In 1918, the United States enacted a foreign tax credit (FTC) system for taxing foreign-source business income earned by multinational corporations (MNCs). This system, known as “worldwide” taxation is said to implement “capital export neutrality” by neutralizing a citizen’s decision between investing domestically or abroad. About half of the Organization for Economic Co-operation (OECD) countries have adopted a similar approach. However, as foreign trade agreements and the complexity of U.S. tax treatment continue to increase, a “territorial” taxation system, as implemented by the other half of OECD countries, might be worth considering in the United States.

This article will 1) define some of the underlying principles behind international tax policies, 2) suggest a proposal for a tax-exemption system, 3) explain how the proposal solves problems under the current system, and finally 4) attempt to rationalize potential criticisms surrounding an exemption system. [More]

In the current financial crisis borrowers are finding it increasingly difficult to access capital for their investments. This is affecting one of the most important industries in our society, health care. Hospitals are a vital part of the health care industry and they are facing especially hard times in today’s economy. It is not a surprise to many people that hospitals are facing financial difficulties. Hospitals have consistently faced financial difficulties even in a good economy. However, the current credit crisis is affecting hospitals more than any other organization because of the high levels of uninsured seeking health care services, low reimbursement rates from Medicaid and Medicare, and staff shortages. Now more than ever before hospitals are facing increasing debt and are unable to gain more capital or refinancing their existing loans because it is more difficult to obtain credit. As a result, hospitals all over the country are filing bankruptcy and closing down. This is having a devastating affect on the access and quality of health care for many Americans. This article will examine why hospitals are facing financial difficulties and propose solutions to the problem by drawing upon examples of hospitals that are performing well in the current economy. [More]

Recent antitrust activity showed relevant cases moving forward in a reminder that antitrust can be one of the most effective legal measures to put some limit to an era of globalization that has raised many criticisms.The current economic crisis that –under a formal view- began in 2008 with the falling of Lehman Brothers, ringed many bells in connection with the so called Too Big To Fail Companies. Several claims and some proposals to limit the size of those companies were raised but no new regulation was enacted yet. In these circumstances, antitrust activism could be seen as the only effective way to restrict the size or somehow limit the growing potential of companies. [More]

Bankruptcy reorganizations do not come without their fair share of issues. As large companies teeter on the verge of bankruptcy, affected parties begin to configure their positions. Some creditors, before a bankruptcy, will sell their claims in the debtor’s estate to interested third parties. Of course, these third party investors wouldn’t buy these claims unless they thought they could receive a return on their investment. However, sometimes these third party investors have incentives to receive less back on their claims in the bankruptcy reorganization process. This not only creates a stall in the reorganization process, but it can also force other creditors to receive less back on their claims. This paper focuses on these abusive third party investors and the rule that is used to combat these types of abusers, Rule 2019 of the Bankruptcy Code. [More]

The Chicago Cubs are the highest drawing baseball team in the Arizona Cactus League and earn nearly $52 million for the state of Arizona annually. The team’s current deal with Mesa, Arizona allows the Cubs to buy out of its agreement to play in Mesa after 2012. As a result, the Cubs have received pitches from groups in both Arizona and Florida trying to persuade them to choose their state for the site of their new spring training facility. Initially, an Arizona House committee proposed legislation that would approve a $1 surcharge on auto rentals in the Phoenix area and an 8 percent surcharge on the tickets to all Cactus League games in order to fund the new facility. This raises two significant issues. First, do stadiums actually have these positive results for local economies or do they benefit another party? And second, in light of recent case law, is a tax incentive for the Cubs to stay in Arizona a constitutional option? [More]

Microcredit Part 2 will explore a possible application of the microcredit system in the United States as well as problems that such an application may encounter and solutions to such issues. [More]

For the past decade Major League Baseball has been forced to deal with the fact that at least one hundred of its players have been linked to steroid use, with the actual number probably far greater than that. The Mitchell Report, an independent investigation into the illegal use of steroids in Major League Baseball done by George Mitchell of DLA Piper, alone uncovered forty seven players who have used steroids. Surprisingly, steroids were not added to Major League Baseball’s banned substance list until 1991, and testing of major league players did not begin until the 2003 season. While the use of steroids and other performance enhancing drugs may be inherently wrong to some because of baseball’s almost holy status of “The American Pastime”, their use may also have strictly economic implications for players and Major League Baseball alike. [More]

A value-added tax (VAT) has been attacked by liberals as being regressive and by conservatives as a way to grow government. This article examines these criticisms of a VAT and concludes that both these criticisms are to heavily relied on by opponents of a VAT. [More]

This article provides an overview for U.S. companies interested in the lucrative Middle East business market, which serves over 300 million people and has strong growth potential not only in the traditional oil industry, but other industries as well including infrastructure, technology, finance, and manufacturing. The article discusses cultural issues, trading data, and general risks involved in doing business overseas that U.S. companies should consider as part of their due diligence process prior to investing in the region. Furthermore, the advantages of investing in two of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates, are addressed. A few of the advantages stem from the countries’ capital market laws aimed at attracting foreign investment through repatriation rights and free trade zones. Finally, the article deals with the issue of Dubai’s request for the delay in repayment of bonds announced on November 25, 2009, and demonstrates that in a world economy facing similar woes the issues underlying the announcement do not indicate a lack of growth potential in the Middle East. Rather the Middle East stands as a future force of market opportunity for U.S. companies. [More]

As a result of the reform promised during the latest credit crisis, new rules are coming into effect controlling overdraft protection. This article will examine whether these new regulations address the problems that have been raised regarding overdraft protection, and whether the regulations will be sufficient to appropriately curtail its problematic aspects. Both modern and historical arguments will be considered in examining whether the regulation attempts to resolve the right issues and whether or not it is likely to be effective. [More]