Juggling Dynamite

Alan Simpson and Erskine Bowles about why they are reworking their deficit reduction goal. Their plan would reduce the deficit by $2.4 trillion over the next decade. Here is a direct link.

On Friday we confirmed that Canadian manufacturing sales declined 3.1% in December to $48.0 billion, the largest decline since May 2009. Sales decreased in 16 of 21 industries, representing 82% of the manufacturing sector. Durable goods sales were down 4.2% while non-durable goods sales declined 2.0%. More than two-thirds of the decline in Canadian manufacturing sales was concentrated in Ontario. It is important to note this weakness appeared in Q4 2012, before the deceleration of Q1 2013. The Canadian dollar this morning has broken the support trend it had held since the QE’finity promises from central banks in the summer of 2011. Decoupling from the global downturn, Canada is not.

Chart source: Cory Venable, CMT, Venable Park Investment Counsel Inc.

“A report by the OECD found that multinational companies were managing to avoid paying tax altogether by taking advantage of different country’s rules.”

The UK, France and Germany are the main countries pushing for changes, with the Finance Minister of France saying his country is “strongly determined to fight against tax fraud, tax avoidance, and tax evasion…We must avoid situations in which some companies use international and domestic law to be taxed nowhere.”

Here is a direct link.