Liz Elsewhere

Will England establish quotas on the number of foreign players allowed on each Premier League team? Probably not anytime soon, writes LIZ MAIR.
Soccer FeatureLast month, the English national soccer team failed to qualify for the 2008 European Championship tournament, losing 3-2 to Croatia in front of shell-shocked supporters at London's Wembley Stadium. Though it was only the latest embarrassment for a squad that has consistently underachieved in big international matches, missing...

2008 might not be the "Iraq election" after all, writes LIZ MAIR.
"It's the economy, stupid," was the Clinton campaign catchphrase that defined the 1992 presidential election. But, with less than a month to go until the Iowa caucuses, it could easily reemerge as the chief slogan for 2008 as well.
According to a recent Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll, 52 percent of Americans say their top two priorities in selecting a president are the economy and healthcare; terrorism and...

By pushing for welfare reform, British opposition leader David Cameron has taken on a political giant.
Welfare reform is becoming a hot topic in Great Britain, where Conservative Party leader David Cameron is calling for a radical shakeup of the benefit system. Why the sudden fuss? For one thing, welfare rolls have barely contracted under a decade of Labour government. Despite the party's pledges to get people off the dole and into work, since 1997 the number of benefit recipients...

Though serious agriculture reforms are needed, they face an uphill battle in Congress, writes LIZ MAIR.
This week, the 2007 farm bill hit the Senate floor - and already, everyone from fiscal conservatives and free traders to environmentalists and celebrities has found something to hate about it.
What's wrong with the legislation? For one thing, it increases government price supports and continues to make federal subsidies available to wealthy farmers. While the Bush...

As the 2008 campaign approaches, Democrats look almost certain to maintain and expand their Senate majority, writes LIZ MAIR.
The magic number in Senate politics is 60 - the "supermajority" of senators required to break a filibuster. After the 2004 election, some Republicans reckoned that a 60-member partisan caucus might soon be within their grasp. But the 2006 election dashed those hopes. Now, as the 2008 campaign season approaches, Senate Democrats look almost certain to maintain...

Will Congress reach a compromise on bankruptcy reform? If so, writes LIZ MAIR, the result will probably be less "creditor-friendly" than the 2005 reform.
As Americans are now painfully aware, many homeowners strapped with unaffordable mortgages currently face the prospect of bankruptcy and foreclosure, which further contributes to downwardly spiraling housing prices. Earlier this month, Republican Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania introduced the Home Owners' Mortgage and Equity...

Global trade talks are once again stalling over agricultural subsidies.
The Doha Round of global trade talks is once again at risk, with U.S. officials blaming several developing countries - namely India, Brazil, and South Africa - for demanding more opt-outs from proposed tariff reductions on industrial goods. The Americans have a point: without real concessions from such emerging economies, it's hard to see how the industrialized nations will make good on their promises to slash...

Britain's National Health Service needs root-and-branch reforms. But that's not what the new Labour government is advocating.
Last week, at the annual British Labour Party conference, Health Secretary Alan Johnson unveiled a series of reforms designed to rejuvenate the country's National Health Service (NHS) and make the socialized regime of medicine more "personalized." It was the latest in a decade-long string of efforts by Labour to improve a public system that, almost 60 years after...

Private equity taxation is a hot topic in Great Britain, too.
The British government recently held a series of hearings on the buyout industry, and next month, Chancellor Alistair Darling is expected to propose changes to the tax system that will impact private equity. According to The Independent, these changes are likely to include increasing the effective capital gains tax rate from 10 percent to 20 percent for investments classed as business assets (e.g., shares in unlisted...

Why hiking taxes on private equity and hedge fund managers would be counterproductive
Today, the House Ways and Means Committee will meet to consider an overhaul of the American tax system. On the table will be a proposal to increase the tax rate on carried interest payments to private equity and hedge fund managers from 15 percent to 35 percent (plus Medicare payroll taxes). It's a big hike with big implications - and one that legislators should be wary of endorsing.
Under...