David Wessel's incredible tale of how Washington works-and why the rich keep getting richer-starts when a Silicon Valley entrepreneur concocts an idea that will save money on his taxes and spins it as a way to ostensibly help poor people. He organizes and pays for an effective lobbying effort that pushes his idea into law with little scrutiny or fine-tuning by congressional or Treasury tax experts-and few safeguards against abuse. With an unbeatable pair of high-profile sponsors, bumper-sticker simplicity and deft political marketing, the Opportunity Zone became an unnoticed part of the 2017 Trump tax bill. The gold rush followed immediately thereafter. In Only the Rich Can Play, Wessel follows the money to see who profited from this plan that was supposed to spur development of blighted areas and help people out of poverty: the Mandalay Bay Hotel in Las Vegas, the Portland (Oregon) Ritz-Carlton, the Mall of America, and self-storage facilities-lucrative areas where the one percent can park money profitably and avoid capital gains taxes. And the best part: unlike other provisions for eliminating capital gains taxes (inheritance, for example) you don't have to die to take advantage of this one. Wessel provides vivid portraits of the proselytizers, political influencers, motivational speakers, consultants, real estate dealmakers, and individual money-seekers looking to take advantage of this twenty-first century bonanza. He looks at places for which Opportunity Zones were supposedly designed (Baltimore, for example) and how little money they've drawn. And he finds a couple of places (Erie, PA) where zones are actually doing what they were supposed to, a lesson on how a better designed program might have helped more left-behind places. Readers will feel outraged as Wessel gives us the gritty reality, the dark underbelly of a system tilted in favor of the few, with the many left out in the cold.

A comprehensive review of the practical implications of the numerous recent cases on swaps and derivatives.

This collection offers a comparative overview of how financial regulations have evolved in various European countries since the introduction of the single European market in 1986. It includes a number of country studies which provides a narrative of the domestic financial regulatory structure at the beginning of the period, as well the means by which the EU Directives have been introduced into domestic legislation and the impact on the financial structure of the economy. In particular, studies highlight how the discretion allowed by the Directives has been used to meet the then existing domestic conditions and financial structure as well as how they have modified that structure. Countries covered are France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Estonia, Hungary and Slovenia. The book also contains an overview of regulatory changes in the UK and Nordic countries, and in post-crisis USA. This comparative approach raises questions about whether past and more recent regulatory changes have in fact contributed to increase financial stability in the EU. The comparative analysis provided in this book raises questions on whether the past and more recent changes are contributing to increase the financial stability and efficiency of individual banks and national financial systems. The crisis has demonstrated the drawbacks of formulating the regulatory framework on standards borrowed from the best industry practices from the large developed countries, originally designed exclusively for large global banks, but now applied to all financial institutions.

This book provides a comprehensive collection of Cases and Materials On Marine Insurance Law. The sources included here are not always readily accessible. Each chapter is introduced with a brief resume of the general principles,before the facts of each case are summarised and the extracts of the relevant parts of judgments reproduced. The significance of the judicial extracts, the statutory materials and standard terms are then discussed with particular emphasis on important and problematical areas of the law.This book will be indispensable not only to postgraduate students of law, in-house lawyers, insurance brokers and claims adjusters, but also to students of maritime studies, legal practitioners and a wide range of professionals within the shipping industry who may wish to have at hand a convenient source of information. Whilst the book is a companion to the authors The Law of Marine Insurance, it is also structured to stand as a marine insurance text in its own right.

Fiscal reforms have been an integral and essential component of the structural adjustment programmes implemented in the least developed countries (LDCs) since the 1980s. The need for fiscal reform in the LDCs was motivated by the accumulation of unsustainable fiscal deficits, constraints on the availability of external finance, the adverse impact of distortionary tax systems on economic efficiency and deficiencies in public administration. Fiscal reform in the LDCs encompassed deficit reduction, the restructuring of the tax system, and the reform of public administration and public expenditures.The empirical research in this volume provides an analysis of the experience of the fiscal reforms carried out since the early 1980s in four different LDCs - Bangladesh, The Gambia, Malawi and the United Republic of Tanzania. The case studies examine the nature and budgetary impact of the fiscal reforms in these countries, assess the extent to which reforms have achieved their objectives and discuss the major obstacles to the success of fiscal reform. The empirical studies are supplemented by a chapter outlining the contribution which economic theory can make to the design of optimal tax and expenditure systems in developing countries and to the implementation of fiscal reforms. An overview chapter, which also serves as an introduction to the volume, discusses the reasons why LDCs have embarked on fiscal reforms, summarizes the salient findings of the country case studies and assesses the lessons which can be learnt from these empirical studies.

This study explores the formation of the European Union's tax policy and asks why member states did not raise objections to it. Firstly, it examines the "Europeanization" of domestic tax policy in Italy and the UK, asking how domestic policy has changed and what is meant by "Europeanization". Secondly it puts the European Union tax policy in the wider context of tax globalization. Will the liberalization of capital movement, tax havens and the flexibility of multinationals in managing their taxable incomes wreck the European Union's fragile tax policies? In addressing these issues the study finds that knowledge is one of the most important resources in the European corporate tax process. It highlights the political problems raised by the search for rules, principles and appropriate levels of tax co-ordination and concludes that the European Union should re-consider its tax policy with new arguments.

This book, from a top international group of scholars, explores the ways in which economic tools can be used to improve the quality of regulation in general and legislative tools in particular. As the role of law becomes increasingly important in China, the question arises of how effective regulatory and legislative tools can be developed to accompany the Chinese evolution towards a welfare state. China therefore provides a unique case study for scholars and policymakers interested in examining how regulation can play a role in promoting sustainable development. Economics and Regulation in China goes beyond traditional economic analysis of law by focusing specifically on the question of how economic tools can guide the quality of legislation. To this end, the book centres in on three areas: regulation as a tool of economic growth, competition policy and environmental policy. Not only are these three domains of great importance for China, but they are also relevant for a broad scholarship interested in the economic analysis of law. This volume contributes to discussions on how ex-ante evaluation of legislative proposals and ex-post analysis can increase the effectiveness and efficiency of regulation, using economic tools, offering insights that go beyond the particular case of China. The analysis offered by this book makes it an invaluable resource for academics and policymakers alike.

This work deals with the liability of the holding company for the debts of its insolvent subsidiaries. In analyzing the current position under English law, the work challenges as outmoded and inadequate the virtual dogma that a holding company is not answerable for the debts of its insolvent subsidiaries. The study identifies four separate and distinct types of behavioural practices within corporate groups which may prejudice the interests of external creditors or otherwise constitute an abuse of the corporate form; the subservient subsidiary situation; the inadequately financed subsidiary situation; the integrated economic enterprise situation; and the group persona situation. After weighing the various arguments for and against a change in the law and concluding that reform is called for, the study proceeds to submit some radical proposals for reform. The basic thrust of the reform proposals is that in a number of well-defined situations entity law should give way to an enterprise analysis and holding company liability should be imposed for the debts of insolvent subsidiaries.

First published in 1997. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor and Francis, an informa company.

The debate regarding the increased funding of higher education has focused on specific issues - such as whether higher education should be financed through general taxation and the implications of collecting fees later in life through the use of a tax surcharge - while largely ignoring the important economic interdependencies which affect them.In The Economics of Higher Education, John Creedy explores the economic foundations of the debate and focuses attention on the process of government decision-making including the precise way that these decisions are affected by the possible external effects of higher education. This book addresses the key issues in the debate using a fully specified model which allows for dispersion of abilities, the individual's decision to invest in higher education and the government's choice of higher education grant, along with the government's budget constraint. This model is also used to consider the effects of alternative tax and grant systems on the distribution of lifetime income within a cohort of individuals, and is extended to allow for the general equilibrium effects of other social transfers to the low paid, along with means testing of grants. The non-technical introduction discusses the author's approach, the framework of analysis and the conclusions which he has reached. As a rigorous analytical contribution to a major public policy debate, this book will be welcomed by policymakers and educationalists, as well as by teachers and researchers in the field of public economics.

The 21st century witnessed major changes in the financial environment surrounding bank regulators and banks. Banking and Monetary Policies in a Changing Financial Environment delves into three of these developments and challenges. The first change in the financial environment relates to the rise in the number and sophistication of financial and economic crimes which shaped the international regulatory architecture. New rules and regulations led to the creation of new strategies to combat these crimes, especially those concerning the spread of more advanced money laundering methods and techniques, terrorist financing after the 9/11 attacks, and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. The second development concerns the global financial crisis of 2008 which drastically affected the regulatory environment of various international and domestic financial authorities causing major changes in bank lending and corporate governance policies, and in the development of the Basel III accord on capital adequacy for bank supervision. The third development manifests itself in the creation of a major European monetary union without a fiscal union and a giant European central bank impacting the conduct of monetary policy. This book combines theory, policy, regulation and institutional approaches with empirical testing, analyzing applications and case studies of various international regulatory authorities and administrations, countries and jurisdictions, central banks and commercial banks. This volume is suitable for those who study international finance, Banking and white collar crime.

The phenomenon of 'agencification' describes the EU legislator's increasing establishment of European agencies to fulfil tasks in a variety of EU policies. The creation of these decentralised administrative entities raises a number of questions; for example, on the limits to such delegation of powers, on the agencies' institutional development and possible classification, and on the role of comitology committees as an institutional alternative. This book examines the EU's 'agencification' with regard to these questions, on the basis of and with reference to which the focus is laid on the European agencies operating in the field of financial market risk governance. This analysis not only encompasses the three European Financial Market Supervisory Authorities (the ESAs), but also takes into account the institutional change brought about by the Banking Union, more specifically the Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM) and the Single Resolution Mechanism (SRM). While the SRM sets in place a new European agency, the Single Resolution Board (SRB), the SSM establishes and empowers a new body within the organisation of the European Central Bank (ECB), the Supervisory Board. By exploring the organisation, the tasks and the powers of these actors in financial market regulation and supervision, the book points at the current peak of the institutional development of European agencies and assesses organisation and unprecedented powers with a view to their compliance with EU law, in particular the Treaties and the respective case law of the European courts. As an evaluation of various aspects of the progressing centralisation of regulatory power on the EU level, which is exercised by an increasingly decentralised administrative apparatus, this book will be of great interest and use to students and scholars of EU law, financial law and regulation, and European politics.

Complementary to Theism and Cosmology, this book begins with a discussion of philosophical and theological idea-ism, and our common beliefs concerning nature, man, and God. It is principally concerned with idealism - the place of ideals in reality rather than with the place of ideas. It discusses personality, justice, value, morals and theism versus pantheism then ends with a discussion of the general relations between a cosmological theism and a theism whose primary interest is the conservation and the incarnation of what is good and fine.

In the UK today the form and content of accounts published by limited companies are closely regulated. In the 19th century the position was different: the popular view was that such matters were for private negotiation between owners and management. Nevertheless, there was a great deal of discussion of the need for regulations, which were actually imposed in a number of areas. This book provides readers with the essence of the many debates that took place, the conclusions reached and the action taken to regulate company accounts.

Financial markets have become acknowledged as a source of crisis, and discussion of them has shifted from economics, through legal and regulatory studies, to politics. Events from 2008 onwards raise important, cross-disciplinary questions: must financial markets drive states into political and existential crisis, must public finances take over private losses, must citizens endure austerity? This book argues that there is an alternative. If the financial system were less 'connected', contagion within the market would be reduced and crises would become more localised and intermittent, less global and pervasive. The question then becomes how to reduce connectedness within financial markets. This book argues that the democratic direction of financial market policies can deliver this. Politicising financial market policies - taking discussion of these issues out of the sphere of the 'technical' and putting it into the same democratically contested space as, for example, health and welfare policies - would encourage differing policies to emerge in different countries. Diversity of regulatory regimes would result in some business models being attracted to some jurisdictions, others to others. The resulting heterogeneity, when viewed from a global perspective, would be a reversal of recent and current tendencies towards one single/global 'level playing field', within which all financial firms and sectors have become closely connected and across which contagion inevitably reigns. No doubt the democratisation of financial market policy would be opposed by big firms - their interests being served by regulatory convergence - and considered macabre by some financial regulators and central bankers, who are coalescing into an elite community. However, everyone else, Nicholas Dorn argues here, would be better off in a financial world characterised by greater diversity.

A decade after the Global Financial Crisis and Great Recession, developed economies continue to struggle under excessive household debt. While exacerbating inequality and political unrest, this debt - when combined with wage stagnation and a shrinking welfare state - has played a key role in maintaining economic growth and allowing households faced with rising costs of living to make ends meet. In Bankruptcy: The Case for Relief in an Economy of Debt, Joseph Spooner examines this economic model and finds it increasingly unsustainable. In a call to action to reduce debt burden, he turns to bankruptcy law, which is uniquely situated as a mechanism of social insurance against the risks of a debt-dependent economy. This book should be read by anyone interested in understanding the problem of consumer debt and how best to address it.

This book contains edited versions of thirty British legal cases involving accounting issues decided from 1849-1888. These cases are a valuable source of information about the development of accounting principles and practices in nineteenth-century Great Britain. The thirty cases show that the court decisions involved a rich variety of accounting issues. In some cases courts upset private contractual stipulations regarding accounting and dividend matters. In others, management was held to have used incorrect principles in computing profits. Whether or not a contract or management decision was upset, the courts often discussed at some length the principles that management should apply in the preparation of balance sheets or income statements. It is therefore obvious that in resolving issues of equity among participants in British companies, the courts were applying normative accounting principles.

The Insurance Act 2015 represents the first major reform of English commercial insurance law for many years. Its impact will be felt not only in England, where it will greatly affect both maritime and commercial insurance practice, but also elsewhere where English law is the law of choice in insurance contracts. The Insurance Act 2015: A New Regime for Commercial and Marine Insurance Law analyses in depth the key aspects of the Act and extensively restates and modifies a number of legal principles applying both at common law and under the Marine Insurance Act 1906. Offering much more than the usual commentary on legislation, this book provides critical in-depth analysis of the important topics as was all coverage of areas likely to spawn disputes in future. Written by leading practitioners and academics in the field, this book offers comprehensive, coherent and practical legal analysis of the changes introduced by the Insurance Act 2015. It is a key point of reference for practitioners, insurance professionals and academics.

For centuries, warranties have played a significant role in the law of marine insurance and in this book Baris Soyer offers a comprehensive and authoritative examination of warranties in marine insurance. The book sets out the current law on marine insurance warranties as well as exploring the legal remedies available when a marine insurance warranty is breached. The third edition is bought up to date with significant discussion of recent case law including: Kosmar Villa Holidays v. Trustees of Syndicate; Pratt v Aigaion Insurance Co; and Argo Systems FZE v. Liberty Insurance (Pte) with a view to identifying their impact on established legal principles. The third edition also further develops the chapter on the interpretation of express warranties. Developments to the interpretation of marine and commercial insurance contracts are analysed, and the book considers the dividing line between express warranties and similar terms such as suspensory provisions which have been further complicated in recent judgments.The book goes on to address the reform of the law on warranties in marine insurance and will critically analyse the reform proposals expected from the English and Scottish Law Commissions in 2013 and their likely impact. This book is essential reading for postgraduate students and academics in international commercial law and marine insurance law as well as insurers and legal practitioners.

The European Banking Union and the Role of Law offers a comprehensive and unique examination of the European Banking Union's (EBU) impact on existing legal disciplines and assesses the role of law in shaping the EBU framework. With expert contributions from academics, practitioners and EU officials, this thought-provoking book provides different perspectives on the Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM) and the Single Resolution Mechanism (SRM). Evaluating and proposing original interpretations on the EBU at a key stage of its development in the European Union, this book assesses topical issues relating to the institutional and administrative rules of the EBU, the interpretation and application of banking law, supervision and resolution frameworks, judicial rules and protection in the EBU. The book is structured into three parts: a general overview of the EBU framework and specific reflections on both the SSM and the SRM. The contributions show that the EBU is a successful European integration project, yet challenges still lie ahead. This topical and engaging book will be an important resource for practitioners, and public servants in the financial sector. Academics and students of financial law and European law will also find this book a valuable read. Contributors include: K. Alexander, G. Barrett, M.P. Chiti, A. de Gregorio Merino, D. Fromage, P. Fucile, S. Gleeson, R. Ibrido, G. Lo Schiavo, A. Miglionico, C.A. Petit, P. Schammo, M. Schillig, R. Smits, N. Xanthoulis

In the last twenty years a critically important debate has dominated international tax scholarship: whether an international tax regime exists and if countries are constrained by it within their own tax legislation. This debate has had major implications on the current post-financial crisis efforts by governmental organizations, such as the G20 and OECD, in drafting multilateral international tax rules. This research review draws upon the most important papers published in the last two decades to comprehensively address the increasingly relevant issues of international tax law.

This book contains 53 nineteenth century American legal cases in which courts discussed accounting issues. Some are well known: Wood v. Drummer (1824) was the foundation for the idea that capital could not be returned to shareholders and it was this restriction which made it necessary to distinguish between income and capital. The famous case of 1849, Burnes v Pennell is often cited as the source of the rule that dividends cannot be paid except from profits. However, many of the cases covered in this book are not well-known. It is often assumed that few American legal cases on accounting matters were decided in the nineteenth century. However, many of the 53 cases included here preceded the earliest British legal cases that discussed accounting issues and they are interesting for several reasons. They show that government regulation of accounting pre-dated the modern regulatory ear. They also illustration that sometimes private contracts specified a particular accounting treatment and that accounting, therefore, served to define private rights. They also illustrate that American courts discussed accrual accounting problems as early as 1837 and that a cash concept of profits was not the norm.

First Published in 1991. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.