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Monday, February 17, 2020

The five stages of the chief digital officer – and why they often fail

Why does Japan have 33,000 companies over a century old?
Robert A. Weinberger (TaxVox), Budget Blues For Tax Administration:

The fiscal 2020 budget signed into law December 20, 2019 is a big disappointment for tax administration, continuing the over 20-percent inflation-adjusted decline in IRS funding since 2010 that has eroded enforcement, reduced audits, and handicapped performance.

IRS Whistleblower Awards Fall 61%
The IRS's Whistleblower Office has released its FY 2019 Annual Report to Congress


The romantics of the Australian Tax Office have changed their official definition of “love”, toughening rules for the wiping of costly debt in time for Valentine’s Day.

Since 1996, a non-binding ATO guidance has allowed corporate debt to be forgiven by creditors because of “their natural love and affection” for debtors – avoiding any negative tax implications involving matters of the heart.


Intelligence committee cancels UK visit amid tensions over Huawei policy leak


Diplomatic tensions over Britain's decision to allow Chinese telco Huawei into its 5G network boil over after confidential discussions with Australia about the policy were leaked.



LESSONS FROM A PANDEMIC: How a World Without Borders Became a Ward With No Exit.“Even if the 2019 coronavirus ends immediately — and it is still growing — it will have already altered the way our interconnected civilization works. Here are some challenges it has already posed.”


Dubious friends and a big legal claim: Questions raised in spy case


Soon after lodging a $3 million Supreme Court claim, Filip Shu started calling around Sydney journalists. What was motivating him?



 Australian Public Service Commissioner Peter Woolcott says the current jobs hierarchy could be slimmed down


What happens when an independent body becomes too independent? It's a classic Sydney tale


The Independent Planning Commission was starting to defend the public interest. Something had to be done.



Storm brews over future of harbourside lands as proposal puts jewels up for grabs


The Sydney Harbour Federation Trust is under review. At stake are some of the harbour's most iconic sites.


The five stages of the chief digital officer – and why they often fail
ALL THAT GLITTERS: The trendiest C-suite role for the past few years has almost certainly been the CDO. Here is their career trajectory.


Using panel data from the US states, we document a robust negative relationship between state-level government corruption and ideological polarization. This finding is sustained when state polarization is instrumented using lagged state neighbor ideology. We argue that polarization increases the expected costs of engaging in corruption, especially deterring marginal low-level corruption. Consistent with this thesis federal prosecutorial effort falls and case quality increases with polarization. Tangible anti-corruption measures including the stringency of state ethics’ laws and independent commissions for redistricting are also associated with increased state polarization.
Some started working on building sites for $60 a day; one has a laneway named after his brother at the local council’s insistence; another has been dubbed the “Baron of Blacktown”.
Concrete Kings of Sydney leaving their footprints across the suburbs

 EMPLOYEES ARE USING THE LOW UNEMPLOYMENT AND RISING BLUE COLLAR WAGES TO LEVERAGE DEMAND FOR RAISES? I BLAME TRUMP!  Strikes are 257% up in 2 years, even though labor union membership is down — why more workers are taking a stand.
Inside Mark Zuckerberg’s Lost Notebook Wired
ONLY IN LA-LA LAND: Would a former senior management official of a key Chinese Communist Party (CCP) financial asset be hired to manage CalPERS, the biggest public employee pension program in the U.S. Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind.) tells Gov. Gavin Newsom he ought to fire Yu Ben Meng.


The 25 Most Trusted Brands in America - Morning Consult – “Survey respondents were asked “How much do you trust each brand to do what is right?” They could respond a lot, some, not much, not at all, or don’t know. This ranking is determined by share of “a lot” responses. For example, 42 percent of consumers trust USPS a lot…”
Comedian Celeste Barber made a dig at Prime Minister Scott Morrison during the relief concert that raised $9.5 million for Australia’s bushfire recovery.

They were about to send the police to look for me: RFS firefighter claims he was sacked following heated rant against PM



The House Ways and Means Committee held a hearing on Tuesday on The Disappearing Corporate Income Tax with these witnesses:

House LogoJason Furman (Harvard), Testimony:

  1. Corporate tax collections are very low both in historical perspective and compared with other countries. This contributes to the overall low level of revenue.
  2. The 2017 tax law (Public Law 115-97) is a major reason for this revenue loss, with its total cost likely to be even larger than was estimated when the law originally passed.
  3. There is no evidence that the 2017 tax law has made a substantial contribution to investment or longer-term economic growth. In fact, business investment growth has
    slowed to nearly a halt while economic growth has been propped up by increases in government spending.
  4. Going forward, a well-designed business tax reform could both increase revenue and encourage more investment and innovation.
Rebecca Kysar (Fordham), Testimony:
  1.  TCJA has failed to live up to its promise of broadening the tax base on the foreign income of multinational corporations, which was the quid pro quo for a lower corporate tax rate.
  2. Treasury has weakened these already generous features of TCJA in the face of intense lobbying for business interests, which will further erode the U.S. tax base. Troublingly, many of these regulatory giveaways have no statutory basis
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