Quote from TraDaToR:Tired of my fellow Europeans
Unnecessarily so! "The European Commission said Thursday it will soon propose an EU-wide minimum tax on the use of automobile fuel, coal and natural gas â an idea it had until now resisted. EU spokeswoman Emer Traynor said a
"carbon tax" was a "priority" issue for Algirdas Semeta, the new EU commissioner for taxation." [
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100304/ap_on_bi_ge/eu_eu_carbon_tax ]
In fact, when we read the mission statement of the new Commissioner for Taxation, a long-standing (1992-7) Chairman of the
Securities Commission of the Republic of Lithuania, we read that even though he believes that tax systems should "support environmental and social goals", at the same time must "reduce compliance costs" and "[remove tax obstacles when it comes to
economic transactions in other Member States." (UK's Stamp Duty springs to mind, because 40% of its revenue comes from taxing non-UK residends). And indeed, the tax policy should be "green", "including a new approach to energy and CO2 taxation, in order to contribute to the important global efforts to address climate change". [source:
http://ec.europa.eu/commission_2010-2014/semeta/about/mandate/index_en.htm ]
With all due respect for those "social goals", Mr Semeta sounds like an improvement even over his already "sound" predecessor, Mr Covacs! A clearly pragmatic, rationally thinking (and writing) man - it is good to see that
quants are back
(Semeta graduated in 1985 from Vilnius University's Faculty of Economic Cybernetics and Finance with a degree as an economist-mathematician). So as long at he stays at the steering wheel (until 2014, but do ask his driver to check for brake fluid
, any emotional, non-evidence-based motives can be safely ruled out from the EU Commission's taxation policy (if they were ever a threat in an organization so far removed from electorate pressures).
Let's just hope that "innovative financing at a global level," mentioned by him in his first ECOFIN speech means precisely the same as above: the "carbon tax", and not something else. After all, he thinks that it is "essential to aim at the end of cross-border company tax problem such as double taxation, lack of cross border loss relief and
onerous transfer pricing rules". So even though he speaks against "uncooperative jurisdictions, including tax havens, and against bank secrecy", at the same time rules out taxation which would hamper EU competitiveness, such as an unilaterally imposed EU-only FTT (previously floated by that "new Frenchmen" Commissioner for financial services, M. Barnier), because as Semeta puts it, "Europe needs to
boost competitiveness and growth as a core priority".
So it looks like this man is the last one in the entire E.C. to come up with Tobin (1978) "sand in the wheels" ideas: "The
proper functioning of the internal
market therefore lies at the very heart of my priorities ... reducing red tape and administrative burdens ... reduction of compliance costs and the definition of clear, simple rules, both in the direct and indirect tax areas ... the
end of cross-border company tax problem such as double taxation ... citizens should also be
freed from the tax obstacles they still suffer in
cross border situations "... I suppose a Tobin tax would qualify for one! [source:
http://ec.europa.eu/commission_2010-2014/semeta/headlines/speeches/2010/02/speech_1602b.pdf ]
Notice also that Mr. Semeta used to be Lithuania's Finance Minister (twice, from Dec 2008 to Jun 2009, and from Feb 1997 to Jun 1999), and the country "has established a rather attractive tax regime for share transfers", including total
lack of any burdens on share transfers, not only transaction taxes ("Lithuania does not apply transfer taxes to the transfer of shares in Lithuanian companies."), but any other fees or levies or duties ("Since it is sufficient to execute the share transfer by a simple written agreement, parties to a transaction do not incur notary fees. Further, in terms of VAT, the share transfer is regarded as a VAT-exempt transaction.") [source:
http://www.sorainen.com/file.php?17332 ]
Given the above prediction, now use the trusted "reverse method" and conclude that it will be M. Barnier (the pro-Tobin Frenchman responsible for [destroying the] financial services, with whom Semeta is forced to cooperate), who will prevail in the end, and the EU will scrap what can indeed work, i.e. the carbon tax, in favor of what wins votes in a recession for some neosocialists, embarking on an unilateral socioeconomic experiment which already failed in many countries such as Sweden... In an uncertain world, that guess is just as good as the previous, rational one
Even black swans can sometimes go red... (
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_..._Ten_Principles_for_a_Black_Swan_Robust_World ).
