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<DIV><FONT color=#0000ff size=2 face=Arial><SPAN class=660351608-28092011>An
interesting suggestion that my friend Arthur Cordell has been advocating here in
Canada for a number of years.</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#0000ff size=2 face=Arial><SPAN
class=660351608-28092011></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#0000ff size=2 face=Arial><SPAN
class=660351608-28092011>M</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#0000ff size=2 face=Arial><SPAN
class=660351608-28092011></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr lang=en-us class=OutlookMessageHeader align=left><FONT size=2
face=Tahoma>-----Original Message-----<BR><B>From:</B>
futurework-bounces@lists.uwaterloo.ca
[mailto:futurework-bounces@lists.uwaterloo.ca] <B>On Behalf Of </B>Arthur
Cordell<BR><B>Sent:</B> Tuesday, September 27, 2011 6:34 PM<BR><B>To:</B>
'RE-DESIGNING WORK, INCOME DISTRIBUTION,EDUCATION';
stuff-it@vancouvercommunity.net<BR><B>Subject:</B> Re: [Futurework] McKinsey
Quarterly article: Measuring thevalue ofsearch<BR><BR></FONT></DIV>
<DIV class=WordSection1>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P
style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 5pt; MARGIN-LEFT: 0in; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0in; mso-margin-top-alt: 5.0pt"
class=MsoNormal>COLUMN: Can a bit tax bring a New Wealth of
Nations?<o:p></o:p></P>
<P
style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 5pt; MARGIN-LEFT: 0in; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0in; mso-margin-top-alt: 5.0pt"
class=MsoNormal><I>By <U><SPAN style="COLOR: blue">Ottawa Business Journal Staff
<<A
href="mailto:info_obj@transcontinental.ca">mailto:info_obj@transcontinental.ca</A>></SPAN></U></I><BR><I>Sun,
Dec 29, 2002 11:00 PM EST</I><BR><BR><o:p></o:p></P>
<P
style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 5pt; MARGIN-LEFT: 0in; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0in; mso-margin-top-alt: 5.0pt"
class=MsoNormal>At a rough guess, the public sector needs another $20 billion a
year to meet the pressing needs of health, education and defence, and to renew
the crumbling infrastructure that carries our traffic, carries off our sewage,
delivers our water and provides many other essential services. Maybe $30
billion. A lot, anyway. <o:p></o:p></P>
<P
style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 5pt; MARGIN-LEFT: 0in; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0in; mso-margin-top-alt: 5.0pt"
class=MsoNormal>Where's it going to come from? Increased income tax? This isn't
a very desirable option, either for the taxpayer or for the economy, which has
to maintain some semblance of equilibrium with low tax competitors, such as the
United States of Affluence. A jump in GST from seven per cent to double digits?
Not a big favourite among politicians, who would find themselves en masse back
in the private sector the first election following such a move. <o:p></o:p></P>
<P
style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 5pt; MARGIN-LEFT: 0in; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0in; mso-margin-top-alt: 5.0pt"
class=MsoNormal>There's no painless way to raise the needed funds. Or is there?
One way that has the advantage of being scarcely visible has been suggested by
my friend Arthur Cordell, an advisor to Industry Canada and originator many
years thence of the "conserver society" tagline, precursor to "sustainable
development." His more recent contribution to socio-economic discourse has been
the notion of the "bit tax." <o:p></o:p></P>
<P
style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 5pt; MARGIN-LEFT: 0in; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0in; mso-margin-top-alt: 5.0pt"
class=MsoNormal>"The new wealth of nations," Arthur points out, "is found in the
trillions of digital bits of information pulsing through global networks. These
are the physical/electronic manifestations of the many transactions,
conversations, voice and video messages and programs that taken together record
the process of production, distribution and consumption in the new economy."
<o:p></o:p></P>
<P
style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 5pt; MARGIN-LEFT: 0in; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0in; mso-margin-top-alt: 5.0pt"
class=MsoNormal>If there's a new economy, there should be a new tax base. To
follow the information highway analogy, it would be similar to a gasoline tax,
or a toll on bridges or highways. Why not tax digital traffic, asks Arthur?
<o:p></o:p></P>
<P
style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 5pt; MARGIN-LEFT: 0in; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0in; mso-margin-top-alt: 5.0pt"
class=MsoNormal>"Whether the digital bit is part of a foreign exchange
transaction, or a business teleconference, check clearance information, or an
ATM transaction, each bit is a physical manifestation of the new economy at
work. So let's imagine a 'bit tax.' Automatically metered, it will cause fewer
collection problems than most other direct or indirect taxes. Collected by the
telecom carriers, satellite networks and cable systems, revenues would flow
directly to the revenue service of the respective country." <o:p></o:p></P>
<P
style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 5pt; MARGIN-LEFT: 0in; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0in; mso-margin-top-alt: 5.0pt"
class=MsoNormal>There are a lot of questions to be answered, of course. Is a bit
tax progressive or regressive? Will it be absorbed by the carriers or passed on
to consumers? Should lower rates apply to some heavy traffic items such as
digital movies downloaded to the home? Can one nation bring in a bit tax or does
it require international collaboration? <o:p></o:p></P>
<P
style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 5pt; MARGIN-LEFT: 0in; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0in; mso-margin-top-alt: 5.0pt"
class=MsoNormal>The design of the Internet makes it impossible to determine
where someone making an electronic purchase is located. With a typical
mail-order purchase, the product is shipped somewhere. But if the information is
downloaded from an Internet site, the seller may have no idea of its
destination. And where does the merchant reside? <o:p></o:p></P>
<P
style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 5pt; MARGIN-LEFT: 0in; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0in; mso-margin-top-alt: 5.0pt"
class=MsoNormal>Where he or she actually has an office or where the computer
server is? It would seem that international cooperation will be essential to
collecting and distributing a bit tax, which should give considerable comfort to
the vanguard of the world government movement. <o:p></o:p></P>
<P
style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 5pt; MARGIN-LEFT: 0in; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0in; mso-margin-top-alt: 5.0pt"
class=MsoNormal>As Arthur says, <B>"The point is to begin a discussion on the
sort of new taxes appropriate for a new economy. A bit tax can lead to the
monetization of all productivity. One result: economic growth numbers will more
accurately reflect the productivity advances brought by information
technologies. With monetization will come higher gross domestic product and
higher revenues to be used in a variety of ways. <o:p></o:p></B></P>
<P
style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 5pt; MARGIN-LEFT: 0in; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0in; mso-margin-top-alt: 5.0pt"
class=MsoNormal>"New revenues can be used for schools, parks, health care, to
re-train some for new jobs and, for those who cannot be retrained to provide a
continuing flow of income that allows displaced workers to maintain their
dignity - and purchasing power - in the new economy. This last point is
important since purchasing power is needed to maintain effective demand in our
economies if we are to avoid chronic economic recessions or worse.
<o:p></o:p></P>
<P
style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 5pt; MARGIN-LEFT: 0in; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0in; mso-margin-top-alt: 5.0pt"
class=MsoNormal><B>"The bit tax may be one way to more fully distribute the
benefits of the new economy. One way for the productive power of information
technology to bring with it a New Wealth of Nations." <o:p></o:p></B></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<DIV>
<DIV
style="BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none; BORDER-LEFT: medium none; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0in; PADDING-LEFT: 0in; PADDING-RIGHT: 0in; BORDER-TOP: #b5c4df 1pt solid; BORDER-RIGHT: medium none; PADDING-TOP: 3pt">
<P class=MsoNormal><B><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 10pt">From:</SPAN></B><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 10pt">
futurework-bounces@lists.uwaterloo.ca
[mailto:futurework-bounces@lists.uwaterloo.ca] <B>On Behalf Of </B>michael
gurstein<BR><B>Sent:</B> Tuesday, September 27, 2011 9:09 PM<BR><B>To:</B>
'RE-DESIGNING WORK, INCOME DISTRIBUTION, EDUCATION';
stuff-it@vancouvercommunity.net<BR><B>Subject:</B> [Futurework] McKinsey
Quarterly article: Measuring the value
ofsearch<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P></DIV></DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></P>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><STRONG><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Georgia','serif'; BACKGROUND: white; FONT-SIZE: 10pt">Measuring
the value of Internet search</SPAN></STRONG><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; BACKGROUND: white; FONT-SIZE: 10pt"><BR><BR><SPAN
class=apple-style-span>Although the word “Google” has evolved from the name of
an Internet search company into a verb understood almost everywhere on Earth,
the economic value of Web searches has long remained a mystery, approached
through inexact or tainted metrics such as the number of searches undertaken or
ad revenues reported by search companies themselves. A new McKinsey study takes
a wider view. For a truer reckoning of the way the Web turns our curiosity into
a powerful economic force, read “<A
href="http://e.mckinseyquarterly.com/133a7f62flayfousiboeswxyaaaaabxlwp4gsptvgbiyaaaaa"
target=_blank><SPAN style="COLOR: black">Measuring the value of
search</SPAN></A>.”</SPAN></SPAN><BR
clear=all><o:p></o:p></P></DIV></DIV></BODY></HTML>