Oh thank haven
The value of Danish firms owned by companies officially based in tax havens has reached a record 275 billion kroner. The amount has increased four-fold since 2008, when Centralbanken, the national bank, began keeping records. Most of the companies, which include commonly known firms such as Georg Jensen and BornholmerFærgen, said moving their official address to tax havens was not a matter of trying to pay less in taxes. One of the stated reasons for moving to tax-haven countries like Bermuda and the Bahamas was that they often do not require companies to disclose their corporate financial data, which forms see as giving them an advantage over competitors. – Ugebrevet A4
SEE RELATED: Tax authority pursuing Microsoft for 5.8 billion kroner
A kroner a day keeps the patient away
A proposal that Denmark follow Norway’s lead and begin charging people a modest fee to visit the doctor is being roundly criticised. Libertarian think-tank Cepos, on the basis of a proposal by main opposition party Venstre, calculates that a per visit fee of 127 kroner would bring down the total number of visits by 27 percent. Critics accept that some of those who stayed away would be individuals who didn’t need to visit the doctor, but they also expressed concern that it would increase the likelihood that people who needed medical care would stay away. “It’s hard to say ahead of time who’s going to a doctor unnecessarily,” Dr Mads Koch Hansen, the chairman of the Danish Medical Association, said. – Jyllands-Posten
SEE RELATED: Increased doctor visits costing billions
Radikale decline
Governing coalition partner Radikle has registered its biggest fall in electoral support since the 2011 election. An Epinion/DR poll shows that that the party’s support has declined to 7 percent, from 9.5 percent in the September 2011 election. The decline comes after coalition partners Socialdemokraterne and SF have haemorrhaged voters since taking office. Pundits pointed to the recent internal disagreement over earmarked paternity leave for fathers and a growing dissatisfaction with Margrethe Vestager as the party’s leader as possible reasons for the decline. – DR Nyheder
SEE RELATED: Bloc breakers: the renaissance of the ‘radical’ centrists
Goldman Sachs eyeing Dong investment
Beleaguered power producer Dong may be getting a financial jolt in the form of an 8 billion kroner investment by US investment bank Goldman Sachs and two major Danish pension funds. The unconfirmed investment, amounting to 20 percent of the company’s shares, would satisfy a significant portion of Dong’s goal of selling 10 billion kroner worth of new shares. – Børsen
SEE RELATED: DONG shedding another 400 jobs
Editorial excerpt | Break the taboo, speak openly about public sector cuts
It ought to be one of the ultimate conservative goals to speak openly about their goal of reducing the number of public sector employees. Shrinking the public sector will not result in mass poverty, more unemployed or reduced levels of public service. Doing so is, in fact, necessary if we are to avoid all of the above. [Leading opposition party] Venstre, however, won’t say this aloud. Instead they mumble something about “getting the most out of our tax money”. […] That’s right, but if Denmark wants to be more competitive, we need a smaller public sector that has fewer employees. – Berlingske
SEE RELATED: Public sector risks job losses under opposition plan
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