BEPS,tax sovereignty and global justice

The base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS) initiative of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and G20 countries marks an important development in the reform of the international taxation regime. In this paper I argue that the initiative nevertheless fails to provide a coherent account of what global justice requires in the realm of fiscal policy. While the OECD’s ostensible aim to increase and protect the tax sovereignty of states is commendable, there is insufficient attention for the distribution of relative tax sovereignty. I show that current global income inequality is correlated with significant inequality of tax sovereignty, that this inequality is unjust on a plausible conception of what global justice requires, and that the BEPS initiative is unlikely to meaningfully address this injustice. I close by suggesting that an internationalist conception of justice concerned with securing the tax sovereignty of independent polities may need to prescribe the creation of globally redistributive institutions.     

THE SAUDI ARABIAN BUDGETING SYSTEM: AN INSTITUTIONAL ASSESSMENT

This article describes and evaluates the budgetary institutions in Saudi Arabia. The primary sources of information for this study are publications from the Saudi Ministry of Finance and a survey implemented to investigate the different aspects of budget formulation and execution. We find that the Saudi budget experiences difficulties associated with incremental annual line‐item budgeting systems. Although capital expenditures in the education and health sectors are guided by five‐year plans developed by the Ministry of Planning, the rest of the budget preparation procedure is mainly driven by requests from government agencies to increase spending (i.e. a bottom‐up approach), instead of being based on an early determination of the macroeconomic constraints and the acceptable level of deficit (i.e. a top‐down approach). The result is an exacerbation of tragedy of the commons problems associated with information asymmetry and conflict‐avoidance strategies. We discuss possible reasons for this finding and offer budgetary reform proposals. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

新形势下人大财政监督职能之建构简

《宪法》将人民代表大会制度规定为我国的根本政治制度,并赋予人大立法权、监督权、重大事项决定权和任免权的职能。其中,监督权更是起到了约束政府权力的关键性作用,应充分贯彻于预算的整个过程。在社会主义法律体系已经形成的新形势下,人大在进一步完善立法的同时,亟须“一体两翼”地着力加强预算监督,促进工作重点向强化预算审批职能方面转移,不断提高理财治国能力,推动国家治理模式的现代化转型,从而与公共财政、良法善治的理念相契相合,顺应关注民生、防治腐败的时代发展要求。     

‘Let's Talk Cash’: Cantons' Interests and the Reform of Swiss Federalism

In 2004 the Swiss people accepted a new equalization scheme and a new distribution of competences between the federal state and the cantons. It was argued that the reform was successful because of the capacity of veto-players to overcome their interests and adopt a ‘problem-solving’ interaction mode. We propose a different interpretation and argue that distributive issues and the accommodation of actors' interests crucially mattered. We identify three mechanisms that contribute to a successful reform, i.e. package-deals, side-payments and the downsizing of the reform. Our in-depth, mainly qualitative study of both the content of the reform and related decision-making process supports the pertinence of these strategies for the explanation of the successful reform of Swiss federalism.     

Fiscal rules,fiscal outcomes and financial market behaviour

Since the outbreak of the eurozone's sovereign debt crisis, a range of fiscal policy measures have been adopted at the European Union (EU) and national levels that have given rise to claims of a significant reinforcement of fiscal policy constraint. Given the prominence and reinvigorated political appeal of fiscal rules in the EU and beyond, it is disconcerting how little we actually know about the link between fiscal rules, budgetary outcomes and market behaviour. In this research note, the aim is to take stock of the existing literature and challenge its contribution to the current policy debate on the merits of fiscal rules. Specifically it will focus on problems linked to endogeneity, measurements and contextuality.     

政府间财政协调与争议解决机构比较研究

协调与争议解决机构在政府间财政关系中扮演着相当重要的角色。在国外的实践中,立法机关、政府部门、各类委员会、司法机关都是重要的协调与争议解决机构。我国也应该进行相关的制度建设,如设立专门的委员会,完善违宪审查等。     

宁夏促进节能减排的财政保障机制研究

宁夏坚持以节约能源资源和保护生态环境为切入点，促进产业结构升级，努力实现节能减排目标必须建立和完善财政的保障机制。     

在我国实施财政政策和货币政策应注意的几个问题

西方国家宏观经济调控的主要手段是财政政策和货币政策 ,借鉴其实施这两种政策的实践经验 ,结合我国国情 ,我国在制定和实施政策时须注意以下几个方面 :一、从长期和战略的角度看 ,应坚持“中性”的货币政策和财政政策。二、从短期来看 ,应采取相机抉择的财政和货币政策。三、货币政策和财政政策是一把双刃剑 ,既可能优化资源配置 ,又可能强化所有制结构和产业结构的扭曲 ,降低资源配置效率。四、把需求管理政策与人力政策相配合方能有效治理我国的失业问题。     

ECONOMY

正Fiscal Reform China will endeavor to build a comprehensive,transparent and efficient fiscal and tax system by strengthening reforms in the coming years,the central leadership of the Communist Party of China(CPC)said on June 30.     

Centralizing treasury management in China: The rationale of the central reformers

The Chinese central government, spearheaded by the Ministry of Finance, launched a bold reform of the treasury management system in 2001, centralizing the disbursement of budgetary funds. This article analyzes the rationale of institutional reform from the perspective of the central reformers. Traditionally, governmental bank accounts in China were fragmented between and within levels of government, hindering budget implementation and intergovernmental transfers, as well as fomenting corruption. The centerpiece of China's treasury reform is the establishment of the Treasury Single Account (TSA), which serves to both strengthen expenditure controls and improve cash management. However, while the treasury reform promises to make significant strides in improving fiscal control and countering the misuse of public funds, its implementation remains imperfect and incomplete. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.