Central Perk

luni, 9 iunie 2014

Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis

Personal Income Tax Revenues Show Significant Softening in Q4 2013, Decline in Q1 2014

Posted: 09 Jun 2014 12:07 AM PDT

For two consecutive quarters, state income tax revenues have disappointed. And in the first quarter of 2014, state income tax revenue actually declined.

The Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute reports Personal Income Tax Revenues Show Significant Softening in the Fourth Quarter of 2013.

Total state tax collections have grown in each quarter of the last four years. However, growth softened significantly in the third and fourth quarters of 2013. Early figures for the first quarter of 2014 indicate even further softening in state tax collections, and possible declines in personal income tax collections.

Officials in many states have been facing extraordinary challenges in forecasting income taxes due to uncertainties related to capital gains, which can have a large impact on estimated taxes paid in December and January, and on payments with tax returns filed in April. The uncertainty has been heightened this year due to the strong performance of the stock market in 2013 and the un- intended consequences of the fiscal cliff. Calendar year 2013 ended up being a remarkable year for the stock market, gaining 19 percent as measured by the S&P 500 Index, creating a favorable environment for capital gains. On the other hand, for reasons discussed within, many taxpayers appear to have accelerated income from calendar year 2013 to calendar year 2012 to avoid higher federal tax rates, likely creating a "trough" in capital gains in 2013. This creates great uncertainty for states: Was the stock market strong enough to more than offset the "trough" effect related to the fiscal cliff, so that capital gains would be strong in 2013, or would the latter effect dominate, resulting in a large decline in capital gains?

First Quarter Income Tax Declines

In a followup report, the institute reports State Income Taxes Showed Declines in the First Quarter of 2014.

The Rockefeller Institute's compilation of preliminary data from 46 states shows that collections from major tax sources increased by an insignificant 0.7 percent in nominal terms in the first quarter of 2014 compared to the same quarter of 2013. This is the weakest growth since the first quarter of 2010. Among 46 early reporting states, 37 states reported gains while nine states reported declines in total tax revenue collections. Personal income tax collections declined in nominal terms by 0.4 percent. This is the first time since the first quarter of 2010 that states reported declines in income tax collections. The growth in sales tax collections was also weak at 1.0 percent, while corporate income tax growth was at 5.6 percent.

While the declines in income tax collections are not surprising, the softening in sales tax collection s is less expected and more worrisome. Among 41 early reporting states, sales tax collections showed declines in 11 states, with Arizona and California reporting the largest declines at 16.7 and 9.9 percent, respectively. The large declines in Arizona are mostly attributable to the expiration of a temporary one-cent tax increase for fiscal years 2011-2013. For the nation as a whole, the unusually cold winter may have temporarily depressed shopping, contributing to the sales tax slowdown.

State tax revenues have been recovering continuously for four straight years. However, the state revenue recovery has been much slower and more prolonged than in previous recoveries. State tax revenues were particularly strong in the first half of calendar year 2013, and particularly weak in the second half of calendar year 2013 and in the first quarter of 2014. This volatility probably is attributable more to taxpayer responses to planned and adopted federal policy changes and to legislated tax changes in many states than to underlying economic factors.

The declines in income tax revenue in the first quarter of 2014 likely reflect lower payments on the 2013 tax year of estimated taxes due in January. We expect that income tax collections will show further declines in the second quarter of 2014, when 2013 income tax returns due on April 15th are filed. However, it is hard to know how surprising the April surprises will be, as the tax year 2013 was also a very good year in the stock market. Once the figures for the month of April are available, we will have a clearer picture of the interplay between the strong stock market and the fiscal cliff, and their relative impact on the income tax collections.

State Tax Revenues 2008-2014

click on table for sharper image

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com

Ukraine Opens Talks with Russia; New President Promises Peace Making Efforts; Bombing of Slavyansk Continues Anyway

Posted: 08 Jun 2014 10:57 AM PDT

The Financial Times reports Poroshenko opens talks with Russia.

Petro Poroshenko, Ukraine's new president, has opened talks with Russia on restoring peace in two breakaway eastern provinces a day after taking office, vowing to negotiate an end to the three-month-old pro-Russian insurgency.

Mr Poroshenko took part on Sunday in a three-member "working group discussion" on a proposed peace plan with Mikhail Zurabov, Russia's ambassador to Ukraine, and a representative of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe, Iryna Friz, a spokeswoman for the Ukrainian president said.

The opening of dialogue came a day after the billionaire oligarch took office with a promise to "ensure lasting peace" in the country's breakaway eastern Donetsk and Lugansk provinces, and on the same day that Ukraine's military pummeled rebel positions in a heavy assault on the separatist-controlled city of Slavyansk.

Pro-Russian rebels, who fired back with machine guns and heavy artillery, said that an unspecified number of civilians in the city were injured or killed. Explosions were heard, some buildings caught fire, and columns of thick black smoke rose over the town on Sunday afternoon.

In his first speech as president on Saturday, the billionaire oligarch sounded a more emollient tone on making peace with the rebels than the uncompromising line favoured by his caretaker predecessors, who took power after February's pro-Europe Maidan revolt.

Mr Poroshenko promised to allow easterners free use of the Russian language and move forward with a plan to decentralise government – core separatist demands – and the holding of new local elections in the east.

Peace Making

Peace making talk is off to a rather disingenuous start to put things mildly. Please consider Battles under way near Ukraine's Slavyansk and Kramatorsk.

Shooting resumed Sunday morning in the area of Slavyansk and Kramatorsk, the headquarters of Slavyansk self-defense forces told RIA Novosti. "Battles are now under way on the outskirts of Kramatorsk, in the area of the Yasnogorovsky state farm, as well as on the outskirts of Slavyansk, near the Mashmet," the militia informed.

The Ukrainian army continues to bombard Slavyansk (the centre and the districts of Artem and Vostochny), and its suburbs - Yampil and Semyenovka. The security forces use mortars and self-propelled launchers Tulip.

Images of Slavyansk

Reader Dmitriy provided a link these Images of Slavyansk.

More images in link.

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com

duminică, 8 iunie 2014

SEO Blog

Online Business Success: Tips To Develop A Success Mindset

Posted: 08 Jun 2014 02:26 AM PDT

You might have every practical online business tip in the world at your fingertips. Unless you adopt the proper mindset you ignore these proven tips and move into haphazard, failing acts on a daily basis. The high failure rate within the online niche indicates most people have a poor mindset...
Read more »

Online Business Success: Tips To Develop A Success Mindset

Posted: 08 Jun 2014 02:26 AM PDT

Seth's Blog : Embracing boundaries

Embracing boundaries

One of the most popular home computers ever made was the Commodore 64. The "64" was the amount of memory it had--not 64 gigs, or 64 megs, but 64k. If it were available today, it would be a little like being a toothpick vendor at a lumberjack convention.

The thing is, the amount of available memory was right there, in the name of the machine. All the people who developed for the machine knew exactly how much memory it had. Any time a developer whined or made excuses about how little memory there was, he was telling us something we already knew, making excuses where no excuses were needed or welcome.

With unlimited time, unlimited money and unlimited resources, of course you might do something differently. But your project is defined by the limitations and boundaries that are in place when you set out to accomplish something.

You build something remarkable because of the boundaries, not without them.

• Email to a friend •

sâmbătă, 7 iunie 2014

Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis

Looking to Drastically Reduce College Costs? Study Abroad!

Posted: 07 Jun 2014 11:15 AM PDT

Why go $40,000 to $100,000 or more in debt for a college education when studying in Europe will cost far less, possibly even be free, and you will pick up a foreign language or two in the process?

Please consider a response from reader Ivo in response to Co-Signing a Loan is Risky Business For You, Your Family, Your Heirs, Even the Borrower: More Student Loan Debt Slave Nightmares.

Ivo writes..

Hello Mish

Your points are generally correct, but at the same time, more and more students choose to study abroad. Why not get your degree from another country?

Also, I have co-signed a couple of student loans in Estonia, and feel pretty good about the loans as well as the people, especially in comparison to what's going on in the US.

My oldest son is studying film-making in one of Europe's newest and most modern film schools, located right here in Tallinn, for 3,400 EUR total per year. By the end of his BA, he'll be some 10,000 EUR in debt (I am paying some of his expenses), but has studied under internationally-known film-makers, has participated in several international film festivals with his own films, and has trained on cutting-edge equipment. Before he enrolled last fall, we did some research about his different options in different countries. In the USA, a similar program would have cost him $200,000 or more, tuition only.

So why should one study in the USA at all?

Apparently one of the reasons are regional licenses. You may not be able to get a job in California if your future profession requires a CA license, which you will automatically get from an expensive CA-based university (and which costs you and your family a life-long debt slavery). For example, California may not want to have anything to do with you if your degree is from Helsinki, Finland, even though you may have had many of the same teachers on a guest-tutor basis as you would have had in CA.

I think for many study areas, the regional licensing systems are one of the most important factors driving people into life-long debt servitude in the USA as people may be unable to get jobs if their degrees are from schools in different states or countries.

This definitely warrants some further research.

All the best,

Ivo

Advanced degrees in medical and dentistry in Europe may not be cheap, but they still are far cheaper than in the US as noted by the New York Times article Medical Students Head to Eastern Europe.

Regardless, if you cannot afford the cost of a US education, or even if you can, please research all your options instead of becoming another US debt slave statistic.

Any educators care to chime in on regional or foreign accreditation?

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com

Supporting America's Students

Featured

Weekly Address: Supporting America's Students

In this week's address, President Obama underscored the importance of helping to lift the burden of crushing student loan debt faced by too many Americans and highlighted the efforts he's taken to ensure we uphold America's commitment to provide a quality education for all who are willing to work for it. While the President will continue to take action on his own, he urged Congress to do its part and commended Senate Democrats for working on a bill that would help more young people save money.

Click here to watch this week's Weekly Address.

On Tuesday, President Obama will answer your questions on education and college affordability during a Q&A with the website Tumblr -- find out how to participate.