[rufus_foreman]

> Feels unnecessary negative and very arm chair criticism to just hand wave the whole endeavour and say "oh nothing was done and all they did was talk"

They don't have the authority to negotiate the agreements that were described in the headlines as already being made.

That's called bullshit. Doesn't matter which side politically you are on, it's bullshit. Why is the BBC printing bullshit?

They don't have that authority, the BBC is lying to you, why are they doing that?

[wildfire]

No, as has been pointed out to you - multiple times - reaching a deal is not equivalent to a contract.

The fact that your experience tells you that "deal equals contract" is strange.

In my experience I have had plenty of "deals" not materialise for one reason or another.

To extrapolate that the BBC is printing bullshit is basically to say that if you have not experienced something, then it is worthless.

The BBC is not lying. You are being shrill for no good reason and are relying on and extrapolating from your limited experience of deals.

[StandardFuture]

No, as has been pointed out to you - multiple times - reaching a deal is not equivalent to a deal being legal.

> The BBC is not lying

No, just the status quo BBC propaganda. Let's review some quotes.

> the arrival of the Biden administration in the US, created a moment of opportunity.

> A minimum corporation tax rate of 15% is rather low

> European finance ministers succeeded in including the phrase "at least 15%", which offers a path to get that number higher.

> Tech firms say they welcomed the move.

> A process has begun, a precedent has been set. It may or may not end up being transformative, but this moment is historic.

This last quote is the BBC admitting to painting this as if it was a contract being signed.

Let's continue.

> more tax revenue would be raised from large multinationals and would help pay for public services.

Only public services? Not military? Salaries? Government contracts? etc., etc.? Well, this IS historic!

> Ms Yellen said there was an understanding that national digital services taxes such as those levied by the UK and EU countries would be scrapped and replaced by the new agreement. Such taxes are regarded by the US as unfairly targeting American technology giants.

So, the tech giants get a new tax standard that benefits them over the existing standard?? Funny, this really does go along with the previous quote:

> Tech firms say they welcomed the move.

And here is another interesting quote to focus on:

> Paolo Gentiloni, the EU commissioner for the economy, described Saturday's agreement as a "big step... towards an unprecedented global agreement on tax reform"

It sets a precedence that nothing about what is being done could even be remotely criticized except for it possibly not being enough.

It's laughable. How anyone does not see this as North Korean Kim Dynasty style propaganda is beyond redemption and likely has a double digit IQ.

Then the article ends with three quotes from Amazon, FB, and Google.

Gee, I wonder who sponsored this article (and possibly helped coordinate this meeting).

It couldn't be techopolies trying to cozy up with existing government officials in the hopes of securing an agreement that is mutually beneficial for everyone.

But, paying more money is never beneficial for a company. So, game-theoretically, and thus purely mathematically-speaking: what benefit could these tech companies be receiving from this new arrangement?

Hmm ... surely, in our modern crony capitalist system, it wouldn't be anything corrupt in nature?

[StandardFuture]

Classic HN, two downvotes and no one is capable of providing a counter-argument. The unintelligent flourish far too easily here. They should have more demanded of them. There are no clear incentives to not just throw a punch and run away like a coward on this site.