Continued Innovation is Key for COVID-19 Recovery

According to the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB), more than a quarter of a million businesses are due to close their doors for the final time in 2021 (1). A key reason behind Switzerland leading the way in the World Intellectual Property Organization's 2020 Global Innovation Index for 10 consecutive years (4) is due to its excellent innovation outcomes including patent applications, IP receipts, and high-tech manufacturing products. utilizing IP Put simply, the UK needs to take a leaf from Switzerland's book and focus on how we can turn the UK into an IP powerhouse. Solutions are available It is clear more needs to be done to educate businesses around the value of innovation, while demonstrating the availability of funding through schemes readily available, and already baked into the budget such as the R&D tax credit scheme and Patent Box.

Stimulus Checks: True-Up and Safe-Harbor Costs

Stimulus checks were sent in response to recent US recessions. These checks grew from about $40 billion in the 2001 recession to $800 billion in the COVID era. Prior studies, however, ignored additional stimulus received upon filing tax returns (true-ups) and safe harbors that prevent possible stimulus repayment. Using population-level tax data, I estimate true-up and safe-harbor costs and decompose them by reasons, such as changes in income or the number of children. True-ups and safe harbors are costly. For the three rounds of COVID-era stimulus, true-ups and safe harbors cost more than $130 billion.

Suffering, the Safety Net, and Disparities During COVID-19

The economic and public health crisis caused by COVID-19 was devastating and disproportionately hurt Blacks and Hispanics and some other groups. Unemployment rates and other measures of material hardship were higher and increased more during the crisis among Blacks and Hispanics than among non-Hispanic Whites. Congress authorized a historic policy response, incorporating both targeted and universal supports, and expanding both the level and duration of benefits. This response yielded the remarkable result of an estimated decline in the Supplemental Poverty Measure between 2019 and 2020. We study administrative data to investigate the impact of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) during the crisis. We find that participation in SNAP increased more in counties that experienced a larger employment shock. By contrast, the increase in total SNAP benefits was inversely related to the employment shock. The SNAP benefit increases were less generous to Black and Hispanic SNAP participants than to White.

Ensuring resilience through fiscal responses to COVID-19;an empirical study of Mauritian micro small medium enterprises (MSMEs)

Purpose: The official authorities have established several action plans including fiscal support measures to help micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) counter the negative repercussions of COVID-19. In this regard, the purpose of this research is to critically assess the recent fiscal policies endeavoured by the Mauritian authorities in response to COVID-19, to assess the awareness and perception of some local MSMEs of these initiatives, to investigate the extent to which these MSMEs have benefited from them and also, to suggest recommendations to the Mauritian authorities on how to enhance the existing framework to ensure sustainable and equitable development. Design/methodology/approach: This study has adopted both the quantitative and qualitative research methods. Primary data were obtained by conducting a survey of some Mauritian MSMEs, and secondary data were obtained by referring to laws and policy papers on the research topic. Some statistical tests were performed using SPSS software on the primary data to illustrate the research findings. Findings: Despite the laudable initiatives, the survey conducted for this research demonstrates that MSMEs in Mauritius have a moderate awareness of these fiscal support measures. Furthermore, upon being asked whether they have availed of these tax incentives, again a moderate mean average was derived which implies that not all MSMEs have fully benefited from fiscal support to help them in countering the negative effects of COVID-19. Originality/value: At present, this study will be amongst the first academic writings on the effectiveness of the fiscal measures undertaken by the Mauritian authorities to deal with issues entailed by the COVID-19. The study is carried out with the aim of combining a large amount of empirical, theoretical, and factual information that can be of use to various stakeholders and not only to academics. © 2022, Emerald Publishing Limited.

Classifying Opportunity Zones - A Model-Based Clustering Approach

Objective: Opportunity Zones (OZs) are the first major place-based economic development policy from the federal government in nearly two decades. To date, confusion persists among planners and policymakers in some places as to what features of OZ tracts matter for their inclusion, and, secondly, what features of OZ tracts make them attractive targets for potential investment. The authors developed a typology of OZ tracts in order to offer planners and policymakers alternative ways of organizing a highly variable set of tracts. Methods: This study employs model-based clustering, also known as latent class analysis, to develop a typology OZ tracts from the population of all eligible tracts in the United States. The authors use publicly available data from the U.S. Census Bureau and Urban Institute in developing the typology. Descriptive statistics and graphics are presented on the clusters. Using Portland, Oregon, as an example city, the authors present a cartographic exploration of the resulting typology. Results: OZs present with immense variation across clusters. Some clusters, specifically cluster 3 and 9, are less poor, have a greater number of jobs and higher development potential than other clusters. Additionally, these exceptional clusters have disproportionate rates of final OZ designation compared to other clusters. In Portland, these less distressed clusters make up the majority of ultimately designated OZ tracts in the city and are concentrated in the downtown area compared to the more deprived eastern part of the city. Conclusions: We find that OZ designation is disproportionately seen in particular clusters that are relatively less deprived than the larger population of eligible tracts. Cluster analysis as well as other forms of exploratory or inductive analyses can offer planners and policymakers a better understanding of their local development context as well as offering a more coherent understanding of a widely variant set of tracts. OZs, the newest federal government place-based economic development tool since the New Markets Tax Credit in the early 2000s, has reportedly marshaled more than $50 billion in investment in the 2 years since its passage (Drucker and Tipton, 2019). Opportunity zones allow investors to defer taxes on their capital gains if they invest in qualified Opportunity Zone funds in development-starved census tracts. Recent investigations show a disproportionate amount of investment being steered into a minority of tracts that formally qualified for the program based on their income but are not suffering from a lack of development (Buhayar and Leatherby, 2019;Drucker and Lipton, 2019;Ernsthausen and Elliott, 2019). A central tension in those articles concerning Opportunity Zone investment is that the Tax Cut and Jobs Act of 2017 used a broad qualifying rule for Opportunity Zone designation based only on tract income to maximize flexibility. It resulted in variations within designated Opportunity Zones in terms of their socioeconomic characteristics but also redevelopment attractiveness. An important issue for economic development researchers and analysts is to find alternative ways of organizing Opportunity Zones into more useful categories of analysis than simply qualified or non-qualified Opportunity Zone designations. This paper presents model-based clustering, also known as latent class analysis. This unsupervised machine learning technique is one way to address the difficulties of classifying designated Opportunity Zone tracts. The remainder of this article will offer background on some troubling OZ issues, a description of latent class analysis through model-based clustering, and the results of cluster analysis and its relationship with Opportunity Zone designation. The findings contribute to a better understanding of the variation of eligible tracts and what features make the zones attractive for designation.

Enhancing Returns from Opportunity Zone Projects by Combining Federal, State, and Local Tax Incentives to Bolster Community Impact

Skeptics may call the federal Opportunity Zone (OZ) program a tax dodge for the wealthy, but there is strong bipartisan support for the program at the federal, state, and local levels. Furthermore, underserved communities (and the small businesses therein) could benefit from billions of dollars in new investments in long-term capital that they might not have received through conventional bank loans or government programs-especially given the current unique and challenging economy. The findings noted in this article are based on the authors' presupposition that President Biden's proposed tax increases have increased interest in the deferral and ultimate tax exemption aspects of the OZ program, and investment momentum is likely to continue for the foreseeable future. The authors' data and interviews show that because the OZ program is not structured for real estate speculators and flippers to trade during the OZ reinvestment period, the long-term investment requirement of the OZ program makes it stand out from other place-based incentive programs that have generally failed to live up to expectations. Furthermore, the authors dispute the notion that the OZ program only benefits real estate investors. They believe that OZ investments have funded hundreds of clean energy projects, biotechnology and medical infrastructure projects, active businesses, solar energy projects, and many successful public-private partnerships. The authors also show that Congress placed no limits on the amount of federal, state, and local tax benefits, grants, or other incentives that can be layered into the OZ investment. As a result, OZ structures are being used in combination with Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) projects, New Market Tax Credit (NMTC) projects, Historical Tax Credit (HTC) projects, research and development, solar energy, cost segregation, and other alternative energy projects that generate accelerated depreciation and credits. This is generally referred to as "twinning" of various tax programs. The authors anticipate further extensions of the OZ investment window that will give taxpayers and fund managers sufficient time to make important investment decisions that result in significant economic impact for underserved communities. How many other economic development initiatives can generate win-win results for underserved communities, municipalities, small businesses, and investors alike?

Hidden Assets

Like that production, Hidden Assets was co-commissioned by the US streaming service Acorn TV, which specialises in developing, producing and acquiring English-language programming, much of it in the mystery, comedy, and police procedural genres, from the UK and other anglophone territories. While the Belgian subsidies are evidence that eight of the twelve reported shooting weeks were spent in Antwerp, the decision to locate only postproduction in Canada - despite an emerging Canadian sub-plot in the storyline - was apparently the result of a costly learning experience during the production of Acceptable Risk. [...]it's worth noting that AMC, through its "boutique" range of offerings including Acorn, Sundance Now, BBC America and IFC Films, seeks to differentiate itself from streaming giants like Netflix and Disney+ precisely by offering non-mainstream niche content from independent and international producers.

Self-employed surfers, universal credit and the minimally decent life

As part of its response to Covid-19 the government paused the use of the ‘Minimum Income Floor’ (MIF), which restricts the Universal Credit (UC) entitlement of the self-employed. This paper places the MIF in the wider context of conditionality in the social security system and considers a judicial review which claimed that the MIF was discriminatory. The paper focuses on how UC affects the availability of real choices for low-income citizens to limit or escape from wage labour, with two implications of the move to UC highlighted. First, the overlooked labour decommodifying aspect of tax credits, which provided a minimum income guarantee and a genuine alternative to wage labour for people who self-designated as ‘self-employed’, even if their earnings were minimal or non-existent, has been removed. Secondly, UC has in some respects improved the position of low-paid wage labourers in ‘mini-jobs’, who are not subject to conditionality once they work for the equivalent of approximately nine hours a week on the minimum wage.

Stimulus Checks and Child Tax Credits and Taxes, Oh My!

Taxes are often seen as the Wicked Witch of the West. Unsightly, frightful, and generally disliked. If only throwing a bucket of water on taxes would make them melt. People have had a rough year with COVID-19, and it has thrown normalcy around like a tornado. If there was a hero for many in their story, it would likely be the stimulus checks. The third check was sent out earlier this year, and there has been bated breath about a fourth one. Alas, that seems to have fizzled out. Regardless, it is a simple gesture to ensure clients follow up on the third check through the IRS's "Get My Payment" page if it still managed to slip by. Even if they fail to get it this year, just like on their 2020 tax returns, there should be an option to claim them in 2022 if they just never quite got around to it. Even if no fourth stimulus check has surfaced, it is nice to see that the IRS sent out almost $15 billion to advance child tax credit recipients.

The Great American Pandemic Recovery: Tackling Systems of Inequality that Impede Full Latino Inclusion in the COVID-19 Response

The Depression-era Social Security system and the Fair Labor Standards Act offered retirement security and basic worker protections - like the minimum wage - to predominantly white office, industrial, and craft workers but excluded farm laborers, domestic workers, and other jobs largely held by Blacks and Latinos.3 When the Interstate Highway System, government-subsidized mortgages, and mortgage interest deduction fueled a massive increase in suburban homeownership after World War II, formal and informal housing discrimination relegated most Latino and Black families to poor-quality housing in segregated neighborhoods with few economic opportunities and under-resourced schools.4 The Great Society era of the 1960s led to the creation of critical support programs, including housing assistance, job training, Medicaid, and the Food Stamp program (SNAP's predecessor), but so-called "alien exclusions" soon followed, which bar most immigrants and their lawfully present spouses and children-predominantly Hispanic-from vital economic, health, and nutritional supports.5 The pandemic has exposed the unequal social and economic foundations on which communities of color must build their lives, in part due to decades of explicitly discriminatory policy decisions. COVID-19 and the Latino Community COVID-19 was declared a global pandemic on March 11, 2020, and a national emergency by the United States on March 13, 2020.7 One year later, more than 29 million confirmed cases and 528,000 deaths were attributed to the disease in the United States.8 The nation's largest Latino civil rights organization, UnidosUS, was early in bringing attention to the disparate impact on Latino communities through original analysis, engagement with lawmakers, and more than 20 virtual community events that placed the disparate effects of the pandemic within the context of broader structural inequities.9 To be clear, the hundreds of thousands of COVID-related deaths are tragic, regardless of race or ethnicity. While no consistent evidence links school openings to surges in COVID-19 in general, children who live in poverty - 41 percent of whom are Latino - disproportionately attend schools with substandard facilities that undermine virus mitigation strategies and place students and staff at higher risk.14 These children are also more likely to live with an essential worker family member or in multigenerational housing, which also increases risk of exposure.15 Even as youth mortality rates re-main low compared to older patients, the potential long-term impacts of COVID-19 on an entire generation of Americans should spark significant concern among policymakers;research suggests the disease can lead to major organ damage, psychiatric disorders, and multisystem inflammatory syndrome.16 With such a disproportionate number of young Latinos falling ill, it is not unreasonable to assume that Latinos will also share an outsized burden of the disease's long-term health effects. Recent policy decisions-in response to COVID-19 and changes to the tax code - have expressly excluded many families living in mixed-immigration status households from accessing economic impact payments (stimulus checks) or antipoverty programs such as the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and the Child Tax Credit (CTC).23 An estimated 5.5 million US citizens and green card holders did not receive stimulus checks under the CARES Act because they live in households where one member files taxes without a Social Security Number.24 Although income-eligible US citizens and green card holders were eventually included in the two most-recent pandemic relief packages, including the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, these changes only came after intense advocacy by organizations like UnidosUS and more than a year of millions of families struggling without support.