Windfall profits: ‘Robin Hood’ Berlusconi to the rescue

By Edward Harrison On Jun 19, 2008

The Globe & Mail (via AP) has reported that the first shot across the bow for Big Oil has been delivered by the new Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. With oil prices surging and inflation at very elevated levels around the world, many are calling for a tax on oil companies’ taxes. Italy has delivered (see story).

The Windfall Profit Tax is an issue for the UK and the U.S. as well because both countries have large oil sectors that can be taxed. Barack Obama is running on a platform that includes a proposed windfall profit tax on oil profits, a very poor economic idea.

If oil prices do not fall, expect this issue to gain currency now that Italy has shown the way.

Edward Harrison 7783 posts 575 comments

Edward Harrison is a senior Editor at Bloomberg. He is also the founder of Credit Writedowns newsletter, a former career diplomat, investment banker and technology executive with over twenty five years of business experience. He speaks six languages and reads another five, skills he uses to provide a more global perspective. Edward holds an MBA in Finance from Columbia University and a BA in Economics from Dartmouth College.

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