographic trends, and unstable Caucasus represent very big problems, even for a country such as Russia.  But all is not lost, nor is it all negative.  This article is…

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Standards of Corporate Governance are Improving in South Africa

The impact of the Companies Act (South Africa) and “King III Report” on corporate governance reform, will serve to strengthen and clarify the roles and responsibilities of directors in South Africa.  This will have the effect of attracting…

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South Africa: Sasol Falls Short of First Round BEE Ownership Target

Legislation introduced four years ago, obligated South African mining companies to sell 15% of their assets to black investors by 2009 and 26 percent by 2014. The law aims to compensate for discrimination suffered during apartheid, which ended…

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UAE Scraps Minimum Capital Requirement for Business Formation

In a positive move towards economic liberalization, the UAE has declared its intention to scraps the minimum capital requirement of Dh150,000 to start a business (i.e. approximately USD$41,000.00 or CDN$44,000.00).  The UAE is further committed to revising and…

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Detroit Confidential: Government Policy May be Destructive to the Production of Goods

This Detroit News editorial focus on the generally unacknowledged, and perhaps unintended, consequence of government intervention, extending as far as putting domestic production at a competitive disadvantage.  Current government economic rescue initiatives may not constitute “central planning” with…

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South Africa: Why BEE is a Relative Success

The much lauded and at times controversial Black Economic Empowerment (“BEE”) program in South Africa is moving from the embryonic legislative phase to the more matured and evolving stage of observance and enforcement.  Here is a fascinating article…

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U.S. Continues to Lose Jobs, While Canada Gains

The good news is that the rate of job losses in the US is slowing; however, the overall rate continues to increase. Bloomberg – U.S. Economy: Payroll Losses Slow, Unemployment Rate Climbs Contrast this with: Statistics Canada said…

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Canada will apply existing foreign ownership laws to PetroChina’s Oilsands Bid

The government of Canada has publicly stated that foreign ownership review legislation shall apply to PetroChina’s bid to buy Canadian oil sands assets, but will not introduce further barriers to investing in the country.  Current regulations call for…

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South Africa: Stiff New Penalties for Price Collusion

The Competition Amendment Bill (South Africa) was signed into law this past weekend.  The new legislation will allow directors and managers to be sent to jail for 10 years or receive a fine of 45,000 euros if convicted…

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