TAXATION AND CONSEQUENCING IN FARMS

In recent years, OECD countries have seen a gradual reduction in corporate income taxation. Average rates have decreased by 33% in 2000 and 4.2% in 2025. Among the countries with higher taxation are France (36.1%), followed by Colombia, Germany and Australia. These countries are constantly facing a capital flight or relocation of businesses, while realities such as Switzerland (19.6%), Ireland and Hungary are often accused of unfair tax competition. In 2021, international agreements were signed which set a minimum rate of 15% for companies. The objective is twofold: to avoid an increase in tax inequalities and prevent the artificial transfer of profits to low-taxed territories. This rule was then transposed by internal conversion laws, becoming an integral part of national laws. The challenge for OECD countries will be to strike a balance between economic competitiveness and fiscal equity. Low rate advocates say that they attract investment and stimulate growth. Critics, however, fear that they will reduce the public revenues needed to finance welfare and services, increasing inequality. In the United States where the average rate is 25.6% the recent increase in redundancies, despite the growth of sales of many companies, seems paradoxical. It is likely that companies are anticipating a recession perceived as imminent.

 

TARIFF INCERTITY AND INFLATION

The tariff uncertainty and inflation are deeply affecting the economic life of millions of citizens and businesses. Target, for example, announced the cut of 1,800 positions, about 8% of the company's workforce: the largest round of redundancies of the last decade. The company, which underwent conservative boycotts in 2024 for the choice of introducing LGBT clothing for children, faces today a difficult environment marked by reduced margins, high costs and persistent inflation.

But Target is not an isolated case.

Nestlé is expecting 16,000 layoffs in the next two years.

- UPS fired 12,000 workers in 2024 and closed 73 sites, after a sharp decline in global shipments and the 50% loss of volumes from Amazon.

- Rivian reduced staff by 600, affected by a fall in interest in electric vehicles.

- Nike cut 2,000 administrative roles and lost 9.8%, largely due to import duties from China, which cover 24% of its production.

Starbucks, Applied Materials, Morgan Stanley, Charter, GM and Amazon have followed the same path, with thousands of cuts.

 

These figures indicate a phase of adjustment that could extend beyond next year. Despite the slowdown in inflation under the Biden administration, the prices of essential goods remain high. Without a deflationary event or a strong increase in production, costs will hardly fall. High interest rates have not slowed demand, and Americans continue to spend and indebt. Companies, with difficult times, try to protect themselves by reducing costs and costs, today, mean mainly jobs.

AMAZON AND LYA

Another factor that explains the layoffs is the advent of artificial intelligence. Amazon has eliminated 14,000 jobs, a measure aimed both at compensating excessive recruitment of the pandemic period, and at simplifying operations thanks to automation and chatbots. Today the giant has about 1.5 million employees, but it is entering a phase of deep restructuring what many define

 

THE IMPACT OF THE FACTORY ON THE LABOUR MARKET

Every technological revolution rekindles the same question: will machines free us or replace us? The artificial intelligence re-proposes the paradox of always: innovation anticipates costs but delays benefits. As in the first industrial revolution, we first witness the destruction of existing roles, then the slow creation of new sectors. Marx had predicted that machines would lead to the collapse of capitalism replacing human labour; history has shown the opposite. Capital and work are not rivals, but complementary. More automation means no less employment, but different employment. The current risk is not mass unemployment, but selective: it strikes those who fail to retrain in time. The true impact of the IA will not be on the number of places, but on the very nature of work.

 

THE CULTURE OF THE PERFIT AT EVERY COST

American companies have benefited from post-pandemic scarcity, but at a very high human price. Modern man has become accustomed to conditions that he would have once refused: precariousness, inequality and acceptance of questionable business behaviour. Profit has become the measure of everything, and many shareholders often within the same companies impose objectives increasingly distant from social reality. Starting from the 1960s, with the rise of business schools and business consultants, we have moved from a culture of doing a useful job well to that of ... Maximizing the

 

profit. In the 1970s and 1980s this model led to mass redundancies and the disappearance of the middle class. Managers like Jack Welch became symbols of success based on cuts and returns for shareholders, not on human value. The result is an empty economic culture, oriented only to money, which has erotic sense of mission, community and dignity of work. Perhaps it does not need a new economic model, but a return to an ancient one: the one in which a company existed to offer a useful service and enhance its people. Today the products have deteriorated in quality, reduced in quantity, but sold at higher prices.

 

SLOWING OF FARM USES

Employment data show a clear slowdown in the US economy: job growth is falling, and full-time employment of consumption is falling. Overall growth is stabilising below 2%, insufficient to maintain record business profits. Despite this, the Federal Reserve maintains an excessively restrictive monetary policy. Inflation is no longer an immediate threat, but the delay in interest rates increases the risk of recession and reduces the future intervention capacity. Revenue growth is slowing down, consumer demand decreases and profit margins are squeezed. In the second quarter, the growth in profits of the S&P 500 (+6.4%) has been supported only by technology and banks, while the rest of the market shows signs of weakness.

 

STRATEGY FOR INVESTORS

Slow down requires a more cautious approach:

- Reduce exposure to cyclical sectors (discretionary consumption, travel, electronics).

- Increase the weight in the defensive sectors (essential necessities, health care, utility).

- Privilege companies with solid balances and stable dividends.

- Increase the share of high quality bonds.

- Avoid speculative securities that are vulnerable to high financing costs.

The US economy shows concrete signs of weakening, while the Fed appears slow in reacting. If the slowdown in profits were to increase, the high ratings of equity markets would inevitably be questioned. For investors, the priority today is to move towards quality, stability and capital defence.