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1. The impact of indirect taxes and duties
Advances in communications and transportation, the progress of free
trade, the emergence of strong non-Western economies, the coalescence of Western Europe
into a European Union, the dissolution of the Soviet Union, and the liberalisation of
Communist China have combined to internationalise the world's economy to an unprecedented
extent. A myriad of multinational enterprises, large and small, operate in the new world
economy. One mistake they consistently make is to underestimate the impact of indirect
taxes – above all customs duties and value added tax, but also excise taxes – on
the profitability or indeed the very viability of their international operations.
