Sunday, December 22

Tag: Government Finance

Biden’s $3.1 Billion Train Ticket to Nowhere
2Jan By adminNo Comments
Health

Biden’s $3.1 Billion Train Ticket to Nowhere

It didn’t get a lot of attention, but last month the White House awarded $3.1 billion to the California High-Speed Rail project. This was supposed to be a bullet train connecting San Francisco and Los Angeles in less than three hours. Instead, its costs keep rising even as the state scales back the plan. Since 2008, when California voters authorized a $10 billion bond issue for the train, they’ve been sold a bill of goods.The original total estimated construction cost to taxpayers was $33 billion. That’s risen to at least $100 billion. The authority decided to offer service between San Francisco and Los Angeles in Phase I, then eventually extend the train service north to Sacramento and south to San Diego. Phase I was to have been completed by 2020. Copyright ©2024 Dow Jones & Company...
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India’s Infrastructure Push Is Key to Taking on China
28Dec By adminNo Comments
Money

India’s Infrastructure Push Is Key to Taking on China

The coming few years will be a litmus test for India’s ambition to become a manufacturing hub rivaling China. A big question mark is how quickly it can build out the infrastructure it needs to really seize the opportunity. There have been signs of progress recently, but New Delhi’s cramped fiscal space means it needs to do more to entice private-sector investors, too.India is experiencing a manufacturing renaissance of sorts led by Apple and its Taiwanese suppliers—after decades of failed efforts. As recently as the fiscal year ended in March 2018, India was a importer of smartphones to the tune of more than $2 billion. Last fiscal year, India was a net exporter of $11 billion worth. About half of that was Apple products, according to investment bank Macquarie.Copyright ©2023 Dow Jones &a...
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The Employee Retention Tax Credit Is the Biggest Covid Scam
28Dec By adminNo Comments
Business

The Employee Retention Tax Credit Is the Biggest Covid Scam

It’s hard to feel sorry for the Internal Revenue Service, but cleaning up for Congress is never fun. The Covid employee retention tax credit is turning into a classic case of government waste and fraud. Congress created the mess, leaving it to the IRS to mop up. Pandemic transfer payments and student-loan forbearance ended this year, but the employee retention tax credit (ERC) is a Covid giveaway that keeps on giving. The government has paid $230 billion in claims, including about $120 billion this year. The taxpayer bill will keep growing since employers have until April 2025 to claim the credit on wages paid through 2021.Copyright ©2023 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8
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The Great Blue to Red State Migration Continues
23Dec By adminNo Comments
Business

The Great Blue to Red State Migration Continues

The migrant border mess is benefiting progressive states like New York, California and Illinois in one respect: It’s offsetting some of their population loss from droves of taxpayers fleeing to lower-cost and low-tax states. That’s one lesson from new Census Bureau state population data released this week.The U.S. population increased by 1.6 million between July 2022 and July 2023, with states in the South accounting for about 1.4 million of the growth. Leading the boom were Texas (473,453), Florida (365,205), Georgia (116,077), South Carolina (90,600) and Tennessee (77,512). Driving their growth was migration from other states.Copyright ©2023 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8
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IRS Offers Deal to Employers Who Regret Claiming Pandemic Tax Credit
21Dec By adminNo Comments
World

IRS Offers Deal to Employers Who Regret Claiming Pandemic Tax Credit

WASHINGTON—Many employers who received a popular pandemic-relief tax credit can return 80% of the money and escape most scrutiny from the Internal Revenue Service, the agency said Thursday. The repayment plan is the government’s latest attempt to combat what it says are fraudulent and ineligible claims for the employee retention tax credit, or ERC, which provides up to $26,000 per worker for employers who kept people on payrolls during 2020 and 2021. Copyright ©2023 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8
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Union to Eric Adams: Drop Dead
16Dec By adminNo Comments
Health

Union to Eric Adams: Drop Dead

Public unions are big cities’ toughest customers, even for an ally like New York’s Eric Adams. The mayor is patching the city’s budget amid a growing migrant crisis, but government workers are dragging him to court to block cost savings.One of New York’s largest public unions sued Wednesday to prevent City Hall from curtailing a costly jobs program. The parks and sanitation departments currently pay welfare recipients to do custodial work, but the city’s Office of Management and Budget wants to save money by shifting about 2,300 of those positions to outside firms. These savings are low-hanging fruit for a city with a $7 billion budget gap, but the union won’t budge.Copyright ©2023 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8
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Country Garden to Make CNY3.07 Billion Disposal to Aid Debt Restructuring
14Dec By adminNo Comments
Money

Country Garden to Make CNY3.07 Billion Disposal to Aid Debt Restructuring

Chinese property giant Country Garden will sell a stake in a commercial center operator for about $428 million, using the proceeds to help restructure offshore debt.The indebted developer said Thursday that a group subsidiary will sell its entire 1.79% stake in Zhuhai Wanda Commercial Management Group for 3.07 billion yuan ($428.0 million).Copyright ©2023 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8
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Country Garden to Make CNY3.07 Billion Disposal to Aid Debt Restructuring
14Dec By adminNo Comments
World

Country Garden to Make CNY3.07 Billion Disposal to Aid Debt Restructuring

Chinese property giant Country Garden will sell a stake in a commercial center operator for about $428 million, using the proceeds to help restructure offshore debt.The indebted developer said Thursday that a group subsidiary will sell its entire 1.79% stake in Zhuhai Wanda Commercial Management Group for 3.07 billion yuan ($428.0 million).Copyright ©2023 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8
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China Turns the Tables on Wall Street
13Dec By adminNo Comments
World

China Turns the Tables on Wall Street

Updated Dec. 13, 2023 12:53 am ETChina is upending how the international financial system handles debt crises in the developing world. Wall Street isn’t happy.Large bond fund managers cried foul last month when China blocked their deal to salvage investments in defaulted Zambian debt. The smackdown came just weeks after Chinese officials brokered a private debt restructuring with Sri Lanka, outmaneuvering Western governments that were trying to do the same.Copyright ©2023 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8
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