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In point of fact |
from NewsLink, Vol. 4, No. 2, Winter 2000
Crystal ball not necessary
The Beacon Hill Institute, a conservative think tank that takes on economic issues, doesn't get a lot of credit on liberal Beacon Hill. But officials at the institute were crowing last week when state officials were forced to admit that the cost of the Big Dig would soar by $1.4 billion, bringing the total to $12.2 billion. In 1993, the institute calculated increases in past federal highway projects and used the information to estimate that Big Dig costs would hit $12.4 billion by 2002. “I wish I could say we had access to a crystal ball, but everyone should have see this coming,” said David Tuerck, the institute's executive director.“Political Capital,” Boston Globe, February 6, 2000.
Out of the frying pan and into the VAT
Bernard Loiseau, ... one of many French chefs, ... is at the forefront of a revolt against a 20.6% value added tax on every meal in a French restaurant. The tax, protesters say, is putting France's culinary renown in peril. The chefs are also protesting fast-food outlets ... which pay a tax of only 5.5%. Patricia Ochs, Boston Globe, October 13, 1999.
Another argument for a charitable tax incentive
Americans are one of the world's most generous people, donating millions of dollars each year to philanthropic causes at home and abroad. In Germany, ...with taxes claiming nearly half their paychecks, many Germans feel justified in expecting their government to be the sole caretaker of the needy. “There is a strong dependence mentality here,” says Barbara Ammlung, a Dresden lawyer who doubles as a volunteer fund-raiser with the city's community foundation, one of only three in the country.Omar Sacirbey, Christian Science Monitor, December 7, 1999.
Taxes destroy jobs in the Great White North
The head of Nortel Networks Corp. recently called for tax cuts on income and stock options to stop jobs from moving to the U.S. and to make Canada competitive. In Ottawa, Nortel Chief Executive John Roth said Canada's loss of top talent and jobs is costing the country its competitive position. “Nortel's got 400 executives and there are now 27 in Canada. All the rest are gone.” Susan Taylor, Reuters, December 1, 1999.
Driving costs, mandates on HMOs are bad medicine
The recovery process for Harvard Pilgrim has already begun, and although the patient seems much sicker, the medicine of more income and better management can work. That is unless we keep making the problem worse by saddling these plans with more and more costly mandates. Although few disagree with a reasonable patient's bill of rights, excessive measures that prevent health plans from managing costs and care could drive these plans out of Massachusetts. In fact that might be the underlying motive of some who are pushing to create an all public health financing system. Stuart Altman, Boston Globe, January 10, 2000.
NewsLink is the quarterly newsletter of the Beacon Hill Institute for Public Policy Research at Suffolk University. © 1996-2002. All rights reserved.