Introduction: The Last Battleground of Globalization

Abstract

Increasingly linked by regional and global ties, national economies depend more than ever on international investments and trade. While trade has become international, however, taxation has remained national, preserving and strengthening one of the few remaining barriers to the flow of cross-border investments. In 'Globalization and Its Tax Discontents: Tax Policy and International Investments,' tax scholars contribute essays in honour of the late Professor Emeritus Alex Easson to identify the ways that taxes can inhibit or promote international investments, and assess both government and private market responses to present challenges. Given the lack of meaningful government cooperation, the contributors integrate economic theory with elements of history, gender theory, and international relations to explore the potential development of effective international tax rules and processes to tax international investments. Chapter 1 'Introduction: The Last Battleground of Globalization' overviews the book’s chapters and draws from the work of Herodotus, the ancient Greek author of The Histories, to shed light on one of the last real policy battlegrounds of globalization. The chapter also highlights the complexities of taxing one global investment, the Hollywood film '300', which was loosely-based on the account of the Battle of Thermopylae in The Histories.

Keywords: international tax, globalization, tax economics, international relations, tax policy, gender theory