Cross-Border: What's the Latest Impact and Global Benefits?

The Borderless Delusion

So, the OECD thinks it's solved cross-border tax with a "clarification" on remote work? Give me a break. As if a few tweaks to the Model Tax Convention are going to stop corporations from playing shell games across international lines. They expect us to believe this nonsense, and honestly...

"Greater certainty for governments and businesses," the press release drones. Certainty for whom? The governments who are losing tax revenue hand over fist? Or the businesses who are dodging taxes like Neo dodging bullets? I'm betting on the latter. The OECD seems to agree, as they recently released an OECD updates Model Tax Convention to reflect rise of cross-border remote work and clarify taxation of natural resources.

And this whole "rise in such arrangements following the COVID-19 pandemic" angle? Please. Remote work was already happening. COVID just gave corporations the perfect excuse to accelerate the race to the bottom, exploiting labor laws and tax loopholes across borders. Now they're acting like they're solving a problem they created.

Education Without Boundaries? More Like a Headache.

Then there's this "all-island university" nonsense with Queen's University Belfast and Dundalk Institute of Technology. Sounds great on paper, right? Cross-border collaboration, enhanced research, opportunities for students... blah, blah, blah.

Let's be real: It's about money. It's always about money. Funding from the EU or the UK, they say? Suddenly everyone's all about cross-border initiatives. What happens when that funding dries up? Will they still be so eager to collaborate? As reported by the BBC, Dundalk Institute of Technology and Queen's University Belfast are in new cross-border collaboration.

And what about the students? You're telling me a degree from DKIT is suddenly worth more because it's "partnered" with Queen's? Sounds like a marketing gimmick to me. Another way to squeeze more money out of students who are already drowning in debt.

Oh and offcourse, the press release is filled with quotes from student union reps praising the move. Color me shocked.

Tangent: I'm still waiting for my student loans to be forgiven. Politicians make promises they can't keep. Shocker.

Autozi's Billion-Dollar Dream: More Like a Pipe Dream?

Autozi, a Chinese auto parts company, is aiming for $1 billion in cross-border sales within three years. Ambitious, to say the least. They’re partnering with Wanshan International Trading Co. to make it happen. Sounds impressive, I guess.

"Capitalization, Digitalization, and Globalization," they claim, as if buzzwords alone will guarantee success. It's all about "SaaS-based supply-chain capabilities" and "established global trade networks." Translation: They're hoping to automate their way to riches by exploiting cheap labor and dodging regulations.

But wait, are we really supposed to believe that an auto parts company can just magically scale up its international revenue base by a billion dollars in three years? Call me skeptical. I've seen too many "disruptive" startups crash and burn to buy into this hype.

Then again, maybe I'm the crazy one here. Maybe I'm just a cynical old man yelling at clouds. But I doubt it.

So, What's the Real Story?

It's the same old song and dance. Corporations and governments pretending to solve problems they created, all while lining their own pockets. Cross-border this, global that... it's all just a smokescreen for greed and exploitation. We ain't ready for a world without borders because we can't even handle the ones we have.