This week the U.S. State Department announced the launch of the Stakeholder Advisory Board for the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises. Nanny-state scolds on the left have increasingly called for more corporate social responsibility (CSR). Their mantra is “doing well by doing good,” and they have enshrined CSR principles not only at the OECD but in such vehicles as the U.N. Global Compact and the International Organization for Standardization’s ISO 26000 International Standard: Guidance on Social Responsibility. Membership on the advisory board is weighted …
The United States spent $28.7 billion dollars in 2009 on official development assistance, more than any other country in the world. There is no denying that many people in poor nations live in desperate conditions and Americans rightly want to help them improve their lives. In an effort to measure progress toward this end, the United Nations created a set of goals to be attained by 2015, known as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which include objectives such as lowering child mortality rates and providing universal access to education.
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, a group often seen as an exclusive club of rich countries, voted unanimously on Monday to admit Israel. The admittance of Israel, along with two other new members (EU members Estonia and Slovenia) brings OECD membership to 34 countries. OECD membership rewards the many efforts by the three to reform their economies, including in such areas as combating corruption, protecting intellectual property rights and ensuring high standards of corporate governance. Those areas are also important factors used by The Heritage Foundation and The …
The United States has the second highest corporate tax rate of any of the 30 countries in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) – a collection of the most economically developed countries in the world. The federal rate is 35 percent. Add on the average state corporate income tax and United States businesses pay a top rate over 39 percent. This is just below Japan which has a rate slightly over 39.5 percent. The average corporate income tax rate in the OECD is about 25 percent. The United …
The 2010 edition of the Index of Economic Freedom poses a frightening paradox. Around the world, the economically freest countries are, by and large, those with a British legacy. Indeed, the top five – Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, and Ireland – were either founded or influenced by the British. Of the top ten states, only Denmark, Switzerland, and Chile were not, at one point, governed from London. The lesson should be clear: economic freedom, born of the thought of Adam Smith and David Ricardo, spread round the world …
