Product Description
This comprehensive Guide provides readers with a practical command of the basic concepts and issues surrounding U.S. taxation of international transactions, with an emphasis on essential areas that businesses and their financial advisors need to understand.
This fifth edition of the Practical Guide to U.S. Taxation of International Transactions has been completely revised to reflect the current state of U.S. international tax law after passage of the American Jobs Creation Act of 2004. It covers the repeal of the extra-territorial income (ETI) regime and its replacement by the domestic production deduction, the new temporary dividends-received deduction, modifications to the foreign tax credit, changes to the anti-deferral regimes, the tightening of tax rules on expatriation of individuals and more!
Topics include:
Tax jurisdiction
Source of income rules
Foreign tax credit
Transfer pricing
Anti-avoidance provisions
Governing foreign corporations
Foreign sales corporations
Foreign currency translation and transactions
Tax treaties
Planning of foreign operations
Foreign persons investing in the U.S.
Foreign persons doing business in the U.S
Contents
PART I: BASIC PRINCIPLES
Tax Jurisdiction
Source of Income Rules
PART II: U.S. TAXATION OF FOREIGN INCOME
Foreign Tax Credit
Deemed Paid Foreign Tax Credit
Transfer Pricing
Anti-Deferral Provisions
Cross-Border Reorganizations
Export Benefits
Foreign Currency Translation and Transactions
Anti-Avoidance Provisions Governing Foreign Corporations
Tax Treaties
Planning for Foreign Operations
PART III: U.S. TAXATION OF FOREIGN PERSONS
Foreign Persons Investing in the United States
Foreign Persons Doing Business in the United States
Planning for Foreign-Owned United States Operations
PART IV: INTERNATIONAL TAX PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE
International Tax Practice and Procedure
Customer Reviews:
An indispensabel guide for practitioners.......2007-10-18
The authors deliver an indispensable and valuable guide for international transactional and tax professionals. The analytics, coupled with the use of text and graphics will appeal to a wide range of readers!
Average customer rating:
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U.S. Regulation of the International Securities and Derivatives Markets
Edward J. Rosen ,
Leslie N. Silverman ,
Daniel A. Braverman , and
Sebastian R. Sperber
Manufacturer: Aspen Publishers
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ASIN: 073554218X |
Book Description
Now you can navigate the complex legal world of international securities and derivatives with this all-new fourth edition of an expert guide to today's global financial markets. You'll find clear analysis of the legal framework for all types of cross-border securities offerings by U.S. and non-U.S. issuers - from U.S. registered ADR programs and private offerings to international issues and highly structured instruments.
U.S. Regulation of the International Securities and Derivatives Markets offers authoritative answers to just about any question you'll face on such topics as:
* Recent legal developments affecting foreign access to U.S. capital markets
* The distribution of securities outside the U.S.
* How foreign companies can access U.S. capital markets
* How U.S. regulations affect foreign issuers of securities traded in the U.S.
* New trends in private offerings and the effect of Rule 144A
* How public offerings of securities made abroad can be exempt from registration requirements of the Securities Act
* How the U.S. regulates investment advisors
* How foreign banks and their affiliates doing business with the U.S. are regulated
* How various categories of derivative instruments are classified under U.S. securities and commodities laws
* New initiatives by the SEC, the Federal Reserve Board and the CFTC to facilitate the increasing pace of cross-border activity
* And much more
Customer Reviews:
Very good.......2000-05-31
I have used an earlier edition of this book to get some background for academic work. Very thorough and very clear.
Average customer rating:
- Tax Reform means more tax litigation
- Cancer of Corruption in a Mountain of Malfeasance
- Unbridled Imagination
- Horrifying Problem - Worse Prognosis
- Much painful truth in a book with title off target
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The Power to Destroy
William H. Nixon , and
William V. Roth
Manufacturer: Atlantic Monthly Pr
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0871137488 |
Amazon.com
When Senator William V. Roth Jr., the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, initiated an oversight investigation of the Internal Revenue Service in 1996, it was the first time in two generations that the agency had been subject to serious review. The proceedings brought to light horror stories of taxpayers subjected to the IRS's unrelenting bureaucracy, stories recounted in the pages of The Power to Destroy. The book also discusses how these hearings led to the passage of the Internal Revenue Service Reform and Restructuring Act of 1998, which "brings greater balance to the relationship between the IRS and the taxpayer--offering tools that taxpayers can use to ensure fairness for themselves and tools the Service can use to better police and protect the integrity of its operations." But, as Senator Roth and his executive assistant admit, this can only be the beginning of continued reform.
Customer Reviews:
Tax Reform means more tax litigation.......2004-09-16
In 13 years, Congress has passed almost 80 tax bills. To understand the impact of this expansive nature of tax regulation lets look at the impact of the "Tax Relief Act of 1997: 285 new sections and 824 amendments. In the early, 20th century the tax code spanned 5.5 million words requiring 17,000 pages.
Tax Reform does not slow the stream of tax revenues going to the government treasury nor does it reduce the tax burdens. Tax Reform codifies administration practices, management decisions, documenting behavior and conduct, and analyzes the execution and application of the internal revenue law. Congress levies taxes. Congress drives the demand for higher taxes. The reform act oversees the execution of the collection of those taxes. The Reform Act of 1998 provides congressional oversight of the IRS restructure through a new entity, the Internal Revenue Service Oversight Board.
Accountability to Congress and the President of the United States is done through a new Board of Directors, a Commissioner of Internal Revenue appointed to a few year term, and a National Tax Payer Advocate (Independent from the IRS examination, collections, and appeals functions). The National Tax Payer Advocate eliminates the Chief Inspector and creates a Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration and reports directly to the Secretary of Treasury.
Tax Reform means better use of technology. The 1998 Tax Reform mandated that the IRS must address training, operations, technology culture, and tax payer education. The IRS was to develop a strategic marketing plan for a paperless filing service. Technology can reduce costs by increasing more self-service by the Tax payer. Convenience and accessibility will appeal to the taxpayer. Technology is a fix cost appropriation and should be measured to improve tax payer satisfaction. Convenient access to information is crucial to the taxpayer.
The Tax Reform does not mean less tax litigation. The reform act claims to shift burden of proof from the taxpayer to the agency. The taxpayer must expense for legal services to fight against injustices. If the tax court rules that the tax payer acted reasonably, tax payers may claim civil damages up to $1 million for the recklessness or intentional wrong doing of the IRS agency. The burden of proof is not decisively shifted from the tax payer to the agency. The taxpayer must still demonstrate and prove recklessness. The agency could argue it was following approved procedures. A federal court would be force to rule on the policies fairiness. The litigation cost would be enormous.
The reform act of 1998 allows the tax payer the right to recover $100,000 for employee negligence, and increases the amount the IRS reimburses taxpayers who prevail in court.
The IRS is required to notify a taxpayer within five days that a lien has been filed against his or her property. The taxpayer has 30 days to request a hearing with an agency appeals officer.
The agency cannot proceed with seizure activity until after the hearing has been held, and a taxpayer who does not like the outcome may take the case to tax court. Tax Reform could mean more tax cases being litigated in tax court.
No seizure of a dwelling that is the principle residence of the taxpayer is allowed without prior judicial approval.
Cancer of Corruption in a Mountain of Malfeasance.......2003-09-01
Roth's book reveals much about the world's most feared, most hated, most powerful, and most corrupt criminal organization. While some of the material is dated, the underlying problems are still with us.
The book, due to its date of publication, doesn't reveal, for example, the OMB finding that IRS employees stole over 4300 government computers in 2001 nor does it reveal the results of a 2003 investigation that shows when they aren't busy stealing computers, IRS employees are spending over half their Internet time at the office visiting porn and gambling sites. Because of the date of the research, Roth doesn't include references to many news articles about how IRS employees devote themselves to terrorizing American citizens, selling confidential information, breaking laws with impunity, and running scams like the famous Hoyt Fiasco (well-documented online).
Yet, the book is very useful and important. In it, Roth reveals how individual managers in the IRS are completely unaccountable to any civil authority. He gives case after case of horrendous abuses.
Roth also reveals the steps taken to reign in some of the abuse, and he explains some things ordinary citizens can do to protect themselves. But he also leaves us with an awareness that the IRS is still too powerful, too unaccountable, and too corrupt.
The book should be required reading. An update is long overdue.
Unbridled Imagination.......2002-05-27
As a later GAO investigation revealed, Senator Roth's 1997 hearings on the IRS were a farce. The witnesses' stories of abuse were exaggerated at best, falsified with the connivance of the Senator and his commitee staff, at worst. His book, ghost written by a staffer, (I didn't know the Senator was literate!) should be listed here under "fiction." Its all bull - pandering to marginal and disaffected losers who wear aluminum foil inside their hats. Thankfully, the good citizens of Delware voted the rascal out in 1999, sending him and his horrible toupee back to the obscurity to which he so deservedly belongs.
Horrifying Problem - Worse Prognosis.......2001-08-23
I read this book as an ancillary to my study of government abuses that primarily focused on the abuses of the Department of Justice. What I found out was that the FBI, ATF and other heavily armed law enforcement agencies that violate our rights from time to time are relative wimps compared to the pervasive and unbelievably egregious wrongs committed by the IRS.
The author of the book is a US Senator that headed a congressional oversight hearing looking into the problems in the IRS from '96 to `99. What he found will make you mad as hell and twice as frustrated. Basically he found out that the IRS has become a law unto itself that has grown into a mean-spirited 800 lb. gorilla that cannot now be controlled under the present form of the law.
Roth admits that this mess is the fault of the Congress in its shameful lack of oversight. He notes that basically Congress has given the IRS increasingly sweeping powers without accountability to the point now that they can break the law with impunity.
The book cites many horrifying anecdotes of IRS abuse of citizens' rights and basic human decency all in the name of "making the numbers". The IRS is nothing more than a legalized gang of shakedown artists who use intimidation, fear and nasty mean-spiritedness to squeeze every penny out of the taxpayer that they see as an enemy that must be brought to its knees.
What I found worse than the realization that the government is basically a criminal organization and that the representatives have allowed it to go on was the fact that they now have limited ability to control or reform the IRS. Like a Frankenstein monster that has broken loose and cannot be controlled, the IRS is now so well equipped with sweeping powers that the courts, Congress and certainly we are helpless to its whim despite so called sweeping IRS reform bills passed by Congress in the last four years.
So, in effect, the author shows us what a mess he and his political cohorts have made over the last fifty or so years and then admits that there isn't a heck of a lot that can be done other than limit your profile so the IRS doesn't notice you in the first place. He also talks about your "rights" and how you should act politely and professionally while the IRS is sticking it in and breaking it off even though the preceding 2/3rd of the book were about how the IRS basically ignores taxpayers' rights. While practical in a clinical sense this advice bothered me because it reminded me of the advice you'll get from cops sometimes regarding crime in general: "just give them what they want and they might not hurt you".
Come on! Why the hell aren't these thugs in jail? How can a US Senate committee sit there and hear this kind of testimony, see the figures and get admissions from the IRS itself that this kind of crud is going on and not start slapping on the cuffs? I was really disgusted by this book and it basically sums up what I feel is wrong with our government in general. Forget about "jack-booted thugs" with machine guns kicking down your door in the middle of the night; worry about some bureaucratic piss ant from the IRS with a calculator deciding that you are an easy mark to make his numbers for the month.
Man, what a mess!
Much painful truth in a book with title off target.......2001-06-29
A friend just faxed me the review by Robert Cole III Three Cheers for Robert. As valuable as this book is to read, its title prompts me to state this book has the power to mislead. Robert hits the nail on the head. The Federal Crime Family (IRS) does not legally have the power implied by the title of this book. What logic would there be to giving power to an agency to administer their collection tasks under a law based on self assessment and voluntary compliance? The author paid the price of not getting re-elected after five consecutive terms in the Senate.
Customer Reviews:
Excellent explaination of the past and future.......2000-02-23
of American politics as we now know them today. After you read this book, you will understand what a republican is and a democrat is. It deeply explains what has happened to the minorities in our country and does make a good arguement how the 1964 Civil Right Act has been the catalyst to the current situation we have today. This book has made me more politically aware then ever before, and aided me in making a more educated decision of where I stand on the political continuim. This is an undervalued book on the market today, and is a great bargain for the knowledge it will give you of contemporary America.
Product Description
Provides law teachers with a relatively simple, easy to use casebook to teach U.S. international taxation. The field is notoriously complexmore so, perhaps, than any other area of Federal tax law. The focus is on how the details of the tax law fit into a broader structure, which is described in the introduction. Enables students to fit the particular issues they are working on into a larger context, to develop an intuition for where the problem areas may lie.
Book Description
One hundred eighty million Americans file income tax returns, almost as many complain about the system, yet few understand the underlying social and economic outcomes. This book carves open the belly of the income tax for Americans who never have had the opportunity to learn about it, and empowers Americans to make informed judgments about what income tax laws would be best. John Fox explains how the laws represent the most comprehensive expression of official government values. Fox also elucidates how special relief provisions far exceed in sheer dollars and importance programs funded directly through the federal budget, and why these special provisions typically fail to advance tax justice or economic growth. Fox presents a compelling argument that our nation's interests would be best served by overhauling the system through reforms that eliminate all but the most essential special relief provisions, while reducing tax rates across the board. Such reforms, he argues, are far more compatible with principles of liberals and conservatives than is today's system. Part primer, part manifesto, If Americans Really Understood the Income Taxis sure to open the eyes of tax-paying Americans and earn the respect of policy experts.
Customer Reviews:
Only the FairTax Outfoxes Fox.......2005-05-12
John Fox says the values of our government are represented in the tax system and that Congress has pursued social and economic programs through the tax system by using deductions and credits that amount to 3 trillion dollars (in 2000) of un-taxed income.
John Fox obviously loves the FairTax. The FairTax does all those things and more, repealing the income tax, employee taxes, corporate taxes and more while fully funding the US government. Everyone also gets a monthly rebate so noone pays any tax at all up to the poverty level.
Fox says the U.S. would have a stronger economy without these provisions. He suggests doing away with all but the most essential special relief provisions, and implementing a simpler tax code that would reduce taxes for all brackets.
If we get rid of the income tax and become the first nation on earth to NOT tax productivity, "outsourced" jobs return and foreign companies come to America to do business.
Everything John Fox advocates is taken just a step farther with the FairTax.
Must read.......2004-07-06
John Fox's take on taxes is a must read for anyone who cares about tax equity and the well-being of the body politic. When I first studied taxes as an employee of the California Legislature -- now nearly four decades ago -- we learned that simple equity -- equal treatment of equals -- was the first principle of a fair and just tax system; absent equity the system would be manifestly unfair and eventually would lose its legitimacy, the greatest danger a democratic republic can face. As Fox points out,that's exactly what's happening with modern tax policy -- regressive, unfair, unjust are the attributes that leap out at you. But Fox does more than point the finger of blame; he offers constructive suggestions to get the system back where it belongs, to restore fairness and legitimacy.
Income Tax Ignorance.......2002-03-16
Plain and simple, the Amercan people know nothing when it comes to Income Taxes.They know nothing about their Constitutional Rights with regards to the Income Tax and they do not know how to use the three Internal Revenue Code Sections in the Prvacy Act Notice in the 1040 instruction booklet. An old saying is quoted by judges; "Ignorance of the Law is no excuse". The very first IRC section in the Privacy Act Notice is 6001. Most people would not know where to search for the information of this code section. The very first sentence implies Liability. In looking in the Index of the IRC under Liability for Tax, you will find all of the subjects that are taxed. Income is NOT one of them. For tax purposes, Income is defined by the Supreme Court as a Gain or Profit earned by Privlege. Every citizen of the USA has a Right to work for compensation. I rated this book low and the little bit of expose offered is proof that the author does not know or implies he does not know the Truth about the Income Tax.
Income Tax Ignorance.......2002-03-16
Plain and simple, the Amercan people know nothing when it comes to Income Taxes.They know nothing about their Constitutional Rights with regards to the Income Tax and they do not know how to use the three Internal Revenue Code Sections in the Prvacy Act Notice in the 1040 instruction booklet. An old saying is quoted by judges; "Ignorance of the Law is no excuse". The very first IRC section in the Privacy Act Notice is 6001. Most people would not know where to search for the information of this code section. The very first sentence implies Liability. In looking in the Index of the IRC under Liability for Tax, you will find all of the subjects that are taxed. Income is NOT one of them. For tax purposes, Income is defined by the Supreme Court as a Gain or Profit earned by Privlege. Every citizen of the USA has a Right to work for compensation. I rated this book low and the little bit of expose offered is proof that the author does not know or implies he does not know the Truth about the Income Tax.
My wife took my copy and I will have to buy another........2001-05-20
This is an excellent book. It has been written in a comprehensive style that can enlighten taxpayers as well as tax professionals. Every one can benefit from the collected information and well-conceived opinions of Mr. Fox. This book can serve as a wellspring to initiate questions, debate, or perhaps a citizen's revolt against our present archaic, confusing, and unequal tax system. Mr. Fox has obviously been working on this book for several years, but his phenomenal foresight has placed this brilliant work in our hands at just the right moment when we consider the major tax law changes now being considered by the U.S. Executive and Legislative branches of our government. The proposed changes could have a profound negative effect on our children and us. In the 18th century American citizens had a tea party in Boston because of unfair taxes. What will our generation do? Whimper and complain or become informed and proactive?
Amazon.com
Whittle away the dense academic prose, and the message of The Cost of Rights is disarmingly simple: as Robert A. Heinlein once put it, "There ain't no such thing as a free lunch." If legal rights are to be considered meaningful, argue coauthors Stephen Holmes and Cass Sunstein, the existence of a government is required to first establish and then to enforce those rights. Running a government costs money; therefore, paying taxes is necessary in order to support the communal infrastructure that upholds individual rights. Each of the book's 14 chapters is essentially a variation on this theme, considering the proposition with regard to property rights, the effect of scarcity upon liberty, or the ways in which religious liberty contributes to social stability, all leading back to the conclusion that "government is still the most effective instrument available by which a politically charged society can pursue its common objectives, including the shared aim of securing the protection of legal rights for all."
Book Description
To "fight for your rights," or anyone else's, is not just to debate principles but to haggle over budgets. The simple insight that all legally enforceable rights cost money reminds us that freedom is not violated by a government that taxes and spends, but requires it--and requires a citizenry vigilant about how money is allocated. Drawing from these practical, commonsense notions, The Cost of Rights provideThe Economist).
Customer Reviews:
An Excellent Overview.......2004-03-20
The authors present a well written view of how the exercise of individual rights cost money if those rights are to be accomplished reasonably and in the abscence of armed force on the part of the individual. A number of previous reviewers have sanctimoniously and self righteously assumed for the book objectives far beyound its meager size and intent. I suspect they are the usual (1) "no gummint is good gummint" and (2) "no taxes is good taxes" types who feel that God, or something, made them exempt from cooperating with other people - a general description of so-called libertarians and far-right conservatives. In other words, their rights are paramount and they have no responsibilities or accountability. That road appears by magical thinking, as did garbage delivery and the sheriff's department in their view. They don't owe anyone anything for any reason, and they will shoot you to prove it. Sounds like they did not get socialized in K-12. Read the book for its intent, which is to object to "no gummint and taxes" movement in the US over the past decades which has brought us a really sorry pass and nearly into a form of fascism light. Holmes and Sunstein have done a great service here by raising substantive counter arguments to the "screw you, I got mine" groups in this era.
Revealing Explanation of the Necessities of Taxes.......2003-05-06
While it wasn't the most exciting book I've read, "The Cost of Rights" was a refreshing twist on the taxes issue. It challenged opponents of the current tax system or any tax system to think critically on the subject. I felt that Holmes' and Sunstein's approach was more effective than a listing of statistics. Rather than explaining economic reasons for taxes, they brought it to a level that related more to readers. Everyone has a reason to be interested in the preservation of his or her own rights. Without taxes for government support, we could not be guaranteed equal representation before the law. Taxes pay for law enforcement and other government services that are vital to our liberty. Without taxes, no one would every truly own property. Taxes serve as the standard for American's to exist and be governed by. They do not discern our morals, but instead preserve our rights. In "The Cost of Rights", the case for taxes was presented in such a way that I couldn't see liberty without some sort of tax system.
and what about this property rights business???.......2002-05-15
"How does capitalism affect liberty?
Private property is in many ways like a private form of state. The owner determines what goes on within the area he or she "owns," and therefore exercises a monopoly of power over it. When power is exercised over one's self, it is a source of freedom, but under capitalism it is a source of coercive authority. As Bob Black points out in The Abolition of Work:
"The liberals and conservatives and Libertarians who lament totalitarianism are phoneys and hypocrites. . . You find the same sort of hierarchy and discipline in an office or factory as you do in a prison or a monastery. . . A worker is a part-time slave. The boss says when to show up, when to leave, and what to do in the meantime. He tells you how much work to do and how fast. He is free to carry his control to humiliating extremes, regulating, if he feels like it, the clothes you wear or how often you go to the bathroom. With a few exceptions he can fire you for any reason, or no reason. He has you spied on by snitches and supervisors, he amasses a dossier on every employee. Talking back is called 'insubordination,' just as if a worker is a naughty child, and it not only gets you fired, it disqualifies you for unemployment compensation. . .The demeaning system of domination I've described rules over half the waking hours of a majority of women and the vast majority of men for decades, for most of their lifespans. For certain purposes it's not too misleading to call our system democracy or capitalism or -- better still -- industrialism, but its real names are factory fascism and office oligarchy. Anybody who says these people are 'free' is lying or stupid."
Unlike a company, the democratic state can be influenced by its citizens, who are able to act in ways that limit (to some extent) the power of the ruling elite to be "left alone" to enjoy their power. As a result, the wealthy hate the democratic aspects of the state, and its ordinary citizens, as potential threats to their power. This "problem" was noted by Alexis de Tocqueville in early 19th-century America:
"It is easy to perceive that the wealthy members of the community entertain a hearty distaste to the democratic institutions of their country. The populace is at once the object of their scorn and their fears."
These fears have not changed, nor has the contempt for democratic ideas. To quote one US Corporate Executive, "one man, one vote will result in the eventual failure of democracy as we know it." {L. Silk and D. Vogel, Ethics and Profits: The Crisis of Confidence in American Business, pp. 189f}
This contempt for democracy does not mean that capitalists are anti-state. Far from it. As previously noted, capitalists depend on the state. This is because "[classical] Liberalism, is in theory a kind of anarchy without socialism, and therefore is simply a lie, for freedom is not possible without equality. . .The criticism liberals direct at government consists only of wanting to deprive it some of its functions and to call upon the capitalists to fight it out amongst themselves, but it cannot attack the repressive functions which are of its essence: for without the gendarme the property owner could not exist." {Errico Malatesta, Anarchy, p. 46}.
Capitalists call upon and support the state when it acts in their interests and when it supports their authority and power. The "conflict" between state and capital is like two gangsters fighting over the proceeds of a robbery: they will squabble over the loot and who has more power in the gang, but they need each other to defend their "property" against those from whom they stole it.
The statist nature of private property can be seen in "Libertarian" (i.e. minarchist, or "classical" liberal) works representing the extremes of laissez-faire capitalism:
$Qf one starts a private town, on land whose acquisition did not and does not violate the Lockean proviso [of non-aggression], persons who chose to move there or later remain there would have no right to a say in how the town was run, unless it was granted to them by the decision procedures for the town which the owner had established" {Robert Nozick, Anarchy, State and Utopia, p. 270}
This is voluntary feudalism, nothing more. Of course, it can be claimed that "market forces" will result in the most liberal owners being the most successful, but a nice master is still a master. To paraphrase Tolstoy, "the liberal capitalist is like a kind donkey owner. He will do everything for the donkey -- care for it, feed it, wash it. Everything except get off its back!" And as Bob Black notes, "Some people giving orders and others obeying them: this is the essence of servitude. . . . {F}reedom means more than the right to change masters." {The Libertarian as Conservative}. That supporters of capitalism often claim that this "right" to change masters is the essence of "freedom" is a telling indictment of the capitalist notion of "liberty."
Simple assumptions, refreshing insights.......2002-02-05
As the authors say at some passage in the text, biblically simple ideas can make a profound difference. They say this when it comes to stress the importance of values like truth, honesty and integrity. We could also say the same about "loving your neighbor as yourself", the core of equality and reciprocity. This book is an example of how you can do much by sticking to simple assumptions. I must say that I appreciate Sunstein and Holmes a lot, and try to read all that thy write.
Steven Holmes and Cass Sunstein have made a strong case, in this and their other writings, that while we can appreciate and defend free enterprise, private property, private media, free exercise of religion, and so on, we still need a strong State to impose liberal constraints on private power.
In fact, that's what classical social contract theory is all about. The State is created by a social contract to protect individuals from one another, since the state of nature is a state of war between men, in which man is a wolf to other man.
Historically, the liberal revolutions were fought against not only absolute monarchs, but also against authoritarian churches, catholic and protestant, that used State power as a secular arm ("braccio seculare") to impose their own dogmas to believers and non believers, thus excercising an undue "power over the hearts of man" (Baruch Spinoza).
While we should advocate a strong marketplace of ideas (including religious ones), and while we should appreciate religion contribution to civic virtues, we still have to protect our liberal institutions from ilegitimate attempts to get these institutions under the control of iliberal and anti-liberal religious dogmas that want to fight equal religious liberty for all citizens and groups alike, believers and non-believers, men and women, adults and children, black and white, gay and straight. That's what separation of religious communities and State is all about.
When we think of Enron, for instance, we realize that corporations can be a Leviathan to many defenseless citizens, by totally destroying their life savings and prospects, with profound psicological consequences. That's plain evil. More, we realize that some already rich man will evade their duties of citizenship and civility (v.g. the duty of paying taxes) to get even more rich.
I am in favor of a strong market economy. It allows for human creativity, it creates wealth, it creates habits of work, trust and tolerance, it decentralizes authority, and by doing this it can further human rights.
But I think that only a robust liberal State, with strong legislative, administrative and judicial branches, can counter the threat to liberty, security and well being that some corporations here and there may represent. Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely, as Lord Acton said. Only a strong liberal State can make, market economy both possible and credible.
Originally liberals are defenders of the State, an institution tipical of a civilized society. John Locke is the main example here. The liberal State is a mark of rationalization and civilization, as german philosopher G.F. Hegel would put it. That's why Oliver Wendell Holmes used to say that taxes are the price we pay for a civilized society. I totally agree with that. Liberal thought fears both authoritarian states, weak states or anarchy. In all these situations the strongest will prevail at the expense of the weak.
Of course much needs to be done to better the State, to make it more just, transparent and efficient. A lot can be done, if there is the political will to do this. One of the reasons why state reform is so difficult has to do with the way private interests, lobbies, and naked preferences take the dominance and try to use the monopoly of legitimate coercion to further their own ends. That's why a civic republican liberalism is so important when it comes to reform the State.
I think there is plenty of room for a strong and commited "intelligent design movement" in politics and institution building that is able to come up with liberating public institutions that support a liberating private sphere.
But one thing is certain: evading the cost of rights will, in the end, be evading their benefits too. Sunstein and Holmes... we got it.
credulous and non-analytical people will think the book deep.......2001-12-06
I'm sure that this book provides comfort for the credulous and non-analytical thinkers who want to be reassured about authoritarian opinions that they currently have, but for inquisitive readers, the book falls apart.
The authors' premise is that all rights cost money to enforce, and therefore rights are a good purchased by society for the individual, and therefore are in the same class as entitlements. The policy prescriptions that flow from this are two-fold: (1) entitlement spending ( a "right" to housing, top-notch medical care, etc., even if one never raises a finger to do a day of work) are rights that may not be denied, and would only ever want to be denied by selfish rightists; (2) traditional rights (free speech, free association, etc.) are created by society, and enforced by society, therefore have costs, and may be constrained in the interests of economy.
Most transparent sectarian political screeds at least resort to the rhetorical fallacy of argument from authority: basing an argument on the fact that Jefferson, or Madison, said it first. These authors don't even do the work to commit that fallacy; they merely assert their opinions.
An example: they assert that the right to not to have property arbitrarilly confiscated is granted by the government (as opposed to existing before the government, and continuiing under it), and that the government must thus fund anti-corruption investigators and judges in order to grant this right. They entirely miss the fact that the right under question would not even be under fire if it were not for an early government policy of supporting confiscation. This realization transforms their false argument about rights into the more factually correct statement that "if the government implements one flawed program, then it follows that we may need yet another program to keep the first in check".
The fact that perhaps both programs could be trashed is not even considered.
All in all, this book is a [...] piece from two authors unwilling to argue their point on either a philosophical or utilitarian basis, and instead depend on unsupported assertions and illogical thinking.
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The Evolving Pension System: Trends, Effects, and Proposals for Reform
William Gale
Manufacturer: Brookings Institution Press
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ASIN: 0815731175 |
Product Description
When the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) was passed in 1974, the world of pensions was very different from today. Then, most pensions were packaged as defined benefit plans--the employer guaranteed a certain level of income to the employee on retirement. But from the 1980s on, in part because of ERISAs regulatory structure, but also because of job mobility and other factors, pension coverage increasingly meant defined contribution plans, with the burden of investment and outcome placed on the worker. For the most part, however, pension coverage has remained stagnant since the early 1980s, many low-wage workers have no pensions, and many small employers do not provide such retirement options. The Evolving Pension System, divided into three parts, examines the foundations and the future of Americas private pension system. It provides a broad overview of the underlying characteristics and economic effects of existing pension policy, as well as alternative views on how public policy toward pensions should evolve in the future. Part one examines the goals, features, and the effects of legislation affecting pensions, including the dramatic shift from defined benefit to defined contribution plans. Part two discusses how pensions affect the economic picture, and part three offers some prescriptions for broad-based pension reform.
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Defending America: Military Culture and the Cold War Court-Martial (Politics and Society in Twentieth Century America)
Elizabeth Lutes Hillman
Manufacturer: Princeton University Press
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ASIN: 0691118043 |
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From going AWOL to collaborating with communists, assaulting fellow servicemen to marrying without permission, military crime during the Cold War offers a telling glimpse into a military undergoing a demographic and legal transformation. The post-World War II American military, newly permanent, populated by draftees as well as volunteers, and asked to fight communism around the world, was also the subject of a major criminal justice reform. By examining the Cold War court-martial, Defending America opens a new window on conflicts that divided America at the time, such as the competing demands of work and family and the tension between individual rights and social conformity.
Using military justice records, Elizabeth Lutes Hillman demonstrates the criminal consequences of the military's violent mission, ideological goals, fear of homosexuality, and attitude toward racial, gender, and class difference. The records also show that only the most inept, unfortunate, and impolitic of misbehaving service members were likely to be prosecuted. Young, poor, low-ranking, and nonwhite servicemen bore a disproportionate burden in the military's enforcement of crime, and gay men and lesbians paid the price for the armed forces' official hostility toward homosexuality. While the U.S. military fought to defend the Constitution, the Cold War court-martial punished those who wavered from accepted political convictions, sexual behavior, and social conventions, threatening the very rights of due process and free expression the Constitution promised.
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