<ul><li>If an industry can flourish during a global pandemic and one of the worst economic crises we had to face, it can survive through any challenges that come in its way.</li><li>Digital media has proven time and again how integral it is to the advertising industry’s survival and growth.</li><li>However, every year brings with it a set of challenges different from the previous one. So, in our second year-ender, we look at digital marketing, its growth trajectory and look at what lies ahead.</li><li>Experts are optimistic that 2022 will be a game-changer that will help them redefine a lot of rules in advertising, with smarter marketing techniques.</li></ul>The digital marketing industry in India not only managed to weather the pandemic’s impact but also flourished gracefully in 2020. It accelerated at an unbelievable speed, exceeding all predictions and expectations. Brands were quick to adapt, pivoting aggressively from traditional mediums to invest in digital. Digital media became one of the most effective mediums to reach out to people locked inside their houses and stuck to their phone and tablet screens. This trend of increased smartphone consumption is only expected to amplify as more people, especially in Tier II and III cities, engage more digitally and make purchase decisions through websites, apps, social media platforms. Apps have undoubtedly become the most popular destination for consumers and marketers are capitalizing on this trend to engage with them. As per GroupM’s TYNY report, global digital advertising should account for 64.4% of total advertising in 2021, up from 60.5% in 2020 and 52.1% in 2019. Zenith also estimates that global adspend will reach $705 billion in 2021, up from $634 billion in 2019, and will rise to $873 billion by 2024.<br /><br />Digital marketing in India is also at the cusp of a massive revolution as brands explore options beyond <keyword id="640850" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="social-media-marketing" source="Orion">social media marketing</keyword> within the digital ecosystem and look to expand their presence across regional markets. RedSeer predicts that India’s digital ad expenditure will grow 10 times over the next decade and will likely account for 70-85% of the total ad market, which currently stands at 33%. It is expected to touch $25-35 billion by 2030 from $3 billion in 2020. So, without a doubt, digital marketing is the future of advertising and the only way brands can grow is by harnessing various digital tools. <br /><br />From buying medicine to groceries or shopping for a wedding, many consumers who would otherwise prefer to browse and purchase in person, have moved to online shopping due to the limitations that the pandemic threw at them. This quick change in consumer behaviour, accelerated by the pandemic, gave a push to e-commerce, performance marketing, augmented reality, mobile marketing, digital animation, video content, voice search, audio advertising and influencer marketing. In this last year, Instagram has also moved beyond just a discovery platform and influencer-led commerce has arrived earlier than expected. According to WARC, Instagram grew to become the largest social media platform globally in 2021 after overtaking the core Facebook platform for the first time. Instagram is forecast to grow to control over a third of the global social media market in 2023. Apart from social commerce, Instagram’s parent company’s Metaverse was the hot topic and trailblazer of 2021. In 2022, more brands will prepare for the next phase of the internet, include Metaverse in their marketing strategy and experiment with AR and VR. <br /><br />As we enter a new year and it brings a new set of challenges, different from the previous one, we speak to digital marketing experts, discuss the industry’s growth trajectory and look at what lies ahead. Here’s what experts had to say about digital marketing’s future in India:<br /><br /><strong>Neena Dasgupta, CEO and Director, Zirca Digital Solutions:</strong><br /><br />The dominant trend that seems imminent and set to grow is the cross media measurement. The customer connect is critical given the significant shift in consumption patterns. Understanding the impact of the mediums and planning connect basis that is an inevitability. This would require customer segmentation by cohorts, enablement of linking these cohorts between brand and publisher (any medium) and tracking response and measuring attribution using data integration at a CRM level. The entire system is data and tech driven supported by psychometric tools for the purpose of cohort creation and mapping. All in real time. <br /><br />Single source panel is the need of the hour. And there are multiple measurement organisations working together on this. More importantly it’s critical that a brand understands trading needs to be made more efficient by enabling customer segmentation in real time that can be activated using programmatic means, also in real time. The data pool and nodes will take some time to build as in any data led ML, and eventually it’s data science and creativity at work to engage prospects. <br /><br /><strong>Harshil Karia, Co-founder and Managing Director, Schbang:</strong><br /><br />I think two big trends will dominate marketing:<br /><br />1) More and more brands using a combination of technology to enrich what they do at last mile conversion, data management, and using the marketing data as signals to business and sales teams more effectively. Expect more martech being deployed. And expect more people to learn martech and it's capabilities and the ability to learn and unlearn the same. <br /><br />2) The use of automation will start to affect creativity. One ad can be delivered in a 100 ways using video Ai and voice. One copy can be written in many ways customised to context. The writers to can work well with an Ai and make it their friend will do well. An Ai works as well as the instructional data it recieves. <br /><br />The factor that will help drive this is increased demands from CEOs to integrate the marketing function into large scale business processes and have the vision to see the value it can unlock - a push but also some patience. The automation allows marketing to now affect at scale far more parts of the organisation than they already have. Marketers and creators will do well to be curious and have a learn it all attitude while knowing and deepening their craft on copy and design." <br /><br /><strong>Prashant Puri, Co-Founder &amp; CEO, AdLift:</strong><br /><br />We’re entering the organic first age where prioritizing organic search becomes paramount. We see content playing a vital role here, be it optimizing for voice search or improving user experience via engaging content across all brand touchpoint.<br /><br />We estimate influencer marketing spends to catapult to $150 to $225 in 2022 with brands doubling down on influencer led marketing campaigns across nano, micro and macro influencers - capturing 7 to 9% of overall digital marketing spends in India.<br /><br /><strong>Chandni Shah, Founder and COO, Kinnect:<br /><br /></strong>The one trend I see dominating 2022 is Social Commerce. The e-commerce industry experienced accelerated growth with the pandemic, and social commerce emerged as the 'flavour of the year'. Social media platforms too joined the bandwagon and introduced features and tools to enhance the consumer journey - from product discovery to purchasing them on/through the platform itself. <br /><br />Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 contributed significantly to the new era of online social retail. In 2020, Facebook introduced Instagram shops, integrating e-commerce and the world's most popular social media platform. In the Covid-19 pandemic, the worldwide social commerce market is anticipated to increase at a whopping <a href="https://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/5140143/social-commerce-global-market-trajectory-and?utm_source=GNOM&amp;utm_medium=PressRelease&amp;utm_code=rm7g2f&amp;utm_campaign=1434938+-+Global+Social+Commerce+Market+Worth+%24604.5+Billion+by+2027+-+COVID-19+Updated&amp;utm_exec=joca220prd" target="_blank">31.4</a><u>%</u>. By 2021, social commerce will continue to expand as consumers stick to digital habits, whilst e-commerce and conventional retailers adjust to the post-Covid-19 reality. Combining e-commerce with social media can be highly valuable; it allows consumers to look for brands via social media platforms and search for products they wouldn't usually look for on an e-commerce website. Brand hunt, influencers, and mobile payments are examples of social commerce in action. Thanks to AI, marketers can now gather real-time data on consumers and transform it into actionable insights. <br /><br />The upcoming year will see more users turn into buyers and make purchases through social commerce. Brands that haven't explored the opportunity yet will be quick to jump onto this trend. To sum this up, the shorter the buyers' journey will be, the lesser chance of them abandoning products in their cart. <br /><br /><strong>Hareesh Tibrewala Joint CEO of Mirum India:</strong> <br /><br />Covid has taught us that every business, big or small, B2B or B2C, irrespective of the category -- needs to have a way of reaching out to the consumers online, be able to showcase ones products and services, collect payment and make delivery. We will see e-commerce driving investments in the area of technology, content creation and media. We will see continued expansion of market places as well as emergence of D2C brands. Within ecommerce we will see movement towards voice-based ordering as well as conversational commerce<br /><br /><strong>Harsh Shah, EVP, Business- North and West, Dentsu Webchutney:</strong><br /><br />2022 is going to be the year of alternate digital realities. Yes, the metaverse! That moment in time where our digital life seamlessly co-exists with our physical life. That year, where our virtual possessions are of as much worth as our real-life possessions. Bank accounts and crypto wallets. Art works and NFTs. One of the key outlooks for brands should be to see how they can use 2022 to prep themselves to be not only present in the metaverse but also for immersive storytelling.<br /><br />With growing interest in the concept and it being part of popular culture, will accelerate adoption. It will outgrow the internet in adoption. Also, with 5G hitting the market, it can act as a great platform to drive that initial burst of growth.<br /><br /><strong>Shradha Agarwal, COO and Strategy Head- Grapes:</strong><br /><br />In my opinion, AI will play a crucial role in the digital marketing ecosphere. We have witnessed that from data collection to geo-fencing, AI has been helping businesses grow extensively. The technology comes with such a great combination that it has been used widely in certain aspects such as content creation, chatbots and search engines.<br /><br />Sectors like retail, e-commerce, banking, healthcare, gaming and others are already backed upon on artificial intelligence as it helps them recognize consumer behaviour, search patterns and it also helps businesses understand how customers find their products and services. In the coming time, we would see many others sectors trying their hands on the tool marketers want good sales and better ROI through their marketing strategy. Therefore, AI applications can predict what customers are likely to buy in the future based on their past purchases and browsing history. With this approach, it becomes easier for them to target their users.<br /><br />Also, AI use is becoming of utmost importance for those companies whose business depends on smartphones and drive sales through social media. Hence, AI as a market will grow exponentially.<br /><br /><strong>Raman Mittal, CMO and Co-Founder, TO THE NEW:</strong><br /><br />I believe the dominant trend of 2022 will be Contextual Targeting.<br />Contextual targeting isn’t something new, but for a while it was in the shadows because it’s performance was lower than Behavioral Targeting that used cookies.<br /><br />But in this cookie-less world, the modes of serving personalized ads to the audience have shrunk and marketers are moving back to contextual targeting. Whether it is category, keyword, or semantic contextual targeting, it will be exciting to see future developments in this arena.<br /><br /><strong>Mohit Gyanchandani, Head, media planning and growth, DCMN India:</strong><br /><br />For several years, the marketing industry has witnessed an ongoing contest between performance and brand marketing in terms of budget, resources and impact. But in 2022, we predict that the old dichotomy between the two will become increasingly blurred. This is in part due to the impact of COVID on businesses. After a volatile 18 months, many organisations are re-evaluating their goals and moulding themselves to survive and thrive in this new economy. Above all, companies know that to succeed, they need to build brand salience.<br /><br />We’re already seeing that for many of our clients, it’s not simply about brand versus performance anymore: the two need to work in tandem. That means bringing both sides of marketing even closer together and building fully integrated, 360 degree campaigns that power growth and build brand recognition across online and offline channels. Marketers will also start looking at results more holistically. Instead of just looking at one specific channel and its impact on direct KPIs, they will look at results through a broader lens: for example, the impact that a TV campaign might have on digital channels like search or retargeting.<br /><br />This doesn’t mean that pure performance-driven campaigns are going away completely. The best approach for a brand will always depend on the company’s stage of growth and their overall marketing goals. But for companies looking to scale, taking a fully integrated approach will be key to achieving cut-through in an increasingly competitive industry."<br /><br /><strong>Ankur Gattani, VP - Growth and Marketing, WebEngage around MarTech:</strong><br /><br />Majority of Indian organizations have been using a mix bag of first-party (1P) and third-party (3P) data for marketing and advertising. However, the usage and impact of 1P data are expected to amplify in 2022 in a big way. This trend will dominantly be driven by the legal framework that will prohibit the usage of 3P data and force the adoption for 1P.<br /><br />Organisations like Amazon and Netflix have spoilt the customers with their personalisation mechanisms. What this means is that customers expect personalisation from the websites and apps that they visit. Marketeers will have to make optimal use of data and analytics to bring that level of experience for their customers.<br /><br />Reports suggest that over 80% of marketeers see benefits in leveraging consumer data for marketing. At WebEngage, we work 100% on 1P customer data and we believe this trend will not only help our clients engage with consumers in a meaningful manner but also improve their business ROI.<br /><br /><strong>Shivani Kamdar - Associate Creative Director, SoCheers:<br /></strong><br />2020 &amp; 2021 showed us how content is still the centrepiece of every marketing communication and how brands went the extra mile to establish a better connection with their audience. The coming year is going to be no different, in fact "Localisation of Content" is the need of the hour. A marketing technique for product promotion leveraging the local culture of the target areas by studying their preference, likes, dislikes. The customer begins to relate with the content at a subconscious level which in turn not only helps aid their purchase decision but in the long run, also helps forge a better recall for the brand.<br /><br />One of the key factors that will help drive this trend home is ground research - an intense focus on understanding the consumer intent by renewing SEO efforts. The other is the medium of communication. Building the right story is not enough; finding the most compelling way to sell it will do just the right thing. Will that copy be more relatable as a video or will adding audio to this help enhance the user experience? Consumers are craving interactive, consumable, entertaining content be it on mobile or across social channels; question is, will you give it to them?<br /><br /><strong>Dia Kirpalani, VP, Head of Strategy, Blink Digital:</strong><br /><br />As we move into 2022 and beyond, we believe that both marketers and consumers will increasingly seek a clearly demonstrable line to value.<br /><br />To achieve this, marketers will need to harness the ability of end-to-end measurement, with an eye on their north star metric. India is moving online more than ever. With everything from shoppable content on social media, to conversational commerce bringing India's smaller towns further into the fold, this measurement is progressively important to assess where and how to communicate.<br />Meanwhile, consumers will seek value and authenticity from their brands. Brands that win consumers' hearts will meet consumers where they are with content that has real relevance, whether they access it through voice, video or vernacular. Brands will need to also provide consumers an exceedingly easy content consumption or shopping experience through hiccup-free, friendly interfaces. Importantly, content will also need to authentically reflect evolving consumer values, and this will help determine what brands should communicate. For brands looking to scale up further, this combination of multiple elements is what will ultimately drive value.<br /><br /><strong>Rahul Nanwani, Co-founder &amp; CEO of ImageKit:</strong><br /><br />It is predicted that globally, 82% of consumer web traffic in 2022 would be from videos. With India’s video market set to touch $18 billion by 2026, it will soon play a dominant role in digital marketing as well. Short-form videos have already attracted the attention of many Indians and the market is predicted to reach 650 million users by 2025. Thus, if brands need to reach a wider audience in the coming year, they need to utilize tools that will maximize their outreach through videos. Video optimization and media management tools help improve internal collaboration for teams creating the videos and then ensure that those high-quality videos can load quickly on a user's device. With several advancements being made in this field, brands will be able to provide better customer experiences and ensure their messaging reaches them through videos.<br />

Metaverse, social commerce and personalisation in a cookie-less world: Here’s how digital marketers are preparing for the future

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/55b7e17c2acae70f008bacff-1382-1037/screen shot 2014-10-28 at 12.12.31 pm.png" alt="red blood polluted water china" data-mce-source="REUTERS/Stringer" data-mce-caption="A man looks at a contaminated river in Cangnan county of Wenzhou, Zhejiang province July 24, 2014." /><p class="source"><span>REUTERS/Stringer</span></p><p class="caption">A man looks at a contaminated river in Cangnan county of Wenzhou, Zhejiang province.</p></div><p></p></div></div>Yes, Jeremy Grantham is worried about things. </p><p>In his <a href="https://www.gmo.com/docs/default-source/public-commentary/gmo-quarterly-letter.pdf">latest quarterly letter to clients</a>, GMO's Jeremy Grantham has a concise list of 10 things that, he writes, "can all be viewed as problems: potential threats to our well-being." </p><p>This is typically uplifting stuff from Grantham, who <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/gmos-grantham-forecasts-fed-fueled-asset-bubble-2015-4">most recently warned</a> that the Fed is determined to inflate a bubble and had previously said, simply, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/jeremy-grantham-on-oil-economic-growth-2014-11">the world can't be as great</a> as some people might think. </p><p>Grantham's list, he concedes, "is lopsidedly negative." However, the legendary investor defends his choice writing that the good news, "will usually look out for itself."</p><p>And so it is with something like the common good in mind that Grantham increasingly finds himself, "free to obsess about anything that seems both relevant and interesting," however grim these things may be. </p><p>As for Grantham's list, his 10 topics of doom are:</p><ol><li>Pressure on GDP growth in the US and the balance of the developed world: count on 1.5% US growth, not the old 3%. </li><li>The age of plentiful, cheap resources is gone forever.</li><li>Oil. </li><li>Climate problems. </li><li>Global food shortages. </li><li>Income inequality. </li><li>Trying to understand deficiencies in democracy and capitalism. </li><li>Deficiencies in the Fed. </li><li>Investment bubbles in a world that is, this time, interestingly different. </li><li>Limitations of <em>homo sapiens</em></li></ol><p>And so to sum up the list's fears, Grantham is basically looking at a world that can't grow as fast as it needs; is governed improperly; is full of leaders deluding themselves about the effectiveness of accepted political and economic wisdom; is running out of food; is running out of oil; is running out of resources; and, is controlled by flawed, limited animals: <em>homo sapiens</em>. </p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/55b7e1142acae72d5f8ba367-1024-512/4307907897_8052b57d85_b.jpg" alt="Cavemen " data-mce-source="Flickr/Orin Zebest" /><p class="source"><span>Flickr/Orin Zebest</span></p></div><p></p></div></div>But again, none of this is <em>particularly</em> new for Grantham, who has long been considered a 'Malthusian' (which basically is the view that the number of people will overrun the amount of resources available on Earth). This is not a positive view. </p><p>And so while Grantham's grim outlook does, in some way, <a href="https://twitter.com/ReformedBroker/status/626115743462125573">begin to border on self-parody</a>, his letter is hoping to take something closer to a 30,000-foot view of what's going on in the world. </p><p>And it's not all bad, as Grantham writes in his conclusion. </p><p>"In the interest of full disclosure, I do obsess also about the remarkable acceleration in helpful technologies - mainly in alternative energy but also in agriculture - that may just save our bacon. It would be a shame, however, to spoil the uniform tone of this quarter's discussion, so I will wait a quarter to update the many positive developments.</p><p>"Have a good summer." </p><p><strong><a href="https://www.gmo.com/docs/default-source/public-commentary/gmo-quarterly-letter.pdf">Read the full GMO letter here »</a></strong></p>

GRANTHAM: I can't stop thinking about these 10 threats that could potentially ruin the world

<p><em>Hello, everyone! Welcome to the next edition of <keyword id="9095853" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="insider-today">Insider Today</keyword>. If you haven't signed up yet, please do so<a href="https://slack-redir.net/link?url=https%3A%2F%2Fnewsletter.businessinsider.com%2Fclick%2F20261396.97970%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%2F5e9dd0da72332a624a653224B9f295512"> here</a>. Lots to discuss this Monday... Stocks surging on promising vaccine study. How easy is it to catch <keyword id="1754604" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="coronavirus">coronavirus</keyword> on a plane? Trump advisor blasts Trump's <keyword id="6379474" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="cdc">CDC</keyword>. Your tax dollars used to walk the Secretary of State's dog. Emily Blunt's potato recipe so popular it crashed a popular food site. And more. Thank you for reading!</em></p><h2 id="blodget-&amp;-plotzlotz"><strong>BLODGET &amp; PLOTZ</strong></h2><h3><strong>Good (and bad) vaccine <keyword id="6355005" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="news">news</keyword> </strong></h3><p><strong></strong></p><p>Stocks are surging today after good news from the first human trials of a COVID-19 vaccine. </p><p>As Andy Dunn writes in Insider, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/moderna-coronavirus-vaccine-releases-first-human-trial-results-2020-5">Moderna reports that its first vaccine candidate</a> stimulated antibody responses similar to those found in people who've recovered from COVID-19. This was a tiny safety trial of the vaccine, which was developed using a new messenger RNA method. The mRNA vaccine will go into a larger mid-stage trial shortly, and a late-stage trial by July. The trial did not show that the vaccine prevented infection by coronavirus.</p><p>On the other hand, the <keyword id="4912868" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="moderna">Moderna</keyword> report follows by just a few days a more gloomy set of preliminary results from a different vaccine trial in monkeys. When Oxford University's ChAdOx1 vaccine, which is not an mRNA vaccine, was given to rhesus monkeys, the monkeys <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/williamhaseltine/2020/05/16/did-the-oxford-covid-vaccine-work-in-monkeys-not-really/#6504a0b03c71">still were infected</a> by the coronavirus. The researchers did find that disease symptoms were milder in the vaccinated animals than in the controls, suggesting that it might provide some kind of protective effect. </p><p>On the third hand, an<a href="https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/04/covid-19-vaccine-protects-monkeys-new-coronavirus-chinese-biotech-reports"> earlier trial of a different Chinese vaccine</a> that's similar to the Oxford vaccine did appear to prevent infection in monkeys. </p><p>All of which is to say: The path to a vaccine will likely not be straight, short, or easy. <em>— DP</em></p><h3><strong>How easily can you catch the coronavirus on a plane?</strong></h3><p><strong><div type="image" title="airplane cabin cough droplets" height="1000" width="2000" msid="75814413" hostid="261"></div></strong></p><p>Flying seems a particularly risky behavior in the age of coronavirus. This video, for example, shows how quickly <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/video-how-cough-particles-spread-virus-in-airplane-cabin-coronavirus-2020-4">droplets from a single cough get blown around the cabin.</a></p><p>We don't know of any studies yet that have specifically analyzed the spread of coronavirus on planes (if you do, please send!). But a <a href="https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/nejmoa031349">study from the SARS epidemic</a> may be relevant here.</p><p>As the CEO, doctor, and author Atul Gawande recently <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/science/medical-dispatch/amid-the-coronavirus-crisis-a-regimen-for-reentry">noted in the New Yorker</a>, researchers studied this question back in 2003.</p><p>The researchers looked at three flights with confirmed SARS cases aboard. </p><p>The first flight, a 90-minute flight on a Boeing 777 with 315 passengers, had a pre-symptomatic SARS carrier. No one else was infected on the plane.</p><p>On the second flight, however—a 3-hour flight on a 737 with 120 people aboard—one symptomatic SARS carrier is believed to have infected a staggering 22 additional passengers. </p><p>As this diagram shows, the passengers (and flight attendant) near the "index patient" in the plane, particularly in the few rows ahead, seemed most at risk. But some of those who got sick were many rows ahead or behind him.</p><p><div type="image" title="plane virus SARS" height="335" width="800" msid="75814416" hostid="261"></div></p><p>The third flight, another 90-minute flight on a 777, had four symptomatic SARS carriers aboard. Of the 166 other passengers on the flight who were later interviewed, only <em>one</em> developed SARS-like symptoms. </p><p>The SARS study confirms that respiratory viruses like the coronavirus <em>can</em> spread on planes, sometimes alarmingly easily. It also shows that they don't <em>always</em> spread. </p><p>What were the differences between these flights? Why did "Flight Two" become a plague ship, while flights one and three led to only one probable infection between them?</p><p>The researchers did not address this. Differences in the design of the 737 and 777 might have played a role (the 777 is a much bigger plane). The longer duration of Flight Two —three hours vs. 90 minutes—and the infectiousness of the particular "index patients" seem more likely explanations.</p><p>In his New Yorker article, Gawande notes that duration of proximity to infected people can make a big difference in coronavirus transmission. The CDC considers "prolonged" exposure to be greater than <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/php/public-health-recommendations.html">15 minutes</a>.</p><p>Gawande also observes that particular people at particular times can be wildly infectious, as in a case in Washington State in March. In this coronavirus "super-spreader" event, one woman with "cold-like" symptoms at a choir rehearsal appears to have infected 52 of 60 other singers in the choir.</p><p>In any case, unless/until we get other evidence to the contrary, that long flight that led to 22 SARS infections sets a sobering precedent. <em>—HB</em></p><h3><strong>The </strong><strong><em>other</em></strong><strong> reason the firing of the State Department IG is a scandal </strong></h3><p>President Trump whacked <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/steve-linick-fired-pompeo-ordered-staff-to-walk-dog-report-2020-5">State Department Inspector General Steve Linick</a> on Friday, and replaced him with a reliable ally. Linick is the fourth inspector general Trump has suddenly fired in the past month, ensuring that he has lapdogs where there had been watchdogs.</p><p>What's particularly demoralizing is the apparent reason Linick was axed. According to congressional sources, Linick was investigating reports that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was using State Department employees to walk his dog and fetch his dry cleaning. </p><p>Trump practices the <keyword id="6358883" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="politics">politics</keyword> of resentment better than anyone in American history, and the very heart of his message is: <em>They think they're better than you</em>. There's a spoiled elite that's looking down on you, taking advantage of you, and laughing all the way to Aspen. </p><p>And yet his administration is thick with examples of privileged, snotty entitlement from public servants. Before Pompeo, there was EPA administrator Scott Pruitt, who took first class travel, solicited special favors for his wife, and used his aides — government employees — for all kinds of shady personal benefit. Tom Price, former HHS secretary, billed us for his private jet travel to the tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars. </p><p>Again and again we find it's the administration insiders who are the spoiled elite, who are using our tax money and their inside access for special gain. They are treating our government as a piggy bank and a valet. <em>— DP</em></p><h3><strong>Sure blame the CDC for the US's coronavirus failures. But who does the CDC work for?</strong></h3><p><strong><div type="image" title="Trump, CDC" height="1000" width="2000" msid="75814421" hostid="261"></div></strong></p><p>It's not surprising that the CDC was savaged on Meet the Press this weekend: "Early on in this crisis, the CDC, which really had the most trusted brand around the world in this space, really let the country down with the testing."  </p><p>What was surprising was who said this: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/white-house-adviser-blamed-cdc-letting-the-country-down-2020-5">White House advisor Peter Navarro</a>. </p><p>Navarro wasn't wrong: The federal government's epidemiologists have botched their response to the pandemic. (Today <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2020/05/cdc-publishing-covid-19-test-data/611764/">has brought new doubts </a>about whether the CDC's national testing data is even accurate.)</p><p>So, yes, White House advisor Navarro makes a good point! </p><p>But wait: Isn't Navarro's boss, President Trump...in charge of the CDC?  </p><p>Americans have lived with this president long enough to know he never takes responsibility for any mistake. That's how he's built. That doesn't make it any less disappointing that the Trump administration is unwilling to stop the buck for this catastrophe. </p><p>In March, the president notoriously said, "I take no responsibility at all" for testing failures. That could be his pandemic motto. When the federal government botches something, the administration blames the agency that underperformed — as Navarro did the CDC — making the poor performance somehow the result of incompetence or a deep state conspiracy. More insidiously, the administration often blames any failure on some unspecified shortcoming of the Obama administration, even though that ended more than three years ago.</p><p>Government scientists and bureaucrats in other nations, who aren't any smarter or more committed than American government employees, have shined during the pandemic. The difference, clearly, is leadership.  </p><p>Of course, the administration hasn't ducked all responsibility during the pandemic. The president is prepared to take credit for good deeds he's only partly responsible for. To Trump's credit, the emergency response packages he signed into law have cushioned the blow to the economy.  When Congress appropriated billions of dollars to send stimulus cash to American households, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-putting-name-on-stimulus-checks-wapo-2020-4">President Trump made sure his name was on the check</a>. <em>— DP</em></p><h2><strong>NEWS</strong><strong> </strong></h2><p><strong><div type="image" title="Justin Amash" height="1000" width="2000" msid="75814424" hostid="261"></div></strong></p><p><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/rep-justin-amash-drops-libertarian-presidential-bid-2020-5"><strong>Rep. Justin Amash won't run for president as a Libertarian. </strong></a>Amash, Republican-turned-Independent-turned-Libertarian, decided not to make a third-party challenge to President Trump, which means we'll never know if he would have hurt Trump or Biden more.  </p><p><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/actual-coronavirus-deaths-in-italy-us-higher-than-official-count-2020-5"><strong>COVID-19 deaths in the US and Italy could be twice the official total.</strong></a> New research suggests there are thousands of "excess deaths" that haven't been classified as pandemic related.</p><h2><strong>BUSINESS</strong></h2><p><strong><div type="image" title="dior store closed coronavirus" height="1250" width="2500" msid="75814431" hostid="261"></div></strong></p><p><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/fed-chairman-powell-economic-downturn-could-last-until-late-2021-2020-5"><strong>Fed Chair says economic downturn could last till late 2021.</strong></a> Jerome Powell squashes hope of a V-shaped recovery. </p><p><a href="https://www.insider.com/high-profile-convicts-want-early-release-coronavirus-fears-2020-3"><strong>Pharma-bro Martin Shkreli asked for early release from prison so he could make a COVID-19 cure. </strong></a> The judge said no.</p><h2><strong>LIFE</strong></h2><p><strong><div type="image" title="milk" height="1000" width="2000" msid="75814435" hostid="261"></div></strong></p><p><strong><a href="https://www.insider.com/how-to-store-hard-to-find-groceries-like-eggs-yeast-2020-4">How to prolong the shelf life of eggs, milk, yeast, and vegetables.</a> </strong>Maybe you stocked up on them because they were in short supply. Here's how to make them last longer.</p><p><a href="https://www.insider.com/i-made-emily-blunt-roasted-potatoes-crashed-ina-garten-website-2020-5"><strong>Emily Blunt's recipe for English roasted potatoes was so popular that it crashed Ina Garten's web site.</strong></a> Insider's Anneta Konstantinides made it. Now we know what all the fuss is about!</p><h2><strong>THE BIG 3*</strong></h2><p><strong><div type="image" title="new york city park social distance coronavirus" height="1944" width="3888" msid="75814437" hostid="261"></div></strong></p><p><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/riskiest-to-least-risky-activities-during-coronavirus-pandemic-ranked-2020-5"><strong>Riskiest to least risky coronavirus activities ranked</strong></a>. Shopping, eating out, seeing friends, seeing family, going to bars... Insider asked an infectious disease expert what's (relatively) safe and what isn't. Stay away from the bars.</p><p><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/matrix-director-cusses-elon-musk-ivanka-trump-red-pill-tweet-2020-5"><strong>Matrix creator tells Elon Musk, Ivanka Trump: 'F--- both of you' for using the 'red pill' phrase that's become a right-wing meme. </strong></a> Lilly Wachowski was responding to a strange twitter exchange. </p><p><a href="https://www.insider.com/lisa-kudrow-phoebe-friends-criticism-interview-2020-5"><strong>Lisa Kudrow disses Friends' all-white cast </strong></a><strong>. </strong>She says the show would be completely different if it were made today.</p><p><em>*The most popular stories on Insider today.</em></p><p><em>Insider Today's goal is to provide you with insight and analysis about the big stories of the day — "Insider in your inbox."</em></p><p><em>Please feel free to reply to this email and tell us what you like or don't like, and we'll evolve and improve as we go. And if you're enjoying the newsletter, please forward to your friends.</em></p><p><em>Please also let us know your thoughts on the topics we discuss. Please include your name and city/state/country. If we think other readers will enjoy your note, we'll publish it! </em><a href="mailto:henry@insider.com"><em>henry@insider.com</em></a><em> and </em><a href="mailto:dplotz@businessinsider.com"><em>dplotz@businessinsider.com</em></a><em> </em></p><p><em>To view this newsletter on our site, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/good-and-bad-news-on-potential-coronavirus-vaccine-2020-5">click here</a>.</em></p>Read the original article on <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/good-and-bad-news-on-potential-coronavirus-vaccine-2020-5">Business Insider</a>

Good (and bad) vaccine news

<img class="gwt-Image" src="/photo/53617773.cms" /><br />
The GoI has been steadfast in expressing its desire to ease pain for businesses to operate in India. Debates and discussions within the Government have been a plenty to speed up reforms that will unleash the animal spirits in the economy. Also, the Government has been making very visible gestures in inviting mega foreign enterprises to invest in India. However, in spite of the hype surrounding the Government’s business friendly image, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Foreign+Direct+Investment&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Foreign Direct Investment</a> (“FDI”) inflows have not rallied as expected.<br />
<br />
Big ticket sectors that have the capacity to absorb multi billion dollars of <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=investments&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">investments</a> have not really attracted the desired FDI. Illustrative of this are defence and multi-brand retail sectors. One can blame macro-economic factors that impact movement of capital across the globe for the lack of high FDI inflows. But, time and again India has been hailed as the white speck in an otherwise subdued global economy. It is intriguing then that capital inflow into India has not happened commensurate to its “white speck” reputation.<br />
<br />
Let us try to understand why foreign investors have been weary of investing in India. India offers great hope for growth; but the growth comes with its own set of risks.<br />
<br />
A principal risk associated with investments in India is the lack of a credible redressal mechanism for enforcement of contracts and other remedies, due to an overburdened judicial system. Exacerbating this risk are the multitude of complex, duplicitous and confusing state and central laws. It is a cause of unnecessary and avoidable litigation that chokes up the judicial system. The Government needs to do a lot more to simplify existing laws and ease the process for compliance. A good place to begin would have been the FDI laws in force currently.<br />
<br /> The Government’s reluctance to usher ‘game-changing’ reforms in this avenue is puzzling. It is quite understandable that the Government is concerned about unrestricted inflows in real estate and certain other sensitive sectors such as banking, telecom, multi-brand retail etc. But sectors such as NBFCs which are regulated by an efficient sectoral regulator, i.e., the <keyword id="6354335" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="reserve-bank-of-india">Reserve Bank of India</keyword> can be exempted from the weight of dual legislation. A similar case for exemption can be made where efficient regulators supervise operations. The entire financial services and securities market is manned by efficient regulators such as <keyword id="35210" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="sebi">SEBI</keyword> and IRDA, in addition to the RBI. There is a strong case to completely liberalise insurance, NBFCs, pension funds etc. The <keyword id="35066" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="40" keywordseo="fdi-policy">FDI policy</keyword> must regulate foreign ownership (sectoral limits) of businesses in sectors that the Government feels are sensitive from a public policy perspective. But, once the Government has permitted foreign ownership in a particular sector, it should allow regulation of the workings of such entities, to the concerned regulators.<br />
<br />
Another area where the Government could significantly free up regulation is by allowing FDI in all forms of legal entities, in sectors that already permit FDI. It does not seem to serve any purpose to allow FDI into sectors, while only permitting such businesses to be housed in companies. Investors should be allowed to invest through any legally permissible structure in India such as LLPs, trusts, partnerships or proprietorship firms, with no additional conditions.<br />
<br />
Another compliance that creates unnecessary delay in completion of cross border transactions is the form FCTRS. The investee company is prevented from recording a transfer between residents and non-residents unless the concerned AD bank endorses the FCTRS form and provides it to the Company. In effect, you have a situation where a purchaser has paid the consideration to the seller but is left in the lurch without effective title to the purchased shares. This is certainly a regulation that needs to be done away with or simplified. A simple solution would be to allow the resident buyer or seller to file the form with the concerned AD bank at a later date with the relevant valuation details.<br />
<br />
One can only hope that the Government would at some point do away with the requirement of mandating a floor price for cross border transactions between residents and non-residents. In any case, the tax department actively scrutinizes deals that do not seem to have justified valuations. The duplicity of the RBI prescribing a floor price only creates challenges in effecting M&amp;A transactions seamlessly. It is an open secret that if the buyer and seller are not in dispute with each other, the desired valuation can quite often be managed easily.<br />
<br /> Many of the purported liberalisations by the GoI have been by way of increasing the sectoral caps for foreign <keyword id="6355120" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="80" keywordseo="investment">investment</keyword> from their earlier limits, but mandating that ownership beyond 49% requires Government approval. The necessity for obtaining approval from the Government is a stumbling block for smooth flow of FDI. Investors are weary of being caught within the bureaucratic process of the Foreign Investment Promotion Board. The Government would do well by liberalising many other non-sensitive sectors from the Government approval route and provide certain conditions for compliance, only where absolutely necessary.<br />
<br />
To sum up; the lack of game changing reforms by a Government that has comfortable majority is quite disheartening. The Government should take a long hard look at the prevailing <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=FDI+policy&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">FDI policy</a> in light of its objective to facilitate FDI in the country. Sweeping changes to the FDI policy are the low hanging fruits that this Government can achieve easily.<br />
<br />
(Article has been authored by Corporate Lawyer Ajay Joseph.)<br />
<br />
<em><a href="http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/photo/46686145.cms">Image Source</a></em><br />



FDI Reforms: a Tale
of too much Caution

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/55940cf6eab8eaa655d8d3ce-1200-924/china-investor-stretch-1.jpg" border="0" alt="china investor stretch "><p class="source"><span>Reuters</span></p><p class="caption">An investor stretches in front of a screen with stock information at a brokerage house in Xiangyang, Hubei province February 22, 2011.</p></img></div><p></p></div></div>As all of China watches in horror at the country's stock market plunges day after day there's only one idea keeping people invested.</p><p>They believe the government will ultimately rescue the market when the time comes.</p><p>"China has been through the planned economy model for decades. This is especially ingrained in the generation of my parents, who make up the bulk of individual investors,"<a href="http://www.scmp.com/business/markets/article/1828182/will-beijing-really-be-last-rescuer-everyone-stock-market"> South China Morning Post managing editor George Chen </a>wrote this week.</p><p><span>"Just as everything once belonged to the government, many of these people believe the stock market should also belong to the government. So it's the job of the government - in other words, the Communist Party - to rescue the market."</span></p><p>Over the last year the Shanghai Composite Index has more than doubled. Regular Chinese people from all walks of life took out <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-06-30/hidden-china-stock-debt-revealed-in-online-loans-at-22-interest">loans at interest rates of up to 22%</a> to lever up their investments in it as the rest of the economy slowed. It was a bonanza.</p><p><span>Until June 12th, when the index started to fall... and kept falling. Now it's down almost 20%, and since the fundamentals of the economy and Chinese corporates haven't changed, no one knows when the selling will stop.</span></p><p>Earlier this week, a Chinese state auditor found that over a dozen state owned companies <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-06-28/china-s-auditor-says-state-firms-falsified-revenue-and-profit">falsified their records to seem healthier.</a> This isn't the kind of news the market needs right now.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/55940078ecad046668d8d3ce-977-480/screen shot 2015-07-01 at 10.45.10 am.png" border="0" alt="The shanghai composite index" /></div></div></div></p><p> </p><h2>A reckoning?</h2><p>The government responded to this turmoil (and weak economic data out last week) by cutting deposit and lending rates as well as reducing the required reserve ratio for some banks. The thing is, all that's been done before. This is the fourth rate cut since November. </p><p><span>On Wednesday the Shanghai Composite fell over 5%. On the same day, t</span><span>he National Bureau of Statistics released its manufacturing purchasing managers' index, which came in at 50.2 in June. That's unchanged from May and</span><span> missed expectations of a 50.4 reading.</span></p><p>"The latest developments in China... inevitably invite the <span style="line-height: 1.5em;">question whether Central Banks are coming to the end of the road," Macquarie analysts wrote in a recent note. "Given the </span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">limited impact of their policies on real economies with stimulus largely being </span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">confined within walls of financial assets, <strong>has the time of reckoning finally </strong></span><strong><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">arrived?"</span></strong></p><p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5589006869beddff461b9b5b-1134-711/china pmi june.jpg" border="0" alt="HSBC-Markit China PMI June"><p class="source"><span>Business Insider Australia</span></p></img></div><p></p></div></div></span></p><h3><span style="line-height: 1.5em; font-size: 1.5em; color: #000000;">Blame the barbarians</span></h3><p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">If the reckoning has come, it's unclear who Chinese people will blame.</span></p><p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">China's Financial Futures Exchange <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/07/01/us-china-goldman-rumors-idUSKCN0PB3RS20150701">took its sweet time squashing rumors</a> that Goldman Sachs and other foreign investors were shorting the market and causing its dramatic dive on Wednesday. <a href="China's%20Financial%20Futures%20Exchange"></a></span></p><p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">"These institutions' risk-hedging using index futures conform to relevant rules, and there's no such thing as massive shorting," it said in its official microblog.</span></p><p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">That hasn't convince China's investors though.</span></p><p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">From the <a href="http://www.scmp.com/business/markets/article/1831467/chinas-stock-exchanges-lower-securities-transaction-fees-after">South China Morning Post:</a></span></p><p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">In a cartoon published on Tuesday by thepaper.cn, a state-owned digital media outlet that aims to engage with a young audience, an old Chinese woman is depicted as saying she wants to thank the government for helping to rescue the market. She also blames "foreign ghosts" for willing it to crash.</span></p><p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">The Chinese Communist Party has one nightmare, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/falling-chinese-stocks-could-bring-social-unrest-2015-6">and that's civil unrest</a>. It encouraged Chinese people to enter the market, and it's more than happy to allow foreigners to take the blame if Chinese investors get burned.</span></p><h2><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">The crash that can't, but might</span></h2><p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Last month, the official in charge of IPOs and share offerings in the Chinese stock markets <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/one-of-chinas-top-stock-market-regulators-has-been-carted-off-to-jail-2015-6">was carted off to jail for corruption.</a> That's the government's way of saying 'hey, we're doing something.'</span></p><p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">But that something probably isn't the backstop investors are looking for. The government has (so far) made it clear that there will be no 2009 style bailout for the economy - for flailing property companies, local government financing vehicles, for banks holding bad corporate debt, for mis managed state owned enterprises.</span></p><p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">This, they say, is what the "new normal" looks like. </span></p><p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Of course, a crashing stock market was never factored into that picture. In that way, as Chen pointed out on Twitter, the market is holding the government hostage. A stock market crash would cause civil unrest. A stock market crash would trickle into the real economy.</span></p><p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">A stock market crash can't happen.</span></p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/largest-companies-revenue-every-state-america-2015-6">This animated map shows the largest company by revenue for every state</a></h3>        <div>            <div>    <script src="http://player.ooyala.com/v3/6e12e8b3387a44daacfb73afba25a76e"></script>    <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="piZTVsdTqpoAACgxNcUtJ_JQb241zHit" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>    <script>    if (typeof RunFunctions === 'undefined') { var RunFunctions = []; }     RunFunctions.push(function()    {         var ooyalapopvideo = OO.Player.create('ooyalaplayer_popvideo', 'piZTVsdTqpoAACgxNcUtJ_JQb241zHit',{ autoplay: 'false' });     });    </script>    <noscript><div>Please enable Javascript to watch this video</div></noscript></div>        </div>        <script>(function() { function createPlayer() { OO.ready(function() { RunFunctions.forEach(function(ooyalaFunction) { ooyalaFunction(); }); RunFunctions = [];}); } createPlayer(); }()); </script>    </div>

One dangerous idea is keeping the Chinese stock market from completely blowing up

<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><div class="KonaFilter image-container float_right"><div class="image on-image"><img src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/5245aff569bedd1d258f0407-800-600/office-19.jpg?maxX=480" border="0" alt="office" width="480" /><p class="source"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:OpenPlanRedBalloon1.jpg">VeronicaTherese / Wikimedia Commons</a></p></div><p></p></div>It's increasingly important in today's tough job market to get real-world experience on your resume.</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"></span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">A good internship gives you a chance to get the <keyword id="33447" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="skills">skills</keyword> you need, form connections with future employers, and sometimes make a pretty good salary.</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"></span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><a href="http://vault.com/internship-rankings/top-10-internships/">Vault, a career intelligence and data company</a>, surveyed thousands of current and former interns on a variety of aspects of their experience, including quality of life, compensation, the interview process, development, and the prospects for getting hired full time. Those scores were combined to rank the top internship programs in America. </span></p>
<p>Here are Vault's top 15 companies to intern for: </p>
<p><strong>1.</strong> <strong>BP America, Inc.</strong></p>
<p>Located in Houston, Tex., the oil company wasn't ranked last year but shot to the top this year. It offers paid <keyword id="771927" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="internships">internships</keyword> to undergraduates, business school students, and law students. Interns get the chance to work alongside a variety of professionals, from geologists and engineers to business-side executives, throughout the United States.</p>
<p><strong>2. Bain &amp; Company</strong></p>
<p>The prominent Boston-based consulting firm was ranked in first place last year. It offers paid internships to college juniors, business school students, and law students, as well as some other advanced-degree candidates. According to the company, "the learning curve is steep, but exhilarating," and the majority of Bain interns are hired to work there full time. </p>
<p><strong>3. Bates White Economic Consulting</strong></p>
<p>This D.C. firm focuses on conducting "advanced economic, financial, and econometric analysis" for companies and offers 10 to 20 college juniors a chance to take part in an "intensive" 10-week summer consultant program. There's extensive <keyword id="6360697" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="training">training</keyword> and mentoring, and the opportunity, for some, to work at the company's San Diego office. </p>
<p><strong>4. Elliott Davis, LLC </strong></p>
<p>Elliott Davis is among the largest consulting, accounting, and tax services firms in the Southeast, headquartered in Greenville, S.C. It hires between 21 and 50 interns (the salary was $22 an hour last year), which includes positions for incoming college seniors, recent graduates, and graduate students.  </p>
<p><strong>5. Evercore Partners </strong></p>
<p>Coming in fourth in last year's rankings, the New York-based investment bank has a very high internship-to-job transition record. According to the firm, every analyst in its summer program over the last three years who got an offer accepted. It offers a 10-week paid internship to undergraduates and MBAs focusing on strategic advisory, and mergers and acquisitions. </p>
<p><strong>6. Northwestern Mutual </strong></p>
<p>The Milwaukee-based financial services and insurance company came in second last year, and offers more than 100 paid or stipended internships to undergraduates, recent grads, and law and business school graduate students. Interns must pass a state licensing exam, but can earn commissions, since they can contact clients directly. Some 33% of interns get an offer after graduation.  </p>
<p><strong>7. Plante Moran </strong></p>
<p>The Southfield, Mich.-based audit and tax firm has been one of Fortune's 100 best companies to work for every year for the past 15 years. It offers more than 100 internships each year to undergraduates, law and business graduate students, and other advanced degree-seekers in each of its six Midwestern offices. </p>
<p><strong>8. Houlihan Lokey</strong></p>
<p>The Manhattan-based investment bank offers between 50 and 100 paid internships to undergraduates and business school students. The 10-week program offers extensive training and hands-on experience alongside full-time staff on a deal team. </p>
<p><strong>9. The Boston Consulting Group</strong></p>
<p>Last year, the company was ranked No. 5. Interns are full members of a "case-team" working for a client, with a similar work profile to what they could expect as a full consultant. The 10-week internships are offered throughout the company's global offices, not just at its Boston headquarters, to incoming college seniors and business school students. </p>
<p><strong>10. Capital Fellows Programs</strong></p>
<p>This program is a public policy fellowship that <span>each year </span>offers 64 college graduates the chance to get experience in California state government. They work as full-time staff for 10 to 11 months in the legislative, executive, or judicial branches of government. There is a monthly stipend, benefits, and student loan deferment. </p>
<p><strong>11. Emma Bowen Foundation Internship Program</strong></p>
<p>The foundation offers paid internships at media companies to incoming and rising minority college freshmen throughout the United States. Students can continue to participate each year until they graduate from college. </p>
<p><strong>12. PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP</strong></p>
<p>PwC is one of the "big four" audit, tax, and business services companies, and is based in New York City. The company offers paid internships to undergraduates and law and business school graduate students, with an emphasis on training, interacting with staff, and working on client tasks. </p>
<p><strong>13.</strong> <strong>Deloitte</strong></p>
<p>Another of the "big four," it came in at No. 8 in last year's rankings. The company offers paid internships to senior undergraduates and law and business school students. Interns get technical training relevant to the particular part of Deloitte they'll be working for, as well as real client service tasks.</p>
<p><strong>14. Nickelodeon Animation Studio</strong></p>
<p>People seem to love the opportunity to work in children's entertainment. This internship was ranked at No. 7 last year. Burbank, Calif.-based "Nickterns" are paid or can earn academic credit, and are undergraduates and business and law school students. Perks include the opportunity to take animation tests and watch movie screenings on the Paramount lot. </p>
<p><strong>15. Capital</strong> <strong>One</strong></p>
<p>The Richmond, Va.-based insurer was ranked sixth last year. It offers paid analyst, brand, finance, and IT internships to college juniors. At the end of the internship, there's an opportunity to present the results of the summer of work to the senior leadership team of your department. </p>

The 15 Best Internships In America

<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><div class="KonaFilter image-container float_right"><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5512f98e69bedd133555b7ed-1200-924/coal-plant-9.jpg?maxX=600" border="0" alt="coal plant" width="600"><p class="source"><span>REUTERS/Robert Galbraith</span></p><p class="caption">The John Amos coal-fired power plant is seen behind a home in Poca, West Virginia May 18, 2014.</p></img></div><p></p></div><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"></span></span></p><p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><span>A seemingly divided Supreme Court weighed the Obama administration's first-ever regulations aimed at reducing power plant emissions of mercury and other hazardous air pollutants that contribute to respiratory illnesses, birth defects and developmental problems in children.</span></span></span></p><p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">The rule, known as </span><a href="http://www.epa.gov/mats/basic.html">Mercury and Air Toxic Standards</a><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"> (MATS), was the first federal limit on the amount of these types of toxic air pollutants.</span></span></p><p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><span>The justices heard arguments Wednesday in a challenge brought by industry groups and Republican-led states arguing </span></span></span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">the EPA should have considered costs, which could reach $9.6 billion a year, when limiting emissions.</span></p><p>But the benefits are much greater, $37 billion to $90 billion annually, the EPA said. The savings stem from the prevention of up to 11,000 deaths, 4,700 nonfatal heart attacks and 540,000 lost days of work, the EPA said. Mercury accumulates in fish and is especially dangerous to pregnant or breastfeeding women, and young children, because of concern that too much could harm a developing brain.</p><p>The dispute stems from a <a href="https://www.snl.com/InteractiveX/Article.aspx?cdid=A-31834934-11567">sentence at the heart</a><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"> of the </span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"></span><a href="http://www.epa.gov/air/caa/">Clean Air Act</a><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">:</span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"> </span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">"The Administrator shall regulate electric utility steam generating units under this section, if the Administrator finds such regulation is appropriate and necessary after considering the results of the study required by this subparagraph."</span></p><p><strong><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">The petitioners -which include Michigan and 20 other states as well as organizations like the National Mining Association - think the EPA misinterpreted the words "appropriate and necessary." </span></strong></p><p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><span>In their <a href="http://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/publications/supreme_court_preview/BriefsV5/14-46_pet_mi_reply.authcheckdam.pdf">most recent petition</a> to the court, they state the EPA "treats the word 'appropriate' as meaningless and ignores a factor - costs - that Congress intended [the] EPA to consider." The EPA also "unreasonably fail[ed] to give 'appropriate' any meaning beyond that already ascribed to 'necessary.'"</span></span></p><p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><span><div class="KonaFilter image-container"><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/55130358ecad044e28adc589-1200-924/20111221facilitiesmap.jpg" border="0" alt="EPA MATS map" width="800"><p class="source"><span>EPA</span></p><p class="caption">The ruling could affect these 600 power plants across the country.</p></img></div><p></p></div><br /></span></span></p><p>Several conservative justices questioned whether EPA should have taken costs into account when it first decided to regulate hazardous air pollutants from power plants, or whether health risks are the only consideration under the Clean Air Act. The EPA did factor in costs at a later stage when it wrote standards that are expected to reduce the toxic emissions by 90 percent.</p><p>Justice Antonin Scalia was critical of the agency's reading of the provisions of the anti-air pollution <keyword id="6355470" type="CITY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Law">law</keyword> at issue in the case throughout 90 minutes of arguments. "It's a silly way to read them," Scalia said.</p><p>The court's four liberal justices appeared more comfortable with EPA's position, leaving Justice Anthony Kennedy as the possible decisive vote.</p><p>Solicitor General Donald Verrilli Jr. said EPA followed the same process in deciding whether to regulate other sources of emissions, including from motor vehicles.</p><p>The case is the latest in a string of attacks against the Obama administration's actions to rein in pollution from coal-burning power plants that harms health and contributes to global warming. The administration is seeking to use the Clean Air Act for the first time to control mercury and carbon pollution from the nation's power plants.</p><p>But numerous states have already filed challenges to a proposed rule to curb the pollution linked to global warming from the nation's coal-burning power plants. And Congress is working on a bill that would allow states to opt out of any rules clamping down on heat-trapping carbon dioxide.</p><p>The legal and political challenges ahead could undermine US efforts to inspire other countries to control their emissions, as they head into negotiations in Paris on a new international treaty later this year.</p><p>A disproportionate share of the 600 affected power plants, most of which burn coal, are in the South and upper Midwest. Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette, representing 21 states at the Supreme Court, said the law requires the EPA to take account of costs before deciding whether to step in. The states and industry groups also said the agency overstated the benefits of reducing mercury emissions.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container float_left"><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5513049cecad04e42fadc587-1200-924/coal-plant-12.jpg" border="0" alt="coal plant" width="600"><p class="source"><span>REUTERS/Jim Urquhart</span></p><p class="caption">Steam rises from the stakes of the coal-fired Jim Bridger Power Plant.</p></img></div><p></p></div>Shuttering older plants or installing pollution-control equipment also will reduce emissions of particulate matter, such as dust, dirt and other fragments associated with a variety of respiratory ailments. The administration said it properly took those benefits into account, but the challengers argued that they are not relevant to the case.</p><p>Chief Justice John Roberts called the inclusion of those other benefits an "end run" around more stringent procedures EPA would have to follow to try to reduce emissions of particulate matter.</p><p>Several utilities that already have installed the equipment or that primarily rely on natural gas and nuclear power to make electricity said the EPA rules are economically practical. Moreover, they said that until the rules take effect their competitors who haven't yet complied with the rules have an unfair advantage. Another 16 states and several large cities also are backing the administration.</p><p>Congress first ordered the EPA to study the release of mercury among 180 toxic substances in 1990. The agency initially decided to go ahead with the limits on power plant emissions in 2000, the final year of the Clinton administration.</p><p>After President George W. Bush took office in 2001, the EPA tried to undo its earlier decision, but the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington blocked that attempt. When Barack Obama became president in 2009, the agency again decided to move forward. It issued final rules in 2012, and the appeals court upheld them last year.</p><p>A decision is expected by the end of June.</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/what-earth-would-look-like-if-ice-melted-world-map-animation-2015-2">Animated map of what Earth would look like if all the ice melted</a></h3>        <div>            <div>    <script src="http://player.ooyala.com/v3/6e12e8b3387a44daacfb73afba25a76e"></script>    <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="5xam5iczrSx4Ibx8MvarDsu3zOG88omE" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>    <script>    if (typeof RunFunctions === 'undefined') { var RunFunctions = []; }     RunFunctions.push(function()    {         var ooyalapopvideo = OO.Player.create('ooyalaplayer_popvideo', '5xam5iczrSx4Ibx8MvarDsu3zOG88omE',{ autoplay: 'false' });     });    </script>    <noscript><div>Please enable Javascript to watch this video</div></noscript></div>        </div>        <script>(function() { function createPlayer() { OO.ready(function() { RunFunctions.forEach(function(ooyalaFunction) { ooyalaFunction(); }); RunFunctions = [];}); } createPlayer(); }()); </script>    </div>

The fate of a key rule to limit toxic air pollution hinges on the interpretation of two words

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/57f530299bd978e7018b4eae-1778/ap_16278806125595.jpg" alt="Donald Trump" data-mce-source="AP" data-mce-caption="Donald Trump." /><p class="source"><span>AP</span></p><p class="caption">Donald Trump.</p></div><p></p></div></div>At a rally Tuesday in Arizona, Donald Trump sought to blame Hillary Clinton for his own low tax bills. He asked:</p><p style="padding-left: 30px;">"After years of failure, she complains about how I've used tax laws of this country to my benefit. Then I ask a simple question: Why didn't she ever try to change those laws so I couldn't use them?"</p><p>Well, maybe Clinton didn't just <em>try</em> to change laws Trump used, but actually got them changed, when she was in the Senate in 2002.</p><p>According to <a href="http://www.taxnotes.com/tax-notes-today/cancellation-debt-income/news-analysis-donalds-double-dip/2016/10/04/18619431">a Tuesday column by Lee Sheppard in the tax industry publication Tax Notes</a>, Trump may have benefited greatly in the 1990s from a tax loophole related to forgiven debts - a loophole that would have allowed him to deduct business losses on his personal income tax return, even if those losses were actually borne by banks that loaned Trump money and never got it back.</p><p>People often use the term "loophole" to refer to tax deductions they don't like, but this one was a loophole in the true sense of the word: a tax break created by legislative accident.</p><p>This loophole was the subject of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gitlitz_v._Commissioner">a 2001 Supreme Court case</a>, Gitlitz v. Commissioner, in which the IRS argued the relevant tax law could not have possibly meant what it appeared to say, which was that business owners could in some cases deduct losses they had not actually borne.</p><p>After the IRS lost that case, the loophole was closed by the <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/107th-congress/house-bill/3090">Job Creation and Worker Assistance Act of 2002</a>, a bill that then-Sen. Hillary Clinton voted for and President George W. Bush signed. But that law only stopped taxpayers from using the loophole going forward; they were still allowed to benefit from tax losses they had booked through it in prior years, such as 1995.</p><p>Here's how the loophole could have allowed Trump to create a paper tax loss that he could use to offset his real income for over a decade, avoiding hundreds of millions of dollars in taxes in the process.</p><h2>I forgive you</h2><p>In general, if someone cancels a debt you owe them, you're supposed to count the amount forgiven as income. Let's say you buy a building worth $1 million, using $200,000 in equity and an $800,000 mortgage. Then, the building is destroyed and you have no insurance. Now, your investment is worthless, and the bank gives up all attempts to collect on the mortgage.</p><p>Your loss, for tax purposes, should generally be just $200,000, not $1 million.</p><p>One of the big mysteries about Trump's 1995 tax returns is how he managed to run up such a large tax loss ($916 million) when so many of the losses related to his business implosion of the early 1990s ended up being borne not by himself, but by banks and other creditors that forgave Trump's debts or otherwise didn't get paid back.</p><h2>No debt parking</h2><p>John Hempton of Bronte Capital has drawn some attention for <a href="http://brontecapital.blogspot.com/2016/10/some-comments-on-new-york-times-story.html">his theory</a> that Trump could have engaged in "debt parking." In essence, instead of Trump's debts being canceled, an entity controlled by Trump could have bought the debt for pennies on the dollar, and then held it without either forgiving it or trying to collect on it.</p><p>With the debt suspended in limbo like this, Hempton suggested, Trump could have claimed there was no debt forgiveness to report. Under Hempton's theory, this would have allowed Trump to deduct from his taxes the full amount of losses related to his businesses, including those that really ended up being borne by the creditors who sold their debt for pennies on the dollar.</p><p>The main problem with Hempton's theory is that this strategy is illegal. The IRS is not perfect, but it is pretty good at identifying and disallowing such tax strategies, especially when they involve huge sums of money.</p><p>But what if the loophole at issue in the Gitlitz case allowed Trump to deduct his businesses' huge loss without needing to report the associated debt forgiveness as income - that is, what if Trump found a perfectly legal way to take credit on his personal income taxes for losing money he didn't really lose?</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/57f3ffbf9bd978e7018b4a18-2000/ap_16278137167193.jpg" alt="Donald Trump" data-mce-source="AP" data-mce-caption="Donald Trump." /><p class="source"><span>AP</span></p><p class="caption">Donald Trump.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><h2>The theory</h2><p><a href="http://www.taxnotes.com/tax-notes-today/cancellation-debt-income/news-analysis-donalds-double-dip/2016/10/04/18619431">That Tax Notes column</a> <span>by Sheppard, a </span><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/31/business/31tax.html?_r=2&amp;ex=1190260800&amp;en=7379aee0130babf9&amp;ei=5070">prominent tax commentator</a><span> who previously practiced tax law, is behind a paywall. But it provides the best theory I've seen to date of how Trump could have come to run up such a big loss on paper, so I'm providing a summary below, and I'm hoping you'll bear with me.</span></p><p>The Gitlitz loophole - the one Congress closed in 2002 - was related to the taxation of S Corporations.</p><p>The S Corporation is corporate form for businesses that have only one or a few owners. Often, these are small businesses, but they don't have to be. S Corporations do not pay taxes directly - instead, they pass their profits and losses through to their owners, who pay tax on those profits (or deduct those losses) on their individual income-tax returns.</p><p>When an S Corporation loses money, its owners in general may deduct those losses against other income they report on their tax returns. However, there are supposed to be rules in place to ensure that taxpayers cannot deduct losses from an S Corporation that exceed what they invested in the S Corporation in the first place, plus the prior profits they have earned from the S Corporation.</p><p>That is, let's say you invest $100,000 into an S Corporation of which you are the sole owner. In the first year, the S Corporation earns profits of $50,000, of which you enjoy 100%. In the next year, the S Corporation loses money. Then, you may deduct these losses from your taxes, but not to the extent they exceed $150,000.</p><p>Or, at least, that's how it's supposed to work.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/53beaec86bb3f7cf1fe31146-1406/double dipper, seinfeld.png" alt="Double Dipper, Seinfeld" data-mce-source="NBC via YouTube screengrab" data-link="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RfprRZQxWps" /><p class="source"><span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RfprRZQxWps">NBC via YouTube screengrab</a></span></p><p class="caption">"You double-dipped the chip!"</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><h2>The 'double dip'</h2><p>Sheppard sketches out a situation in which an S Corporation owned by Trump is the general partner in his casino businesses, which went into bankruptcy in 1991 and 1992. That S Corporation likely lost a great deal of money. It also likely owed debts related to the casino businesses that it could not pay and that were canceled as part of the bankruptcies - and/or as part of Trump's subsequent out-of-bankruptcy restructurings, which continued into 1995.</p><p>Ordinarily, canceled debts would count as taxable income to the S Corporation. But if the S Corporation were insolvent (which you would have expected it to be, if its sole assets were its equity interests in Trump's bankrupt casinos), the debt cancellation would have been excluded from its taxable income.</p><p>This exclusion makes sense if you think about the personal case: Let's say you have $300,000 in debts and no assets, and you declare a Chapter 7 liquidation bankruptcy. Your debts would be discharged. It would be silly for the government to call that discharge $300,000 in income and seek around $100,000 in taxes from you, since you have no money.</p><p>In the situation described by Sheppard, the S Corporation's massive business losses would have passed through to Trump as personal losses. The offsetting debt forgiveness enjoyed by the S Corporation would not have passed through to Trump as taxable personal income, because it was excluded from the S Corporation's taxable income. In total, Trump would have harvested a huge loss that exceeded his initial investment in and prior profits from the S Corporation.</p><p>"But wait!" I hope you are saying. "Wouldn't that put Trump afoul of the rule that his tax losses from the S Corporation can't exceed what he invested in it in the first place plus the prior profits?"</p><p>Yes, it would - except that, prior to the 2002 loophole fix, the debt forgiveness enjoyed by the S Corporation would have passed through to Trump <em>for the purposes of calculating the amount of profit the S Corporation had earned on his behalf</em>, even though the same debt forgiveness did not pass through as actual taxable profit to him.</p><p>Sheppard refers to this as a "double dip" - the tax loophole would have allowed Trump to claim losses on his individual income tax return that were ultimately borne by creditors, not by him.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/57f25e5bd887240a068b4d34-2000/gettyimages-610995354.jpg" alt="hillary clinton" data-mce-source="Justin Sullivan/Getty Images" /><p class="source"><span>Justin Sullivan/Getty Images</span></p></div><p></p></div></div></p><h2>The ultimate fix</h2><p>If that rule sounds stupid, that's because it was stupid. The IRS sought to disallow such tax deductions since they were obviously contrary to the intent of the laws around S Corporations. But the Supreme Court ruled in 2001, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gitlitz_v._Commissioner">by a majority of 8-1</a>, that the letter of the law allowed investors to use this tax strategy even if it made no sense. The only way to close the loophole was to change the law.</p><p>So in 2002, as a part of a broader, bipartisan package of business tax reforms, Congress did that. The new law ensured that if the cancellation of an S Corporation's debt doesn't count as taxable income, it can't increase the shareholder's basis in the S Corporation, creating additional headroom for the shareholder to deduct other losses he didn't really bear.</p><p>This package of reforms <a href="http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=107&amp;session=2&amp;vote=00044">passed the Senate</a> by a vote of 85 to 9. One of the senators voting in favor was Hillary Clinton.</p><p>I don't know that Trump benefited from this loophole, but it would fit the available evidence very well. And it would help explain how he managed to run up a tax loss so big that it amounted to nearly 2% of all the net operating losses taken on individual income-tax returns in the entire country in 1995.</p><p>It would also blow up <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2016-10-03/trump-s-1995-return-shows-good-tax-policy-at-work">the narrative</a> that Trump's huge loss just reflects the tax code working properly, letting businesspeople offset their real profits with their real losses.</p><p>If Trump didn't use the Gitlitz loophole, and he really did enjoy a bona-fide economic loss of nearly $1 billion, he could prove that by releasing his tax returns in their entirety.</p><p>Until he does that, we can't just assume Trump "<span>used the tax code just the way it's supposed to be used," as his running mate Gov. Mike Pence claimed Tuesday night. After all, like the rest of us, Pence has not seen the entire tax returns he is purporting to bless.</span></p><p class="tagline">This is an editorial. The opinions and conclusions expressed above are those of the author.</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/map-shows-how-religion-spread-around-the-world-2016-9">This animated map shows how religion spread across the world</a></h3>        <div>            <div>    <script src="http://player.ooyala.com/v3/6e12e8b3387a44daacfb73afba25a76e"></script>    <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="F5aHR4dTob1y4-cHP5qNzXITGcq1vPVW" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>    <script>    if (typeof RunFunctions === 'undefined') { var RunFunctions = []; }     RunFunctions.push(function()    {         var ooyalapopvideo = OO.Player.create('ooyalaplayer_popvideo', 'F5aHR4dTob1y4-cHP5qNzXITGcq1vPVW',{ autoplay: 'false' });     });    </script>    <noscript><div>Please enable Javascript to watch this video</div></noscript></div>        </div>        <script>(function() { function createPlayer() { OO.ready(function() { RunFunctions.forEach(function(ooyalaFunction) { ooyalaFunction(); }); RunFunctions = [];}); } createPlayer(); }()); </script>    </div>

Here's the best theory we've seen of how Trump paid so little tax

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container float_right"><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/534d432beab8ea700ae334fa-1024-768/car-towed-1.jpg?maxX=480" border="0" alt="car towed" width="480"><p class="source"><span><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/beckysnyder/4192095488">Flickr / Becky Snyder </a></span></p><p class="caption">The IRS can seize your property.</p></img></div><p></p></div>Taxes are due just about two weeks from today.</p><p>We're hoping <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-get-6-more-months-to-do-your-taxes-2014-4" target="_blank">that doesn't come as a shock</a>.</p><p>If you don't file and pay your taxes, however,<span> the things that could happen to you </span>are pretty shocking.</p><p>Julius Green, CPA and tax practice leader for <a href="http://www.parentebeard.com/" target="_blank">ParenteBeard</a> in the Philadelphia region, explained to us the potential consequences of letting April 15 come and go tax-free.</p><p>Granted, you aren't guaranteed to suffer these consequences, and everyone's tax situation is different, but here are a dozen terrible things that <em>could</em> happen if you don't do your taxes.</p><p>You could:</p><p><strong>Pay a penalty fee.</strong> There are two kinds of "not doing" your taxes - failing to file and failing to pay. "If you fail to file, you get hit with a penalty of 5% of the tax owed, up to five months out, with a minimum penalty of $135, or as much as 100% of the tax owed - whichever is less," Green says. If you don't pay, he continues, you're typically charged a penalty, plus you'll have to …</p><p><strong>Pay interest.</strong> "Statutorily, the IRS can't waive interest," explains Green. "They want the time value of the money you owe them." If you fail to pay, you may be paying a penalty <em>plus</em> interest, which is usually determined by th<span style="background-color: #ffffff;">e <a href="http://apps.irs.gov/app/picklist/list/federalRates.html" target="_blank">federal short-term rate</a> (anywhere from 1%-4%), plus 3%, for a total of 4%-6%.</span></p><p><strong>Get notices from the IRS.</strong> It's probably fair to assume that no one wants mail from the IRS. But if you don't file or don't pay, that's exactly what could happen. "The IRS gives you multiple opportunities to get it right," says Green. "They have to send you a notice before taking any action, and usually they need a response in 30-60 days. But many people in this situation know it's coming, so they panic when they get their notice and shove it in a drawer to deal with when they have the money."</p><p>But here's the thing: Whether you have the money or not, if you don't reach out to the IRS upon receiving a notice, they could start taking action. What kind of action? Well, they can make you …</p><p><strong>Forfeit your refund. </strong>It makes sense when you think about it. If you owe the IRS money, the agency is not going to hand over any until you pay. For example, i<span style="line-height: 1.5em;">f you didn't file taxes in 2012 and the IRS is after you, but you did file for 2013 and are due a refund, you may never see that money. The IRS could simply hold onto it. They can also make you ...</span></p><p><strong>Give up your Social Security.</strong> "Through what's called the Federal Payment Levy Program, the IRS has the ability to attack certain assets after going through the appropriate notification process," explains Green. "While they can't inhibit your ability to earn money, take your work tools, or appropriate certain benefits like those paid to your children, Social Security is one thing they can seize."</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/551aefe3eab8eaf664285bcf-1158-868/burning-cash-fire-1.jpg" border="0" alt="burning cash fire"><p class="source"><span>Paula Bronstein / Getty Images</span></p><p class="caption">So much for that tax refund.</p></img></div><p></p></div></div></p><p><strong>Receive a federal tax lien.</strong> It sounds technical, but basically, a lien is a claim the IRS makes to your property. This claim, however, isn't another notice you can shove in a drawer. According to <a href="http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p594.pdf" target="_blank">IRS Publication 594</a>, a lien is a public declaration of the agency's claim to your property in relation to your other creditors. Not only may it be filed to employers, landlords, and creditors, but the lien can make you ...</p><p><strong>Lose ground on your credit report.</strong> An unpaid debt to the IRS is just like an unpaid debt to anyone else, and it will appear on your credit report. "People don't realize that your credit report reflects your tax liens as much as any other outstanding debt," says Green. We won't even pretend that it could be considered "good debt."</p><p><strong>Have your property seized.</strong> A lien is a claim to your property; a levy is the actual taking of it. <a href="http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p594.pdf" target="_blank">IRS Publication 594 </a>makes it clear that in some cases, the agency can appropriate your house or car, not to mention your income or bank account.</p><p>They might restrain themselves if it's agreed that you're suffering "economic hardship," which means their seizure would hinder your ability to meet "basic, reasonable living expenses." Plus, the publication reads, "If there's money left over from the sale [of your assets] after paying off your tax debt, we'll tell you how to get a refund." Make of that what you will.</p><p><strong>Receive a summons.</strong> If the IRS is having trouble sorting out the taxes you owe, you could get a summons - that's a legal requirement to appear - to meet with an IRS officer, and bring appropriate records, documents, and possibly even testify.</p><p>It won't necessarily be you who is asked to meet with the agency: A third party with information relevant to your case, such as a record keeper from a financial institution, could be summoned instead. If the IRS is simply gathering info, you'll be informed of the third-party summons, but if it's in reference to money it's already clear you owe, you might not even find out.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/551aed9269beddec59f73496-909-681/man-checking-mailbox-4.jpg" border="0" alt="Man Checking Mailbox"><p class="source"><span><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/svenstorm/2544106090/in/photolist-4SPd77-aQkLr8-6xxJDN-9CqL7q-eZJYaZ-556b6D-73myGb-6PaQxF-fBXAfE-771WTM-6Hxgn7-iNqhvP-dMVCXn-8321ro-dATUJe-dct6U8-ebMywY-5ppLAC-egdeyT-8eUmBA-a1iGCi-d2UNs-5HTiUf-3etDJU-7CmD3v-jXNYPR-4KEZpW-bhCxtR-6JyDhG-b6a2EB-7D5FV1-rCVnn-4j1ezK-fvqggz-3wR28M-9RsyXM-mkyo1D-cChMkE-DJ6kR-dkTk36-oKm19g-8i1Teb-5Up8Hd-7uJbL5-3ZcfbA-nhPLvP-8xfSB8-nmAZfW-dV1Gj2-dTh1d1">Flickr / Josh McGinn</a></span></p><p class="caption">You don't want a note from the IRS in the mail.</p></img></div><p></p></div></div></p><p><strong>Declare bankruptcy.</strong> Let's hope it doesn't come to this. "People who might declare bankruptcy are the people who couldn't pay their taxes because they couldn't afford to pay their mortgage or expenses and get caught in a bit of a bind," explains Green. "Usually it's people who are caught for three or four years not filing, spending the money they didn't pay the IRS on things to try and stay above water."</p><p>Remember that bankruptcy isn't magic: While in certain cases, a tax debt can be discharged, if it has turned into a tax lien, it might not be erased. "Instead," clarifies Green, "the IRS will generally suspend the debt and seek to collect it after bankruptcy."</p><p><strong>Serve jail time.</strong> While jail is unusual for most well-meaning citizens, it is a possibility. "If the government deems that you've willfully failed to file or filed fraudulent returns, they could see it as an attempt to defraud the government," says Green. "In cases where jail time becomes an issue, you typically see two things: a lot of income being hidden from the IRS, and a pattern or some evidence of wrongdoing." Unless you're a dishonest high roller, it's unlikely that the IRS will pursue a jail sentence.</p><p><strong>Deal with the IRS for a decade.</strong> Did we mention that the government has the right to pursue unpaid taxes for 10 years? While there are certain appeals and exceptions for individual cases, if you've been a negligent taxpayer (or rather, <em>non-</em>taxpayer) you can look forward to a long and close relationship with the IRS.</p><h3>However, there's hope. </h3><p>The absolute best thing you can do if you've neglected to file or pay, says Green, is reach out to the IRS immediately. It may seem counterintuitive, but the agency is more likely to look kindly on someone who admits they're off track and wants to work it out than someone who has been lining the litter box with their notices. You may be able to negotiate a payment plan or even a reduction of the total owed.</p><p>"You shouldn't panic upon getting a notice from the IRS," says Green. "There is some recourse, but your options are more limited the longer you wait to engage."</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/what-earth-would-look-like-if-ice-melted-world-map-animation-2015-2">Animated map of what Earth would look like if all the ice melted</a></h3>        <div>            <div>    <script src="http://player.ooyala.com/v3/6e12e8b3387a44daacfb73afba25a76e"></script>    <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="5xam5iczrSx4Ibx8MvarDsu3zOG88omE" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>    <script>    if (typeof RunFunctions === 'undefined') { var RunFunctions = []; }     RunFunctions.push(function()    {         var ooyalapopvideo = OO.Player.create('ooyalaplayer_popvideo', '5xam5iczrSx4Ibx8MvarDsu3zOG88omE',{ autoplay: 'false' });     });    </script>    <noscript><div>Please enable Javascript to watch this video</div></noscript></div>        </div>        <script>(function() { function createPlayer() { OO.ready(function() { RunFunctions.forEach(function(ooyalaFunction) { ooyalaFunction(); }); RunFunctions = [];}); } createPlayer(); }()); </script>    </div>

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