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Mike Zaffaroni calls the newest piece of equipment at his landscaping company in Jacksonville, Florida, his “Tax Cut Truck.” He had long wanted to expand the services he offers to his customers and says the tax cuts President Donald J. Trump signed into law six months ago were the motivation he needed to buy the $80,000 truck and forklift. Under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, most small businesses will now be able to deduct 20 percent off their business income in addition to having their taxable income taxed at lower rates. And for the first five years, they’ll be...

WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump on Friday said he wanted to further lower the corporate tax rate, from 21 percent to 20 percent, as part of a second round of tax cuts later this year. Trump, in an interview with Fox News to mark the six-month anniversary of the $1.5 trillion tax cut law Republicans passed last year, said other parts of the new tax plan would be tailored to the middle class. “One of the things we’re thinking about is bringing the 21 percent down to 20 and for the most part, the rest of it will go right...

That rebuilding North Korea’s economy could cost billions of dollars won’t come as much of a surprise to observers of the reclusive state, but just how much South Korea is willing to invest in, and benefit from, the economic potential of its unpredictable neighbor is yet to be seen. In the afterglow of the historic meeting between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, attention has turned toward the possible rebuilding the rogue state’s isolated economy. But the reconstruction of the country hit by sanctions and heavily reliant on China won’t be easy, or cheap. In fact,...

•A peace treaty formally ending the Korean War and opening the North-South border would increase foreign investment, helping the economy, UBS economist Li Zeng and analyst Yong-Suk Son say. •North Korea could also then utilize its natural resources and well-educated labor force, the analysts say. •The state could then account for up to 24 percent of the Korean Peninsula's total gross domestic product in 20 years under reunification with the South, the report says....

"The GDPNow model estimate for real GDP growth (seasonally adjusted annual rate) in the second quarter of 2018 is 4.5 percent on June 27, down from 4.7 percent on June 19," the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta said in its latest GDPNow report. Key quotes The nowcast of real residential investment growth declined from 2.9 percent to 0.6 percent after the existing-home sales release from the National Association of Realtors on Wednesday, June 20, and the U.S. Census Bureau's releases on new-home sales and costs on Monday, June 25. After this morning's advance releases on durable manufacturing, inventories, and international...

Legendary investor Jim Rogers believes that unification would bring great prosperity for Korea but it would be a nightmare for Japan, which has shown a lukewarm attitude toward the South Korean and U.S. decision to halt joint military exercises. "Japanese companies want to invest in North Korea but Japan is against it because Japan cannot compete with a united Korea," Rogers, chairman of Rogers Holdings, said in a recent interview with The Korea Times at his residence in Singapore after the June 12 summit. The 75-year-old multimillionaire investor thinks that the two Koreas can create great synergy by just combining...

The president’s economic approval rating has hit an all-time high since he took office, a new survey shows. According to the CNBC All America Economic Survey, the majority of Americans approve of Trump’s handling of the economy. The economic approval rating went up 6 points, placing it at 51 percent with 36 percent of the public disapproving. Fifty-four percent said the economy is good or excellent, the highest recorded by CNBC in the 10 years of the survey....

Despite President Trump's tit-for-tat trade barbs, America’s CEOs are not wasting anytime in taking advantage of his tax reform plan. Over $300 billion was repatriated to the U.S. in the first quarter, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) -- the most on record. “U.S. firms that used to build their factories overseas in order to avoid U.S. taxes, they stopped in their tracks because of the tax bill, they are bringing all the money home,” said Kevin Hassett, chair of the president's Council of Economic Advisers, during an interview on FOX Business’ Varney & Co. in June.

President Donald Trump threatened on Tuesday that Harley-Davidson will be "taxed like never before" if the motorcycle maker moves production overseas. He claimed that the iconic U.S. company was using increased trade tensions as an excuse to justify planned changes in manufacturing. "A Harley-Davidson should never be built in another country-never! Their employees and customers are already very angry at them. If they move, watch, it will be the beginning of the end - they surrendered, they quit! The Aura will be gone and they will be taxed like never before!" Trump said in a tweet.

Six months ago today, President Trump signed into law the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, historic legislation which streamlined our tax code and offered much-needed tax relief to the American people. Since passage of the bill, the once-in-a-generation tax overhaul championed by President Trump and Republicans in Congress has already provided numerous benefits and an even brighter future for the American people. Gone is the outdated system that took too much of our money, sent our jobs overseas and stagnated our economy. Americans are now seeing thousands of dollars in tax relief and bigger paychecks. Middle-class families are benefitting from...

SEOUL/BEIJING/WASHINGTON • When United States President Donald Trump outlined his vision for the economic development of North Korea, he played on Western ideals of luxurious apartments with sea views. But just days after a landmark summit with the US President, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has made clear that he has a different model in mind: China. The 34-year-old Chairman of the State Affairs Commission was set to depart Beijing yesterday after a two-day tour aimed at winning China's financial backing for what Pyongyang says will be a new era of reduced international tensions and domestic economic development. Scepticism...

What kind of future does Kim Jong-un envision for North Korea? The young leader has dramatically remade his image from a ruthless nemesis into a daring visionary ushering a secluded nation into the world. Now, pundits are busy debating the intentions of the young leader and the possibility of an opening of the economy. They suggest the models of China, Vietnam, Singapore and even South Korea under Park Chung Hee, the strongman credited for the country’s staggering industrialization after postwar devastation. Optimists bet liberalization is on course now that North Korea has declared an end to nuclear weapons development. Skeptics...

Hard-up North Korea has so much to gain from denuclearising and becoming part of the civilised world. The hermit kingdom was actually wealthier than the now-affluent South before the Korean War, and is blessed with everything from abundant mineral resources and oil reserves to fertile agricultural land and stunning tourist-friendly beaches, as noted by President Trump. With this in mind, here are 15 industries that could make North Korea very rich indeed. Tourism During their historic summit in Singapore this month, President Trump showed Kim Jong-un a video extolling the virtues of tourism. “They have great beaches,” President Trump told...

We've made much of what President Donald Trump failed to get from Kim Jong Un in Singapore. Those failures would include steps toward verifiable irreversible denuclearization -- and a guarantee of an end to human rights abuses. Those are just a couple of the major issues. Then there's what he gave away: A sloppy salute and the upper hand in what should have been the toughest negotiation of his life. Negotiations held with an insecure hermit dictator who was said by South Korean intelligence sources to have ordered the murder of his half brother. In South Korea, however, the prism...

Last week, Congressman John Garamendi (D- CA), the ranking Democrat on the House Subcommittee for Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation, introduced The Energizing American Shipbuilding Act of 2018. The bipartisan bill, which would require the construction of over fifty ships and the creation of thousands of maritime and mariners’ jobs, is being carried in the Senate by Senator Roger Wicker (R-MS). In an interview with AJOT, Garamendi said that projections of 50 new shipbuildings by 2040 comes from “the legislationwhich requires a small percentage of exported crude oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) to be transported on U.S.-built and U.S.-flagged...

Is Nancy Pelosi a secret agent for the Republican Party? Sometimes you have to wonder. Her latest outburst, in which she derides the accelerating economy and declining unemployment, is so nonsensical that it demeans Democrats’ credibility, shows them to be remarkably out of touch with average Americans and underscores the poverty of their competing platform. It isn’t the first time Pelosi has given GOP candidates rich fodder for ridicule; remember how she compared thousand-dollar bonuses to “crumbs?” That’s a clip that will show well in midterm campaign ads. Pelosi’s latest Twitter sensation came amidst her weekly press conference, at which...

New research indicates that more millennials are leaving the traditional 9-to-5 job in hopes of starting their own business. Young people have President Trump’s tax cuts to thank, as they are helping grow the American economy at levels not seen in decades. According to recent analysis by MetLife insurance, four in 10 millennials are planning to quit their current jobs within the next five years and seek out work as a freelancer in the labor market. According to one millennial entrepreneur, the idea of starting one’s own business and being your own boss is a major priority among young entrepreneurs

The “mainstream media” remains riveted on alleged Trump-Russian collusion and how the Trump-Kim Jong Un deal will fail. But it mostly ignored reports on Russia-environmentalist collusion and China-environmentalist collusion – and milestones reached during the Trump administration’s first 500 days.In that short time, the US economy has gone from the lowest labor participation rate since the 1970s to nearly the lowest Black, Hispanic and women’s unemployment rates in history. It added 223,000 jobs just last month. Many employers are struggling to find qualified workers, even though private sector salaries and benefits have been increasing to attract them. (Perhaps generous...

What happens next may look like Greece during its financial collapse – meaning Turkey’s economy could shrink by 10%-20% The Turkish central bank managed to halt the free-fall of the country’s currency last week with a sharp rise in interest rates. But the move failed to stop the free-fall of Turkey’s equity market and – far more dangerous – the collapse of the credit quality of Turkey’s banks. Only last October, the euro-denominated 10-year bond of Turkey’s largest private lender, Garanti Bank, yielded just 3%. Now it yields more than 7%, and the dollar value of the bond has fallen...

WASHINGTON — A group of powerful business leaders is calling for more toll lanes on highways from Richmond, Virginia, to Baltimore.The first focus of the Greater Washington Partnership’s toll lane push is expected to be on Maryland’s plans for toll lanes around the Capital Beltway and up part of Interstate 270, with lobbying from the CEOs of some of the largest companies in Maryland, Virginia and the District to get the rules in Maryland to match those on Virginia’s Interstate 495 Express Lanes.Virginia’s lanes are free with a minimum of three people in the car and an E-ZPass Flex, while...