No one in the US thinks that the fees given doctors by drug companies, or their sample product handouts, aren’t a way of insuirng that doctors will prescribe a specific drug company’s product. This practice has been called corruption and illegal in China. GSK has taken down all press releases after 2011 and the China section of their site. The CEO speaks to the media today. GlaxoSmithKline Fits into Corruption Patterns in China
The appointment of Penny Pritzker to be Secretary of Commerce prompted an interesting response in Foreign Affairs. Because Pritzker has all the materials of a CEO, the President claimed she was perfect for the job. In fact, she needs to be an administrator. CEO or Administrator?
Ana Maria Pinto is leading the charge against austerity in Portugal. An opera singer, she attends rallies with a bullhorn and nothing can be heard except her beautiful soprano as they President extols the virtues of austerity.
Currency manipulation may underlie all cross-boundary economics today. If the US were to really devalue the dollar, the debt to China could be repaid quickly. Much has recently been made of currency manipulation by China and Japan. But Germany has been doing just this under the radar. The crash of Greece shows the impact of this most clearly. A report from Foreign Policy makes its impact clear. How Germany Manipulates Currency
CNBC has taken down portions of their interview, but we offer it here: Warren’s discussion.
Note: If you are having difficulty with the video, please use the direct YouTube link.
Direct Youtube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGTu44wWsQk
Communiqué
Meeting of Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors
Moscow, 19-20 July 2013
The G-20 reiterated its commitment to FATF’s work in fighting money laundering and terrorism financing and its key contribution into tackling other crimes such as tax crimes, corruption, terrorism, and drug trafficking like many times before. The empty phrase is masking that fact that no progress was made. A delegate said that the anti-money laundering item met opposition “from a country which is a member of G-20, but not a member of FATF.” The only country to meet this description is Saudi Arabia, according to the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).G20 Communique
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)
International tax system cannot deal with mobile multinational firms that shift profits to low-tax countries, says OECD. Governments risk “global tax chaos” as they chase dwindling revenues from multinational companies unless the international tax regime is radically overhauled, according to a report commissioned by the G20 group of nations.
The report warns that “inaction in this area would likely result in some governments losing corporate tax revenue, the emergence of competing sets of international standards and the replacement of the current consensus-based framework by unilateral measures which could lead to global tax chaos”. That in turn could see the large-scale re-emergence of double taxation, where two countries seek to tax the same corporate income…
OECD Action Plan
Base Erosion and Profit Shifting – Multimedia
Centre for Tax Policy and Administration
>> OECD Secretary-General Gurria discusses the G8
and its pledges to reform corporate tax rules…Video 
The press response to this new initiative by McDonald’s has ranged from cool to derisive. But to directors of our website, it seems like an admirable effort. One director has taught teenagers in the US foster care program for over ten years. When these kids go out to look for their first job, McDonald’s is at the top of the list of prospects. The company offers entry level opportunities to young people who need to learn what a job is: getting to work on time, doing what you are told, treating customers courteously — all the many skills necessary to move up the job ladder.
When kids get that first job, they are thrilled. The work is hard, but the pay commensurate with abilities at the start. Starbucks doesn’t pay any better.
Isn’t this just the right time to start discussing how to use your money? To make young people aware of the their resources and how best to deploy them. If you do well at McDonald’s, they put you on a management track. They pay for your education. This is just what happened to one first jobber who washed and ironed her uniform every day before going to work. She appreciated McDonald’s. They reciprocated.
Here is the program they prepared wtih Visa. We have placed it in our permanent archive of financial literacy reports. You have to start somewhere. McDonald’s Financial Literacy for Employees
California has two women senators. But California is fringe US. The electorate has no problems backing strong women. This is not true across the country, where attitudes toward women in power vary markedly. Mrs. Clinton found this out as first lady. When she arrived in the Senate, she meekly served her colleagues coffee. Clinton and Warren are an interesting comparison. Both are passionate advocates, but Warren seems more measured in her thinking and her talking. She is much less knee jerk liberal than an intelligent woman who is willing to look matters square in the face and say what she thinks. How this will succeed as an m.o. remains to be seen. James Webb, who served in the Senate for only one term, had much of the same tone. He appears to have quickly tired of being different from his colleagues. Will Warren? Or will she move on to higher roles? She said in questioning recently in the Senate that she did not have to run a restaurant to do the math. She can add and subtract and knows the importance of finance Elizabeth Warren ruffling feathers early in clubby Senate
