
For Japan’s Abe, Diplomacy Is Set to Trump Economics in 2017
published Dec 25th 2016, 3:00 pm, by Connor Cislo and Andy Sharp (Bloomberg) —Shinzo Abe’s trip to Pearl Harbor later Monday, the first by a sitting Japanese prime minister in decades, presages a year filled with diplomatic and security challenges that are likely to keep economic reforms well down his

Google Lowered 2015 Taxes by $3.6 Billion Using ‘Dutch Sandwich’
published Dec 21st 2016, 9:25 am, by Jeremy Kahn and Martijn van der Starre (Bloomberg) — Alphabet Inc.’s Google saved $3.6 billion in worldwide taxes in 2015 by moving 14.9 billion euros ($15.5 billion) to a Bermuda shell company, new regulatory filings in the Netherlands reveal. The amount the company

Who’s Wasting the Most Vacation Days?
published Dec 22nd 2016, 4:04 am, by Polly Mosendz (Bloomberg) — ’Tis the season to be jolly, bright, and chained to your cubicle. A quarter of full-time workers ages 18 to 25 who get paid time off say that by year’s end they won’t have taken any of their paid

U.S. Equities Dip as Consumer Stocks Slip and Dollar Strengthens
published Dec 22nd 2016, 3:21 pm, by Oliver Renick (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks slid as the dollar pushed higher and Treasuries extended declines following the release of economic data that met or exceeded expectations. The S&P 500 Index slipped 0.2 percent to 2,261 at 4 p.m. in New York as

Europe’s Flat-Tax Pioneer Pulls Plug as Trickle Down Dries Up
published Dec 2nd 2016, 2:40 am, by Ott Ummelas (Bloomberg) —More than two decades after unleashing Europe’s first flat tax, Estonia is calling it a day. Part of market reforms to aid transition from 50 years of communism, the Baltic nation adopted universal levies for business and personal income in

Google Searches Offer Insights Into Asia’s Tumultuous Year
published Dec 21st 2016, 4:00 pm, by Narae Kim (Bloomberg) — Seek, and ye shall find your queries on a year-end list. Such is the case for Asia’s Googlers, whose most popular financial searches of 2016 have been compiled and released by the company. The data is evidence of the

How China Beats the U.S. at Clean-Air Progress: Tyler Cowen
published Dec 20th 2016, 10:57 am, by Tyler Cowen (Bloomberg View) —As Beijing and more than 20 other cities in northern China have been plunged into another winter air-pollution crisis, with choking, toxic air and many people afraid to wander outside, observers wonder when China will start making significant progress

Oil Trades Near $52 as Libya Fields Start, U.S. Supply Seen Down
published Dec 20th 2016, 11:45 am, by Mark Shenk (Bloomberg) —Oil traded near $52 a barrel in New York as Libya said it reopened two oil fields while analysts project government data to show U.S. crude supplies fell for a fifth week. Futures fluctuated after rising as much as 1.1 percent

In Potentially Risky Strategy, U.S. Startups Pile on Debt
published Dec 20th 2016, 5:12 pm, by Lizette Chapman (Bloomberg) —Persado Chief Executive Officer Alex Vratskides could raise venture funding. He’s just not sure he wants to. His New York-based startup doubled annual revenue this year and is on track to break even in 2017. Valued at about $200 million

A Trump Border Adjustment Tax Is a Wild Card for Oil: Gadfly
published Dec 19th 2016, 12:20 pm, by Liam Denning (Bloomberg Gadfly) —It’s only fair to warn you that this column concerns tax policy, so maybe grab a coffee first. It’s also about oil (if that helps.) One of the incoming Trump administration’s priorities is tax reform. And one proposal outlined