Latest news with #Freakonomics'
Forbes
11-04-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Let's Implement Tariffs In A Way That Reduces Tariff 'Sludge'
If appropriately implemented, new tariffs could reduce 'sludge.' Sludge is a term the podcast 'Freakonomics' applies to unnecessary complexity that makes life more difficult and stressful. Sludge raises costs and distorts the efficient operation of an economy. No area of any economy may have more sludge than tariff classification. A specific tariff involves a fixed fee levied on one unit of an imported good. This tariff varies according to the type of goods imported. For example, a country could levy a $15 tariff on each imported shirt but a $250 tariff on every smartphone. The phrase "ad valorem" is Latin for "according to value." This type of tariff is levied on a good based on a percentage of that good's value. An example of an ad valorem tariff would be a 10% tariff levied by the European Union on U.S. automobiles that come complete with internal combustion engines. Thus, for a $50,000 car, the tariff would be $5,000. In contrast, the US has levied a tariff of 2.5% for the same goods from EU entering the US. A compound tax is a combination of both specific and ad valorem tariffs. In the case of China, the Trump administration is proposing very high ad valorem tariffs imposed on top of the existing specific tariffs. However, if ad valorem tariffs are going to be significant, why even have specific tariffs? This is an opportunity to reduce trade sludge. Specific tariffs are based on the international Harmonized System. This is a global system of nomenclature that is used to describe most world trade in goods. This is maintained by the World Customs Organization. Virtually all countries base their tariff schedules on the WCO's Harmonized System. HS codes are six-digit codes. The Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States is based on the harmonized system. This is the primary resource for determining customs duties classifications for goods imported into the United States. The Harmonized Tariff Schedule classifies a good based on its name, use, and/or the material used in its construction and assigns it a ten-digit classification code number. The HS code is a subset of the U.S.'s tariff schedule - the first six digits are the same. There are over 17,000 unique classification code numbers in the U.S. But worse than the sheer number of classification codes is the complexity. Using the right HS code allows companies to pay the correct tariffs. Paying the right tariffs is necessary to avoid hefty government fines as well as to protect brand reputation. The problem is an incredible gap between how products are described commercially and how they are expressed in the national customs tariff schedules. To say that HS codes are non-intuitive would be a massive understatement. What a regular person would describe as 'baby food' in HS speak is known as a 'homogenized composite food preparation;' a 'hair blower' is an 'electrothermic hairdressing apparatus;' before you can classify 'rayon,' you have to know whether this is an 'artificial' or a 'synthetic' fiber; and if you were classifying an automotive part, like a car alarm, you might think you would go to the section of the HS code focused on automobiles, but no – this is an electronic signaling device. This has resulted in historic error rates of up to 30%. Global trade management systems leveraging AI do reduce classification errors. How much is unclear. Further, the application of AI to GTM solutions comes with challenges. First, the AI's output is only as good as the data input. Data cleansing can help, but often, improving data quality will require supply chain partners to get involved. Freight forwarders may fear that collaboration could lead them to become an unnecessary middleman. The bigger the model, the better the AI model. A global trade management solution has components for electronically messaging trade authorities with documents on the number of imported goods and their classification, process workflow, and an updated database of how the tariffs should be applied to specific products. The best databases for trade content are built using a public cloud architecture. In other words, the database is shared by all the customers using a particular GTM solution. This allows for much, much larger AI models. However, public clouds do significantly increase the need for strong cybersecurity. AI can also have a 'black box' problem where users don't understand how the answer was generated. If a trade professional does not understand the logic, they are unlikely to use it. Further, if a shipper does get audited, it is important that the GTM system provides an audit trail that shows how goods were classified with a logic tree that explains why the goods were classified that way. In many jurisdictions, this audit trail demonstrates 'good faith' and means that even if a declared good was misclassified, the company would be given credit for exercising diligence and would thus be likely to avoid the most severe penalties. More likely, they would not be penalized at all. Many shippers, if audited, have no ability to explain why they classified goods as they did. Black box AI has the same problem. For significant ad valorem tariffs, there is an opportunity for simplification. However, trade classification is not the only contributor to trade sludge. The White House issued an executive order explaining their rationale for reciprocal tariffs and why trade disparities are a national emergency. They pointed to non-tariff barriers that make it harder for U.S. firms to export goods. Non-tariff barriers include import barriers driven by licensing restrictions, unnecessarily restrictive quality standards on goods or technical regulations, sanitary measures that restrict trade without furthering safety objectives, and several other categories of restrictions. One goal of the tariffs is to negotiate reductions in these non-tariff barriers.
Yahoo
16-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Justin Baldoni's Lawyer Reacts to Claim Director Was ‘Fired' by WME Out of Blake Lively Loyalty
Justin Baldoni's lawyer, Bryan Freedman, has responded to Ari Emanuel's alleged reasons for dropping the actor-director as a client. 'Mr. Ari Emanuel is notably one of the best agents, and clearly the most loyal, in Hollywood,' Freedman told the Daily Mail on Friday, February 14. 'Perhaps Ari's perspective would be different if they had ever met in the half-decade they were clients of his agency.' Emanuel is the chief executive of WME's parent company, Endeavor, and recently claimed that he 'fired' Baldoni, 41, as a client out of loyalty to Blake Lively and her husband, Ryan Reynolds. (News broke in December 2024 that WME stopped representing Baldoni shortly after Lively's sexual harassment lawsuit made headlines.) 'I mean it is a f—ed up, bad situation with what Baldoni … is doing,' Emanuel said during a live taping of the 'Freakonomics' podcast earlier in February. '[He was my client] until I fired him.' WME Head Says He 'Fired' Justin Baldoni Because He Is 'Ride or Die' for Blake Lively, Ryan Reynolds When pressed if he actually fired Baldoni, Emanuel succinctly said, 'I am a ride or die. And [Lively and Reynolds] are good people.' Lively, 37, sued Baldoni in December 2024 for sexual harassment and fostering a 'hostile work environment' when they filmed It Ends With Us together. She also claimed that Baldoni, who both starred in and directed the picture, tried to destroy her reputation. Baldoni, meanwhile, denied the allegations before filing a defamation suit against Lively. He also named Reynolds, 48, in the motion. The married couple, meanwhile, denounced the accusations. "It's not really fair,' Emanuel said on the Wednesday, February 12, episode. 'I've known Ryan and Blake for over a decade. They're really incredible people. In Hollywood, they have been incredibly successful. People work with them, they've never had any bad mojo out there or treated people badly.' He added, 'They are charitable — we help them with their foundation [and] they've given tons of money away.' Emanuel also had a difficult time believing Baldoni's version of events. Justin Baldoni's Former Agency WME Denies Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively Pressured Them to Drop Him 'If what is alleged in her lawsuit [and] what happened on social media is true, just because she complained to the studio that things were unhealthy on the set and that he was director and this man was the producer, and they did to her what is being alleged, they're really bad people,' Emanuel said. 'I know Blake, I know Ryan; they're good people. Social media is a really good thing at times because it lets stars connect with their fans, but these two guys [Baldoni and his team] used it in an evil way if that's true.' Emanuel further implored Baldoni's camp to 'just stop since they think they're innocent.' Baldoni's attorney, Freedman, has been vocal in the media arguing his client's perspective, even launching a website that documents their team's alleged proof. 'Let the process play itself out,' Emanuel stressed on Wednesday. 'These are good people that have been in the business for decades and have never had any bad press about them and all the people they work with like them. So, if it's true what they're saying in that allegation, these are two bad guys.'
Miami Herald
14-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Miami Herald
Us Weekly's 5 Hot Stories: WME Exec Is ‘Ride or Die' for Blake Lively, ‘Love Is Blind' Couples
The WME talent agency has a strong allegiance to Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds, according to Ari Emanuel, an executive of the firm's parent company. During a recent appearance on the 'Freakonomics' podcast, Emanuel addressed the ongoing legal battle between Lively and her It Ends With Us costar Justin Baldoni, who was dropped by WME late last year. 'I mean, it is a f—ed up, bad situation with what Baldoni … is doing. [He was my client] until I fired him,' Emanuel said, adding that he is 'a ride or die' fan of both Lively and her husband, who he referred to as 'good people.' Emanuel also stressed that Baldoni and his team should 'let the process play itself out' as the back and forth continues. Lively initially sued Baldoni — who also directed It Ends With Us — for sexual harassment in December 2024. He denied the accusations before filing lawsuits against The New York Times, which reported Lively's claims, and against Lively, Reynolds and their publicist. Lively denounced Baldoni's defamation claims. A trial date has been set for next year. Scroll below for more of Us Weekly's top stories: As a new season of Love Is Blind premieres on Netflix, Us checked in with couples who survived the reality dating experiment in honor of Valentine's Day. Selena Gomez and her fiancé, Benny Blanco, are already thinking about their future as husband and wife — especially when it comes to converting religions. The Handmaid's Tale is expected to return with its sixth and final season this year, but which characters will be part of wrapping up the Hulu series' story? Travis Kelce reportedly has one month to inform the Kansas City Chiefs if he plans on returning for the 2025-2026 NFL season after the team's Super Bowl loss. Visit sign up to get daily news via email and follow Us on Instagram or Facebook for more news, exclusive interviews and intel, red carpet dispatches and beyond.
