#public finances

[imperium-romanum]

Ancient Greece tells us how engaging ordinary citizens in public finance results in better budgets

Politicians assume ordinary people cannot face the financial truth. But involving voters in public finance debates helps to build consensus for reform.

“Today elected representatives take the tough decisions about public finances behind closed doors. In doing so, democratic politicians rely on the advice of financial bureaucrats, who, often, cater to the political needs of the elected government. Politicians rarely ask voters what they think of budget options. They are no better at explaining the reasons for a budget. Explanations are usually no more than vacuous phrases, such as “jobs and growth” or “on the move”. They never explain the difficult trade-offs that go into a budget nor their overall financial reasoning.”

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[pointless-letters]

"After all, Her Majesty The Queen - GAWD BLESSAH - struggles by with just the four palaces and £20m a year, so I think we'd all agree she's very well placed to advise us all on spending priorities."

[thoughtlessarse]

Immigrants cost public coffers less than citizens, Dutch study finds

The widely shared view in the current political climate that immigrants place a disproportionate burden on public coffers is incorrect, acco

The widely shared view in the current political climate that immigrants place a disproportionate burden on public coffers is incorrect, according to research by Leiden University of 15 European countries. Everyone puts a burden on public finances, both immigrants and indigenous citizens take more than they contribute. But the negative balance is smaller for immigrants, who rely less heavily on social services and insurance and contribute more through premiums and taxes, the Leiden researchers found. The Netherlands did not form part of the study, but the researchers expect a similar picture. Immigration is a loud topic of debate in many European countries, researcher Olaf van Vliet, a professor of economics at Leiden University, told NRC. “A frequently heard argument in the debate is that immigrants from Central and Eastern Europe place too great a burden on government finances and social security.” His research refutes that completely. “Most immigrants who come to Western European countries do so to work and are between 25 and 45 years old. That makes them a group that, for example, relies less on pension payments, healthcare provisions, or unemployment benefits. Due to the aging population, an increasing share of the indigenous population is relying increasingly heavily on pensions and healthcare.”

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I wonder if Europe will ever get over its racist, white supremacist shit, and realise that migrants are the answer to many problems.

[indizombie]

Official figures illustrate the continuing parlous state of public finances thanks to the coronavirus pandemic, with borrowing for February alone at £19.1bn - £17.6bn higher than a year earlier - adding to a £2.1trn debt pile, equivalent to 97.5% of GDP.

John-Paul Ford Rojas, ‘Sunak offloads £1.1bn chunk of state-backed lender NatWest’, Sky News

[thoughtlessarse]

The Coronavirus exposes the Netherlands as a tax haven – again

Governments miss out on billions of tax revenues annually as the result of tax havens such as The Netherlands. The Coronavirus pandemic tellingly shows how such tax havens undermine public policy and cohesion within the EU, argues Boris Kowalski.

The Coronavirus presents a daunting challenge to public finances. The pandemic has shown how years of austerity following the Global Financial Crisis have undermined the capacity of healthcare systems.

Governments are having to dig deep in their pockets to support overstretched healthcare systems and reinvigorate faltering economies. But while governments across the world scramble to gather public funds to fight the pandemic, tax havens such as the Netherlands do exactly the opposite.

The issue of tax paradises is a sore point among the Dutch political elite. In 2009, when President Obama’s plan for countering tax avoidance identified The Netherlands as a tax haven, Dutch policymakers were ‘shocked’ to be grouped together with tax havens such as Bermuda and Ireland.

Meanwhile, Dutch MPs on two occasions rejected motions to recognise the country as a tax haven – after the European Parliament did so – while current Finance Minister Wobke Hoekstra stated that he refuses to accept this characterisation.

For anyone outside the Dutch political establishment, however, it is clear that The Netherlands is in fact one of the biggest conduits for tax avoidance in the world.

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[tradingpublicschool]

India should keep public finances healthy, ex-RBI chief says

NEW DELHI: India must keep public finances relatively healthy to stave off a possible second wave of risks in the financial sector once the coronavirus crisis abates, said a former central bank governor. While calls for a stimulus are rising, India cannot risk a significant widening of its perpetually high budget deficit, Urjit Patelwrote in a business daily. He said the government’s recent…

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[notayesmanseconomics]

The UK Public Finances are looking strong ahead of the Spring Statement

The UK Public Finances are looking strong ahead of the Spring Statement

Today brings one of the set piece events of the UK financial year as the Chancellor of the Exchequer presents his Spring Statement. Of course it was supposed to follow a success last night for the government’s proposed Brexit deal but that did not happen. Thus the rumours about providing financial sweeteners after such a deal are likely to remain just that. However it does provide an opportunity…

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[parliamentarysovereigntyvsduguit]

#Mood jusqu’à la fin des exams

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#Mood until I’m done with the public finances exam

[I’m watching Versailles and I just burst out laughing Colbert is dying “Please tell me you did not come to talk about finances”]