Some reflections on Biden's proposal for a global minimum rate of corporation tax

Biden's fiscal proposal has the potential to tilt the balance against multinational capital and in favour of the nation state. It also opens the door to other fiscal initiatives, such as an international transaction tax.

Why is our smiling Chancellor, along with other finance ministers, in favour of it ? Because it gets them out of a corner. They have had to spend during the pandemic ; but their ideology tells them that deficits, even for a very good cause, are wrong. Taxation which appears not to hit people's pockets directly is extremely attractive, even when it clashes directly with their ideological preconceptions.

If the international community can act together on this, then the potential exists for it to act together on issues suchas global vaccination, debt cancellation and international health targets.