Shaw Capital Management Korea: Competitive tax system in UK

 Now consider UK taxation. Already under this current UK government tax, and stealth taxation in particular, has become the soft default option. By the mid-2000s the top marginal rate of tax including all imposts, whether on wages or consumption, had reached 60%, the average tax rate was 40% and the marginal tax rate on the average person 43%. Now that the explicit top rate of income tax has gone over 50%, the top rate has gone up to around 67%. So far for the average worker not much has changed since the mid-2000s. However, further rises in tax rates from these levels are not an option and indeed they must be cut, for two reasons. The first reason concerns the ‘Laffer Curve’; which computes the extra revenue raised for every rise in the marginal tax rate. This curve reaches a peak at some fairly moderate marginal tax rate because of the effect on effort and tax evasion.

All informed observers, including the Institute of Fiscal Studies which is generally in favour of higher taxes and redistribution, agree that the 50% new top tax rate will not increase revenue and will probably lower it for this reason. The second reason concerns growth. Growth comes from the innovative activities of entrepreneurs, who are extremely sensitive to marginal tax rates because their activities are risky and any gains uncertain; the more these are taxed the less the expected return and if this drops below some threshold they will not bother at all.

The UK needs both to make the fiscal adjustment on the spending side by reviving old-style Treasury control and then quickly bring their tax system back into the land of reasonable incentives, following that up with reforms ‘flattening’ the marginal tax rates across the economy and income groups.

Estimates of the effects on growth of marginal tax rates are for obvious reasons uncertain; but the sort of effect that comes out of empirical studies is an elasticity of one third, i.e. for every 10% reduction in tax growth would rise by 3% (e.g. a reduction of the marginal tax rate from 40% to 36% would raise growth from 2.5% to 2.58%). This effect seems small but it accumulates into something large. So in short the UK needs both to make the fiscal adjustment on the spending side by reviving old-style Treasury control and then quickly bring their tax system back into the land of reasonable incentives, following that up with reforms ‘flattening’ the marginal tax rates across the economy and income groups.

The supporting role of monetary policy this fiscal adjustment, however gradually brought about, is going to be a fairly grim process and it will dampen growth further. It will require the efforts of the monetary authorities to support the economy through it, without pushing inflation over the target.

At present the bank credit is not expanding, whereas a growing economy requires bank credit growth usually of twice or more times the GDP growth rate. The Bank of England is keeping interest rates low but has suspended the printing of money (‘quantitative easing’), even though bank credit growth has not responded. But it may well need to restart it. This is something the UK will need to watch and if, as seems likely, inflation falls back to well below the target and the economy falters under fiscal retrenchment, and the Bank of England will need to take steps to get the broad money supply growing again. As we have noted before, other channels for money appear to be working in substitution … UK equity and corporate bonds issues have been substantial recently. So liquidity may turn out adequate even without credit growth revival. Our forecast for the UK Though the UK Budget was predictably vacuous, being a pre-election affair, our forecast assumes that action pretty much along the above lines will be taken after the election by whatever government is in power … hung Parliament or not. The reason is that there is little room for manoeuvre and privately in fact the parties do not materially disagree, except to some degree on what modest room there could be for tax rises instead of spending cuts. So in short we think there will be fiscal retrenchment, monetary policy will provide support, and so the UK recovery will slowly continue.

Shaw Capital Management Korea: Fresh Pressure on BOJ for Adopting an Inflation Target

Japanese Finance Minister Naoto Kan has recently exerted pressure on the Bank of Japan (BOJ) to act more quickly to defeat deflation, saying he wants the falling price trend to end this year. “Two or three years is too long. If possible, I hope that the consumer price index turns positive by the end of this year” Kan told a parliamentary session.

Shaw Capital Management Korea: Fresh Pressure on BOJ for Adopting an Inflation Target. The finance minister also said that the BOJ may have to set an inflation target aimed at dragging the economy out of grinding deflation … a policy where a central bank declares a target for inflation and guides actual price levels toward that goal through monetary policy such as interest rate changes. BOJ Governor Masaaki Shirakawa made it clear he had no intention of taking such a step, and explained in detail why he considers it inappropriate. “There is a mood to reconsider the use of the framework of inflation targeting following the recent financial crisis," Mr. Shirakawa said at a recent news conference. “If a central bank concentrates only on achieving a short-term price goal, that could have an adverse effect on sustainable economic growth, which is the final goal of monetary policy”, Shirakawa said. Moreover, “such a mechanism would reduce the BOJ’s flexibility on policy”. Inflation targeting has become a favoured policy among many central banks worldwide, but since the start of Japan’s deflationary era in 1999, the BOJ has stoutly resisted calls to set an inflation target against which it can be judged, and by which it can be embarrassed if it misses it.

Shaw Capital Management Korea: Fresh Pressure on BOJ for Adopting an Inflation Target. Instead it has relied on softer price guidance in determining policy. Its inflation objective is defined in the loosest terms, as a rate between zero and 2% for the core consumer price index, as one that meets its “understanding of medium- to long-term price stability”, with no time-frame to achieve it and no penalty for failure. Still, core consumer price index, which excludes volatile fresh food prices, fell 1.3% on year in December, dropping for the 10th straight month. Shirakawa’s comments suggest the central bank will not embark on any further easing for now to put a stop to deflation. However the BOJ might be forced to loosen policy toward the middle of the year if the domestic economy loses momentum from its recent strong performance … recent data showed the economy grew at a 4.6% annualized pace in the final quarter of 2009. And with a key upper house election coming up in the summer, at which the ruling Democratic Party of Japan hopes to win a majority in the chamber, political pressure on the BOJ to do more to improve the economic picture could rise.

Can the introduction of inflation targeting under deflation and zero interest rates contribute to the Japanese economic recovery? Generally, inflation targeting has been increasingly viewed as a good monetary policy framework and widely applauded by economists and policymakers. In the literature, there are benefits of inflation targeting for both inflation and output behaviour. Inflation targeting should stabilise the level of inflation, reduce its variability and persistence, and also decrease the variability of output.

Shaw Capital Management Korea: Fresh Pressure on BOJ for Adopting an Inflation Target. A recent study by Daniel Leigh, an economist at the IMF, shows that had Japan introduced inflation target in the 90’s its economy’s performance would have substantially improved and the BOJ would have avoided the zero lower bound on nominal interest rates. But the essence of the question is to what extent the introduction of inflation targeting will enhance credibility of the BOJ’s reflation policy in a deflationary phase and help economic recovery. More importantly, whether or not the BOJ monetary policy is credible enough for inflation expectations to be anchored to an inflation target.  Takehiro Sato of Morgan Stanley says that, unlike the Federal Reserve, which has won a high degree of respect for its handling of monetary policy, Japan’s central bank is not yet trusted by markets because of its past moves. “The BOJ’s policy track record is bad.

A target for inflation helps to anchor future expectations of monetary policy, but BOJ lacks credibility. The mere announcement of an inflation target would not change expectations”, he said. Indeed, the introduction of inflation targets among advanced countries tends to be accompanied by an institutional framework that makes inflation targeting credible and accountable. In several countries, including New Zealand and Australia, inflation targeting is an agreement between the government and the central bank, and both are committed to policy that is consistent with the inflation target.

Shaw Capital Management Korea: Fresh Pressure on BOJ for Adopting an Inflation Target. In several countries, including New Zealand and the UK, when inflation exceeds the target by a wide margin, the Governor is required to provide an explanation to the parliament. With accountability and commitment, inflation targeting does become credible.

A central bank in a deflationary environment is subject to a time-inconsistency problem: it cannot credibly commit to “being irresponsible” and so continue to shoot for high inflation.

Furthermore, there is a concern that once the Japanese economy has emerged from a deflationary spiral and starts to recover, the central bank will be tempted to renege on its commitment to a high inflation target, because it would like the economy to return to an inflation rate consistent with price stability. Thus a central bank in a deflationary environment is subject to a time-inconsistency problem: it cannot credibly commit to “being irresponsible” and so continue to shoot for high inflation. The result of the time-inconsistency problem is that the markets would not be convinced that inflation would remain high, and inflation expectations would not be high enough to lower real rates sufficiently to stimulate the economy out of the deflation trap. To overcome deflation and restore economic activity Japanese policymakers may not need to adopt an inflation target. They could simply use unconventional instruments, such as purchases of riskier assets and foreign assets, more aggressively so to persuade the markets and the public that there will be higher inflation.

Shaw Capital Management and Financing - Freight Bill Factoring to Fund Your Need

Using Freight Bill Factoring to Fund Your Transportation Company by Marco Terry.

Most transportation company owners have to constantly juggle responsibilities. They have to handle vehicle repairs, driver payments, insurance payments, office expenses and more importantly - collecting invoices. Collections can be source of problems for many transportation companies (or freight brokerages) since most clients pay their invoices in 30 to 60 days . Few can afford to wait that long.

Shaw Capital Management and Financing provide same-day-funding. We can help you meet your cash flow needs immediately without entering into a long term factoring relationship. The money you get for the freight bills we purchase is payment in full. Shaw Capital helps you to avoid costly mistakes, online scam, fraud and other identity theft transactions before you knew it.

One way to handle slow payment is to try and negotiate a quick pay - basically asking your clients to pay quickly. Some will do it. Others won't, or at least will only offer it if you give them a discount. Although they are not always reliable, negotiating a quick pay can be beneficial in most cases.

Shaw Capital Management and Financing offer a complete line of factoring services, purchase order funding, and asset based financing, accounts receivable management, and other related financial services.

If quick pays won't work, your best alternative is to secure business financing to ensure you always have funds on hand to cover business expenses. This can be difficult for most owners since institutions require that all applications have stellar credit, assets that can be held as collateral and many years of experience. This will rule out business loans as an alternative for most small and midsized trucking companies. However, this is not necessarily a big problem since a business loan is not always the solution to this problem.

For many, freight bill factoring will be the better alternative. Freight factoring, as it is commonly known, can provide the equivalent of a quick pay by using an intermediary. The intermediary, called a factoring company, advances you funds against your freight bill. The transaction is settled once your client pays the invoice in full.

One of the advantages of freight factoring is that it provides predictable cash flow, enabling you to comfortably handle your business expenses. It eliminates having to worry about when your clients will pay.

To qualify for freight factoring you need to work with credit worthy clients. Also, your company needs to be free of liens, judgments and other encumbrances. Because of this, freight bill factoring is an ideal solution for small and growing trucking companies and freight brokers.

Shaw Capital Management and Financing offer funding for a wide range of industries and flexible funding requirements that most businesses can easily qualify for.