Just to remind everyone about Ritchie
So, that’s back to the nonsense of CSR again. Thankfully, some companies realise that is not the way to go:
But one in four companies said EU proposals requiring extractive industries to disclose details of tax payments should be broadened to other businesses.
This is, of course, country-by-country reporting, the accounting concept I created ten years ago.
No, it\’s not country by country reporting as created by Ritchie. The extractive industries idea was floated, indeed had a whole taskforce devoted to it, before Ritchie even thought about it.
What actually happened is that Ritchie say that extractive industries idea and thought that he would adopt it as his pet cause: then extend it.
And as usual he\’s managed to get it wrong. The extractive industries thing is about checking royalties: for oil or minerals. This is the taxation of Ricardian rents and yes, it\’s a damn good idea.
Ritchie has hared off to talk about profits: which is a very different idea indeed. The taxation of Ricardian rents is, like land tax itself, almost entirely non-distorting. The taxation of profits is hugely distorting.
As ever, it\’s Ritchie\’s ignorance of economics on display.