Income

Isabel Schnabel: Interview with Jutarnji list

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Tuesday, October 17, 2023
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Key Points: 

EU/EEA banks: benefits from rising interest rates are stabilising, the EBA says

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Tuesday, October 17, 2023
III, European Commission, Income, European Banking Authority, European Economic Area, Roe, ICT, AML, NIM, LCR, Tax, Risk, Growth, NPL, EBA, Quarter, EU, RDB, Bank, Security (finance), Cryptocurrency, European

EU/EEA banks: benefits from rising interest rates are stabilising, the EBA says

Key Points: 
  • EU/EEA banks: benefits from rising interest rates are stabilising, the EBA says
    10 October 2023
    The European Banking Authority (EBA) today published its Q2 2023 quarterly Risk Dashboard (RDB).
  • The less positive growth outlook for China creates additional risks for the European economy.
  • - The European Union and European Economic Area (EU/EEA) banks maintained robust capitalisation levels in the second quarter.
  • Banks’ net interest margin (NIM) increased further, yet the quarterly growth rate was slower than in previous quarters.

Rishi Sunak is introducing the polarised climate politics of the US, Canada and Australia to the UK

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Wednesday, October 4, 2023
Climate, Climate Change Levy, Climate Change Committee, PM, Face, Speech, Politics, Policy, Government, CCC, Tory, Inflation, Climate change, GDP, Income, Decarbonisation measures in proposed UK electricity market reform, YouGov, Growth, Rishi Sunak, Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, Conservatism, Renewable energy, Retail, Labour, Atlantic Ocean

There is a strategy behind this, but it’s one that risks ending a fragile cross-party consensus on net zero and turning the climate into a highly polarised issue.

Key Points: 
  • There is a strategy behind this, but it’s one that risks ending a fragile cross-party consensus on net zero and turning the climate into a highly polarised issue.
  • However, politics is often about the short term, specifically the next election.
  • The political difficulty is that the green transition really does entail relatively high investment costs for voters over the short run.
  • Plus, this strategy of keeping climate policy costs low for consumers has a long history in the UK across both parties.
  • Fuel duty was frozen after 2011 before being reduced by Sunak in 2022 when he was Chancellor.

Similar climate politics in similar countries

    • Under these rules, elections tend to be very competitive contests over attracting voters in a handful of key marginal constituencies.
    • Consequently, climate policy in these places entails many fewer costs for households compared with northern Europe, for example.
    • The US’s flagship climate policy, the Inflation Reduction Act, imposes no costs on consumers, offering only subsidies.

Political will can evaporate quickly

    • Whether it will work is not clear yet.
    • More broadly, this case underscores the political difficulty of imposing sustained costs on consumers, and how the much called for, but ever-elusive, “political will” to address climate change, can evaporate quickly in the face of short-term political expediency.

Women take fewer risks because they think about losing more than men, research suggests

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Wednesday, October 4, 2023
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One difference between men and women has been well documented by economists, psychologists and biologists – that women are tend to be more cautious and take fewer risks.

Key Points: 
  • One difference between men and women has been well documented by economists, psychologists and biologists – that women are tend to be more cautious and take fewer risks.
  • For instance, men are more likely than women to start a business or invest in the stock market.
  • My recent research suggests that the reason women are less willing to take risks than men is because they are more sensitive to the pain of any resulting loss.
  • But this of course leads to enormous challenges in the pursuit of equality – and the clear risks in failing to achieve it.

Cocoa prices are surging: west African countries should seize the moment to negotiate a better deal for farmers

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Wednesday, October 4, 2023
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The price surge could prove to be a critical moment for cocoa farming and policy in west Africa.

Key Points: 
  • The price surge could prove to be a critical moment for cocoa farming and policy in west Africa.
  • The cocoa-producing belt of west Africa is responsible for generating over 80% of the total global output.
  • The global price spike has led west African governments to increase the guaranteed producer prices to farmers.
  • In my view, west African countries should use the cocoa shortage as negotiating leverage against multinational corporations to address these structural issues.

What’s driving the change?

    • Ghana’s cocoa regulator recently indicated that its farmers might not be able to meet some cocoa contract obligations for another season.
    • Ghana’s projected cocoa yield for the 2022/23 planting season was the lowest in 13 years, falling 24% short of the initial estimates of 850,000 metric tonnes.
    • The first is the declining availability of forest land and its connection to increasing production costs.
    • Over the last two decades, depletion of forest land has led farmers to turn to grasslands for replanting cocoa plants.
    • This requires extensive land preparation, regular weeding around the cocoa trees, pruning, and the application of fertilisers and pesticides.
    • However, the resulting market price, and consequently the producer price derived from it, often falls short of covering the costs of sustainable cocoa cultivation.

A path forward

    • If the market price falls below this cost (which isn’t static), then the farmers face exploitation, giving rise to many of the problems that plague the industry.
    • And it came at a time when these countries had diminished bargaining clout in a saturated market.
    • There are many strategies these countries can explore, including supply management (such as buffer stocks, export controls, or quotas), price premiums and value addition.

Lion protection fee paid by tourists could help stop trophy hunting – South African study

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Wednesday, October 4, 2023
Lion, Travel, Horns, Animal, Tourism, Public opinion, Public policy, Research, Attitude, Biodiversity, Population, Income, Hunting, Amusement park, African, Statistics South Africa

Our idea was that this could compensate for any lost revenue from trophy hunting were it to be banned.

Key Points: 
  • Our idea was that this could compensate for any lost revenue from trophy hunting were it to be banned.
  • We found that a high percentage – over 80% – were in favour of the idea of a lion protection fee.
  • South Africa is opening a public policy consultation on how the country can adopt a more sustainable and ethically driven approach to wildlife conservation.

A complex debate

    • Animals may experience huge stress as they’re pursued for days and separated from their family groups.
    • For instance the specific targeting of certain animals – like males – could have a harmful effect on species population dynamics and social structures.
    • Questions have also been raised as to whether funds from trophy hunting always reach local communities or those on the frontlines of conservation.

Lion protection fee

    • And that such a ban could be funded by introducing a “lion protection fee”, added to the visas of incoming tourists.
    • They were then asked questions to gauge what daily fee would be acceptable and how likely they would be to visit South Africa under different daily fee scenarios.
    • Of 907 respondents, 84.2% stated that being charged a “lion protection fee” was a “great” or a “good” idea.
    • There were two main fee scenarios.
    • It showed that 84% of 10,687 respondents were either somewhat or strongly opposed to “the trophy hunting of wild animals found in Africa”.

Replacing trophy hunting revenue

    • Our findings could pave the way for a responsible transition away from trophy hunting without unintended repercussions for wildlife and the communities that rely on them.
    • For example, administrative logistics and sensitivity to fluctuations in visitor numbers must be taken into account.
    • Angie Elwin works for an international NGO, World Animal Protection as a Wildlife Research Manager.

Nigeria's new blue economy ministry could harness marine resources - moving the focus away from oil

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Monday, October 2, 2023
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Nigeria’s President Bola Ahmed Tinubu announced a new ministerial portfolio in August: Marine and Blue Economy. This was welcome news as it renewed hope for economic development outside the oil sector. We asked marine sustainability and blue economy expert Isa Olalekan Elegbede to explain how the ministry could benefit Nigeria.Why has Nigeria established a new ministry for the blue economy?It includes a wide range of sectors and resources related to oceans, seas, coasts and waterways.

Key Points: 


Nigeria’s President Bola Ahmed Tinubu announced a new ministerial portfolio in August: Marine and Blue Economy. This was welcome news as it renewed hope for economic development outside the oil sector. We asked marine sustainability and blue economy expert Isa Olalekan Elegbede to explain how the ministry could benefit Nigeria.

Why has Nigeria established a new ministry for the blue economy?

    • It includes a wide range of sectors and resources related to oceans, seas, coasts and waterways.
    • Nigeria’s establishment of a Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy is a strategic move.
    • I believe the ministry will tap the country’s rich marine resources as an element of the national economic framework.
    • Marine resources can be exploited to create jobs and transform Nigeria into a leader in sustainable marine activities.

What four areas should the ministry focus on?


    Nigeria hopes to generate over US$1.5 trillion annually from exploiting its marine resources. To achieve this, the ministry should do the following:

What benefits will Nigerians feel if these steps are taken?

    • Harnessing the blue economy could be a game changer for Nigeria.
    • First, it could create jobs and generate income from fisheries, aquaculture, tourism, shipping and renewable energy.
    • Second, a blue economy could mitigate environmental damage as it enables the restoration of marine ecosystems.
    • Despite competition from more experienced countries in the marine industry, the blue economy offers Nigeria significant potential.

Why do I suddenly owe tax this year? It could be because the Low and Middle Income Tax offset is gone, forever

Retrieved on: 
Monday, October 2, 2023
Hardship, Stage 2, Henry Tax Review, Federal Central Tax Office, Self-assessment, Growth, System, Morrison, Housing, Mental health, Income, Satellite navigation device, Commercial property, Online shopping, Renting, Life insurance, Video game, Cryptocurrency, Health insurance, Hotel, Renewable energy

Why do I suddenly owe tax this year?

Key Points: 
  • Why do I suddenly owe tax this year?
  • This is one of the most Googled questions in Australia right now.
  • Ever since Australia’s transition to self-assessment for income tax returns, we have been primed to expect an annual refund.
  • The other, the focus of this piece – and it applies to many more people – is the end of the A$11 billion Low and Middle Income Tax Offset, known as LMITO.

LMITO was for higher rather than lower earners

    • The benefit wasn’t available to really low earners (who were eligible for a separate offset) and it was available to people who earned a good deal more than middle incomes.
    • A taxpayer on $90,000 and eligible for full LMITO would be in the top 28% of earners.

‘Temporary’, then extended, then extended again

    • But in the 2020 budget, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg brought forward Stage 2 from 2022 to 2020 and kept LMITO in place to provide an “additional benefit”.
    • In 2021 Frydenberg extended LMITO for yet another year to give recipients what he called a “further benefit” that would help secure the economic recovery.

Now its gone, tax bills are $1,500 higher

    • If there would have otherwise been a tax bill, it would be up to $1,500 bigger.
    • If there would have otherwise been a tax refund it would be up to $1,500 smaller – enough to turn many tax refunds into tax bills.
    • That means millions who have submitted their forms this year are getting bills in place of refunds, and millions more are getting refunds that are smaller or bills that are bigger.

A flawed idea, at odds with advice

    • Those that are means-tested (like LMITO) distort effective marginal tax rates.
    • At today’s wage rates that would be a tax-free threshold of $36,000, freeing 1.3 million taxpayers from the need to pay tax.

Where to from here?

    • Reaching out to the Tax Office is the key because they have tools to support you, including payment plans.
    • Getting in touch rather than waiting for the Tax Office to chase you shows you are willing to comply.
    • It can help to reach out to a registered tax agent if you need help to get back on track.