In The News

Thai Junta Chief Nominated to Be Prime Minister

James Hookway August 21, 2014
Without a whimper and only three abstentions, the Thai legislature has nominated the general who seized power in May as prime minister. The king’s approval is also required, but that is considered a formality. “The 60-year-old commander has said he aims to win over voters and foreign investors, who are looking beyond Thailand and its troubles to other locations such as Indonesia and Vietnam,”...

Banks Cash In on Inversion Deals Intended to Elude Taxes

Andrew Ross Sorkin August 6, 2014
Big investment banks are financing merger deals that encourage US corporations to relocate headquarters overseas to dodge US taxes. The banks anticipate “nearly $1 billion in fees over the last three years advising and persuading American companies to move the address of their headquarters abroad (without actually moving),” reports Andrew Ross Sorkin, editor of DealBook for the New York Times....

Positively Un-American Tax Dodges

Allan Sloan July 11, 2014
Multinational firms are moving headquarters to avoid US tax rates. The US corporate tax rate is 35 percent compared to Ireland’s 12.5 percent. About 60 firms have abandoned the United States because it taxes all profits worldwide, notes Alan Sloan for Fortune magazine, and he contends the transfers undermine the US tax base, standards and respect for corporate brands: “Inverters don’t hesitate to...

Google to Spread the Web With $1 Billion Worth of Satellites

Kris Holt July 4, 2014
Google is in a hurry to extend its reach and connect the world to the internet by installing a fleet of satellites. The company that started by providing a popular search engine is investing in a range of other technologies, including alternative energies and driverless vehicles. The company also aids internet use with Project Loon, a network of high-altitude balloons, quick to build and...

South Africa’s World Cup Advice to Brazil

Andrew Harding July 2, 2014
Ahead of the 2010 World Cup, FIFA made enticing promises to the locals in South Africa. Four years later, many locals found the $2 billion dollars in infrastructure investment did not benefit South Africans. Construction was accelerated on the Gautrain train¬ – a high speed railway connecting Johannesburg and Pretoria – but its prices are out of reach for most South Africans. “Following the...

The Potential Downside of Natural Gas

Matthew L. Wald June 20, 2014
The natural gas industry suggests that reliance on its fossil fuel rather than coal will reduce carbon dioxide emissions, but the effects are difficult to quantify. A US plan to control carbon emissions at power plants centers on that promise. Natural gas produces fewer emissions than coal, but may not be superior to nuclear energy. Two consequences of replacing nuclear power with natural gas:...

China Says It Will Help Iraq

Rita Brown June 18, 2014
Iraq is OPEC’s second largest producer, and political ineptitude, sectarian violence and impending civil war threaten future oil production and global oil prices. Disruptions in Libyan production have already added to supply problems, and many had hoped Iraqi producers to step up pace. The United States led a coalition to invade Iraq in 2003 and depose dictator Saddam Hussein, and withdrew by the...