Tuesday, September 24, 2019

Are we living in the most influential time ever?

Everything that can be counted does not necessarily count; everything that counts cannot necessarily be counted. 
~Albert Einstein

  The easy way out usually leads back in.
~ Peter Senge 
ABC’s Saturday Extra with Geraldine Doogue (from 0730 to 0900 or on their website  in case you miss it).
China/universities: Growth in Chinese demand for international education from Australian universities has come with enormous benefits, but also greater risks. How should we rethink the way Australia engages with Chinese students in Australia, and Chinese scholars abroad? Fran Martin, Associate Professor at University of Melbourne, and Peter Varghese AO, Chancellor of the University of Queensland.

JOHN BROWN. How Quickly They Forget – But I Don’t.


Some years back, one of my proudest acts as a Minister for Sport was that I introduced about 10 pieces of legislation into the Parliament to the benefit of sport which were the first pieces of legislation including the word sport introduced since Federation. One of the better pieces of this legislation was a taxation ruling which allows particular classes of people who achieve fluctuating incomes an ability to spread their income over five years. This ruling particularly benefited cricketers who over their career have good years and bad years




 Are we living in the most influential time ever?



This has been bothering me, so I’m putting it out there – The shift to 6 yrs for an Econ PhD is a TERRIBLE trend for female PhD students – & also some men, obviously – but especially for women. This issue warrants much more attention.
So says the wise Melissa S. Kearney wiser BC might also agree
Along those lines, I have a modest proposal.  Eliminate the economics Ph.D, period.  Offer everyone three years of graduate economics education, and no more (with a clock reset allowed for pregnancy).  Did Smith, Keynes, or Hayek have an economics Ph.D?  This way, no one will assume you know what you are talking about, and the underlying message is that economics learning is lifelong.
Chinese property deal at heart of Huang's ATO dispute

Lesson From The Tax Court: The Functional Definition Of 'Return'


Tax Court (2017)I have blogged before about the myth that our system of taxation is one of “self-assessment.”   Our system is better described as one of self-reporting.  It depends on taxpayers properly reporting their items of income and deductions.  The IRS can do the rest. 
Section 6011 requires taxpayers to self-report on “a return or statement according to the forms and regulations prescribed by the Secretary.”  The most common return is the Form 1040.  Taxpayers who fail to file returns or who file fraudulent or frivolous returns are subject to various consequences.  For example, the three year statute of limitations on the IRS to audit a tax year is only triggered when the taxpayer files a return. §6501(c).  If what is filed is not a return, then the IRS can assess the penalties imposed by §6651(a) for the failure to file a return.  
It thus becomes important to know: what constitutes a “return”? 
Germany’s vanishing monasteries
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