1.Political- regulatory environment
Political environment
According to World Bank Group(2016), Hongkong is the fifth ease place of doing business with DTF score of 83.67, which means the regulation environment in Hong Kong helps the starting of a joint venture in general. This represents in the sector of paperwork for starting a business, burden of tax compliance, ease of enforcing a contract and the matters relating to trade.
Political Risks
Hong Kong is a free port and does not levy any customs tariff (i.e. border tax) on imports and exports. However, Hong Kong levies an excise duty on liquor (with an alcoholic strength of more than 30% by volume measured at a temperature of 20℃) of 100% of its value(Customs and excise department 2016). Whiskey is with an alcoholic strength of more than 40%(Wikipedia 2016), which means the costs will double if imported whiskey from Tasmania and sell in Hongkong. This regulation will have negative effect on the price and the quantity of whiskey in the market.
Just like other standard demand and supply diagram(Figure1), an unregulated market of whiskey leads to equilibrium price(P1) and quantity(Q1) at the intersection of the marginal private cost (MPC) curve and the demand curve (Weidenbaum L. 2004). However, consumption of whiskey generates some external effects such as adverse health effects, reduced productivity, increased crime and violence, road traffic accidents and premature death(Doran C &Jainullabudeen T. 2012). There is a
Meaning when a tax is placed on a certain item, whiskey, in this demand model the producer, the farmers, would pay most of the tax. At the time the federal government saw whiskey as a luxury and so placed the tax on the distillers, raising the price of production in return decreasing the amount produced. They saw they could pay off their debt, by taxing the whiskey, and the producers of whiskey would pay for the debt for them. Therefore, the National debt incurred during the Revolutionary war and, the supply and the demand of whiskey are related. It was shown that only the distillers who produced less would pay more because of the tradeoff of equity end efficiency, meaning that because of the debt from the war, the government needed a way to pay for the debt and taxed whiskey. Concluding that the supply and demand elasticities of whiskey are completely due to the taxation put on the whiskey to pay for the
The tax on whiskey developed tension between the east and the west because of their differences on politics. Slaughter reinforces his claim by establishing the relationship between the easterners and westerners; mainly by giving examples of what they thought about each other. Slaughter explains that the easterners thought that the westerners were
What is the first thing someone would think about when whiskey is mentioned? A fun Saturday night out? Maybe, but it they probably did not think about the Whiskey Rebellion of 1791. This Rebellion was resisted by farmers who were accustomed to distilling their excess corn to make alcohol in four small counties in both Pennsylvania and Western Pennsylvania. This Rebellion was met full force with troops set by George Washington. This event was a prime example of the battle between State’s Rights versus Federal Authority as illustrated in the book, Founding Brothers written by Joseph J. Ellis. Even today, the battle continues between the States and the Federal Government regarding the issue of legal marijuana. This issue started 2012 when the
The Whiskey Excise Tax hit rural farmers especially hard, and they started crying foul almost immediately after passage. It was criticized for being an “unreasonable economic hardship and as an ominous intrusion by central authorities into local affairs” (Gould, 1996, 405). These “westerners” felt as if they were being unjustly victimized by this tax. Most farmers during this period in American history worked extremely hard just to make ends meet, so operating a whiskey distillery offered them a source of extra income. In the minds of these western farmers this tax left them at a competitive disadvantage with eastern farmers. Western small-time farmers generally had small whiskey distillers. These frontier distillers could not run as efficiently as the larger distillers in the east, so their tax burden was much greater. For this reason many of the western farmers felt that Secretary Hamilton had set up a system that was giving tax-breaks to the larger eastern-based distillers. This sentiment is often echoed in today’s world- that the federal government promotes “big business” (Holt, 2004, 30). The cause of much of this rile and frustration, however, stems from the age-old
In document 4 it states, “As far as this decrease might be applicable to distilled spirits, it would encourage the substitution of cyder and malt liquors, benefit agriculture, and open a new and productive source of revenue” (Document 4). Hamilton acknowledged that drinking was very cheap. He believed that putting the tax on whiskey would improve not only the attitude of people, but other drink industries, and agriculture. Jefferson strongly disagreed with Hamilton. Putting a tax on whiskey would hurt many farmers that grew grain to make it. Jefferson, being from the South, therefore he saw what would happen if the tax was put into place. He believed that the unfair tax would break up the nation. This soon resulted in the Whiskey
In 1791, under President George Washington, there was a vigorous debate within the House of Representatives to approve legislation to enact an excise tax on whiskey. They choose to pass this law 35-211 because of Alexander Hamilton. Hamilton, who was the secretary of the treasury at the time, was faced with the task of paying off the U.S. debt after the revolution. Hamilton was an avid believer in a strong central government which requires a lot of funding. He realized there was an abundance of alcohol circling around the U.S. at the time that was being both imported and created here that could be taxed. Hamilton stated that there would be millions of gallons imported into New York that would potentially give the government two hundred thousand pounds1. Hamilton particularly pushed this tax to be passed “more as a measure of social discipline than as a source of revenue”.
In 1791, Congress created an excise tax to help aid the nation debt that had accumulated from previous warfare. Many people from many places in the nation did not like this tax because it was interfering in the way they made money. Whiskey was extremely valuable to them and was a main source of income through bartering and even served as currency. Not only was whiskey important for the economy but it was also used for many purposes in daily living, from
The answer to this problem was to put a federal tax on liquors and spirits, like moonshine, white whiskey, hooch, mountain dew, etc. “For these early moonshiners, making and selling alcohol wasn't a hobby or a way to make extra cash -- it was how they survived” (Grabianowski). Moonshine is typically made with corn mash. Moonshine was once banned under the 18th Amendment to the United States Constitution. However, the liquor-controlled laws forbid moonshining focus mainly on evasion of revenue taxation on spirituous and intoxicating liquors, and are required by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives of the United States Department of the Treasury (Wikipedia). The enforcers of these laws are known as “revenooers” or “revenuers.” Early in American history, these federal agents were attacked when they came around to collect the tax on liquors and spirits, and a number of them were tarred and feathered (Grabianowski). These problems arose with the federal agents, or the “revenuers” because they were trying to make these moonshiners and farmers pay taxes on their profit, interrupting their income and profit of making and selling alcohol. Moonshine became a part of the daily life of these citizens because of the money being made, having to pay the tax would risk being able to feed their families and make a living. Moonshine was an essential part of American history because of the profit that came with it and then the government control that came
It was the first federal tax placed on goods produced or services performed within the country. Hamilton’s calculations estimated that the soon to be dubbed Whiskey Tax would raise $800,000 per year – 25 cents per gallon. According to him, it would also only cost $1.50 for an average family drinking six gallons per year (Mintz and McNeil “The Whiskey Rebellion”). Industries would bear most of the burden of the tax, Hamilton assured. He also figured that this “sin tax” would meet the least objection. Spirits were not only a luxury but excessive consumption was considered by many to be a detriment to the health and morals of the community (Axelrod 47, Smith, Andrew 65). Any protest, he figured, would be confined to the thinly populated west (Axelrod 47). This meant it would be easily controlled and maybe even too far out to be noticed. In other words, it would be much easier to suppress or ignore these farmers than any of the businessmen in the east. It’s amazing that Hamilton underestimated the very population that had just overthrown their British
The Irish whiskey industry in particular has suffered tremendously in the 20th century. in 1779, Ireland had 1,200 distilleries that accounted for nearly 60% of the world market. However, into the 80s, there were only two remaining distilleries. At its lowest point, Irish whiskey sales accounted for only 2% of scotch whiskey sales, and seemed that it would inevitably be obsolete. However, there was a
So we can say that whiskey has a considerable impact on the Scottish economy. Indeed, the Scotch whiskey enjoyed a great growth in the last thirty years from 255 million liters of pure whiskey in 1986 to 550 million liters in 2012. But this growth is now declining. In 2012 whiskey exports were 4.27 billion pound sterling, which has made little progress in 2013 with 4.3 billion in 2014 and then decreased with 3.95 billion sterling. This slowing of the increase concluded in recent years by declining in sales abroad reflects a gap of Scotch whiskey in the world market as this sector is growing steadily with 5% average growth each
Transnational issues are conflicts that typically go beyond national boundaries. For the conflict between Hong Kong and China, this is not the case because Hong Kong is a part of China that is ruled under the “one country, two systems” principle, where certain distinct regions like Hong Kong and Macau would keep their own capitalist political and economic systems while still being a part of China. It is important to note, however, that Hong Kong and Macau were former colonies of Britain and Portugal respectively until the late 1990s. As a result of the 100 years that Hong Kong spent as a colony of Great Britain, there are significant ethnic and cultural differences between Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland that have led to a escalation in tensions, currently cumulating in the umbrella revolution in 2014.
This assessment will be an analysis of graphed data and changes in supply and demand for three economic problems. Problem A involves production possibilities for consumer and capital goods, problem B is an evaluation of changes in supply and demand equilibrium, and finally, problem C involves pricing with relevance to supply and demand. Successful completion of this assessment demonstrates proficiency in; applying theories, models, and practices of economic theory, analyzing solutions with support from relevant data, resources, references, and economic principles, analyzing graphed and circular
The Doing Business database ranks China a modest 91st on the overall ease of doing business, with India worse but not dramatically so at 116th… in China it’s quicker to start a business, get goods from factory floor on board a container ship, and register property. But Indians - perhaps surprisingly - seem to have more flexible labour laws and fewer hassles with licences.
A Concise History Of Hong Kong was a prequel to one of the most fascinating places I have ever traveled to. Going through history class, and growing up, I had heard many stories of Hong Kong, China, Britain, and Japan, but I never realized how intertwined they truly were and how their stories were really told. John Carroll did a remarkable job setting the scene for what Hong Kong was, where they had been, and how they made it through all of it and came out with their own identity.