Schriftliche Stellungnahme für die Anhörung des Haushalts- und Finanzausschusses des Landtags Nordrhein-Westfalen zum Antrag der Fraktion der FDP "Faire Besteuerung ermöglichen und Existenz von Familienunternehmen in Nordrhein-Westfalen sichern - Für eine zukunftsfeste und verfassungskonforme Ausgestaltung der Erbschaftsteuer" am 2. Juni 2015

Aufgrund des Urteils des Bundesverfassungsgerichts vom 17. Dezember 2014 muss das Erbschaft- und Schenkungsteuergesetz bis zum 30.6.2016 neu gefasst werden. Die FDP-Landtagsfraktion in Nordrhein-Westfalen befürchtet Nachteile für Familienunternehmen und setzt sich für eine möglichst umfassende Verschonung von Betriebsvermögen ein. Dieser Forderung widerspricht das IMK in der vorliegenden Stellungnahme. Bei der nun erforderlichen Neuregelung der Erbschaft- und Schenkungsteuer sollte das Land Nordrhein-Westfalen sich für eine Abschaffung der Privilegierung von Betriebsvermögen einsetzen. Dies würde bei der Möglichkeit einer längerfristigen Stundung der Steuerschuld bzw. ihrer Begleichung durch Unternehmensanteile die Existenz der Unternehmen nicht gefährden und zudem sicherstellen, dass unternehmerische Entscheidungen nicht durch Verschonungsregelungen verzerrt werden. Angesichts einer extremen Ungleichheit der Vermögensverteilung und einer derzeit regressiven effektiven Besteuerung von Erbschaften und Schenkungen wäre eine stärkere Besteuerung des Betriebsvermögens auch aus Gründen der Verteilungs- und Steuergerechtigkeit geboten.On December 17th 2014 the Bundesverfassungsgericht (the German federal constitutional court) ruled that the inheritance and gift tax law is unconstitutional due to excessive exemptions for business assets and has to be amended by June 30th 2016. The faction of the liberal party (FDP) in the parliament of North Rhine-Westphalia fears that the amendment will lead to much higher taxes endangering family-owned businesses and therefore pleads for a maximum exemption of business assets from inheritance and gift tax. The IMK's statement for the parliamentary hearing disagrees with this position. It argues in favour of a complete abolition of privileges for business assets. The survival of family-owned businesses would not be endangered as long as tax deferrals are granted over a sufficient period or, alternatively, the tax can be paid by transferring business shares to the government. This would also reduce the distortions of business decisions due to the inheritance and gift tax law. In view of an extreme wealth inequality and the currently regressive effective taxation of inheritances and gifts an increased taxation of business assets would also be advisable to counter inequality and to ensure greater tax justice

Europa verlangt einen adäquaten institutionellen Rahmen für den Glücksspielmarkt

Der Glücksspielmarkt in Europa befindet sich gegenwärtig in einer Phase des Umbruchs, der auch in Deutschland in den kommenden Jahren zu neuen Strukturen mit einer zumindest partiellen Öffnung des Marktes führen könnte. Hier werden die Risiken aufgezeigt, die sich aus einem primär reaktiven Verhalten des Gesetzgebers für den Glücksspielmarkt in Deutschland ergeben. Ausgegangen wurde von der Annahme, dass die Öffnung dieses Marktes in den kommenden Jahren schrittweise vorangetrieben wird und dann der institutionelle Rahmen immer wieder angepasst werden muss. Länder, die dagegen früh einen europarechtlich konsistenten Rechtsrahmen schaffen, bieten für Unternehmen verlässliche Bedingungen, die sie für die Schaffung eines attraktiven europäischen Angebots nutzen können. Es besteht die Gefahr, dass Spieler in Deutschland zunehmend ausländische Angebote nutzen, die schwer kontrollierbar sind. Eine solche Entwicklung ist nicht nur unter dem Aspekt des wirtschaftlichen Erfolgs der Anbieter von Glücksspielen bedenklich, sondern vor allem wegen der ordnungspolitischen Konsequenzen. Das Schaffen institutioneller Bedingungen, die europarechtlich weniger Angriffspunkte als die gegenwärtigen Regelungen besitzen, bietet eine Chance, die politisch genutzt werden kann.Glücksspiel, Deutschland, Europa

The National Park Idea: Historical Misconceptions and Ecological Realities

17 pages. Contains references

The National Park Idea: Historical Misconceptions and Ecological Realities

17 pages. Contains references

A poetic pilgrimage towards a cosmopolitan world

The practice-based research-dissertation or “poetic-philosophical praxis” referred to and explored in this Reflective Commentary concerns two major topics: the artistic and intellectual work of the second UN Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjöld (1905 – 1961) and the implications of that work for a persuasive new understanding of the cosmopolitan idea. Pursuing these topics, I developed a “poetic-philosophical praxis” intended to reveal the passages toward and contours of the cosmopolitan world in which Hammarskjöld lived and for which he lived. Praxis, as I understand it, does not exclude or oppose theory. In the practice-based research-dissertation – in the form of a book entitled “Dag Hammarskjöld für kosmopolitische Passagen” – a continuum of theory and practice is embodied through “poetic notes” which trace, follow and elaborate the cosmopolitan thinking of Dag Hammarskjöld. As the book unfolds and the poetic-philosophical praxis advances, there are deliberate disruptions and swerves resulting in estrangements and inter-worlds, polyvalent perspectives, contexts radically reconsidered, shifting views that create new perspectives. Instead of setting out to prove and confirm just one meaning in any given context, this artistic practice values the freedom to deviate in order to reveal what I perceive as “meaningfulness”—less exact and restrictive than “meaning” but potentially more enriching. Both the practice-based research embodied in the book and this reflective commentary attempt to uncover in Hammarskjöld’s diplomatic work and mystical thought, elements of statesmanship that shed light on a seemingly paradoxical approach to global community, an approach that strives to escape politics rather than conceive everything in political terms. Social Sculpture has its place here: some of its key concepts and methods offer a philosophical framework for cosmopolitan thinking. The notion of pilgrimage is also central to the praxis. As I construe it, pilgrimage relies on landscape, horizon and the stars in the sky. It does not strive for the fixed structures of mapping but rather for “wayfinding”. To support wayfinding, a special source of guidance is introduced: between the chapters of the book, a narrative ass takes the lead to guide both the researcher-author and the reader. Under the gentle dominion of the ass, the researcher is taken a certain distance from his original pedagogic background. The ass’s intuitive sense of direction leads toward Hammarskjöld’s idea of world government and away from it again. It leads out into nature and wilderness; to the idea of the “higher human being”, rooted in Kierkegaard and the Taoist tradition; to the special example of Marcus Aurelius; and ultimately to the idea of “international community”— the creation of which was a central concern of Hammarskjöld’s. The transformation of Europahaus Burgenland into Akademie Pannonien reflects the origin and sphere of activity of this PhD research. This place of learning, for which I have served as director since 1990, is now being shaped into “an atelier for cosmopolitan theory, practice and poetry” by bringing together ideas of world citizenship and Hammarskjöld’s (anti-)political wisdom. The art of Social Sculpture, rooted in the thought and practice of Joseph Beuys (1921-1986), and developed by Shelley Sacks in the Social Sculpture Research Unit (SSRU) over several decades, is adopted as a creative frame for exploring this material in its wholeness and as an inspiration toward freely rethinking it. The perspective of Social Sculpture allows one to move, like Hammarskjöld himself, between worldly affairs and the mystics of the Middle Ages, between outer tasks and an “inner atelier”i which invites “every human being to be an artist.”ii This commentary offers theoretical support for the practice-based research dissertation embodied in the book. Just as an artist steps back from a painting to see more than is possible whilst working on it, the finished artistic practice will now meet enquiring eyes. This commentary represents a new involvement with the entire practice-based research process and the book: watching it, elucidating it and interpreting it. And, in doing so, completing it.

Datafizierte Politik und ihre Folgen: Ein wissenssoziologisch ausgerichteter Perspektivenwechsel

Der Begriff der datafizierten Politik steht für die Möglichkeiten politischer Akteure, Entscheidungen über ihre Kommunikation im Kontext von Wahlkampagnen auf der Basis von Daten zu treffen, die auf digitalen Plattformen über Nutzer/-innen anfallen. Solche Daten können genutzt werden, um politische Werbung online gezielt bestimmten Personengruppen anzuzeigen, aber auch zur Abschätzung des Erfolgs eines Beitrages, um daraus Schlüsse für künftige Beiträge zu ziehen. Mit der ersten Möglichkeit verbinden kritische Beobachter/-innen die Sorge, das Wahlverhalten von Wähler*innen lasse sich manipulieren, mit der zweiten Möglichkeit die Befürchtung, dass so Emotionalisierung, Polarisierung und letztlich die Entstehung von Echokammern und Filterblasen gefördert werde. Die aktuelle empirische Forschung zu (politischen) Effekten von Social Media auf Nutzer/-innen gibt in diesen Hinsichten zunehmend Entwarnung, aber die politische Kommunikation über mögliche Effekte bleibt davon aber weitgehend unbeeindruckt. Der Beitrag untersucht zunächst am Beispiel von Bundestagsreden, die die Begriffe Filterblasen und Echokammern verwenden, in welchen thematischen Kontexten sich die politische Überzeugung etabliert hat, dass diese Phänomene existieren und ein Problem darstellen. Daran anschließend wird geprüft, inwiefern Inhalte wissenschaftlicher Politikberatung in den letzten Jahren diese Überzeugung gestützt oder ihr entgegengewirkt haben. Schließlich werden mögliche Funktionen diskutiert, die die Bezugnahme auf Filterblasen und Echokammern in der politischen Kommunikation erfüllt

New Methods for Determining the Thermophysical and Hydraulical Properties of Unsaturated and Unconsolidated Rocks

ABSTRACT The heat conductivity and diffusivity as well as the hydraulic properties of unconsolidated rocks are important parameters to quantify the conductive and convective heat transfer in the subsurface. Depending on the type and way of installation of an underground heat exchanger system the involved soil undergoes compaction, change in saturation e.g.. The most soil properties will be changed somehow, just the grain size distribution remains constant. In the operation phase the temperature and saturation are variable in time and space. The change in the ratios of the gas phase and water phase in the subsoil affects the themo-physical performance. The hydraulic conductivity of soils is a non-linear function on the water content. The heat capacity of unconsolidated rocks can be calculated from the heat capacities of the individual components and their volume fractions. In contrast, there is no linear dependence of the thermal conductivity and the water content. Established computational models provide approximations for the thermal conductivity as a function of water content and other constraints such as temperature. However, for the additional determination of convective transport behavior, the unsaturated hydraulic conductivity and water retention function, largely dependent on the tortuosity of the pore space, have to be determined simultaneously. Here, for the integrated study of soil mechanics, hydraulic and geothermal properties of unconsolidated rocks, a heat and temperature conductivity meter has been developed and patented. The device allows measurements of samples either under constant pressure of up to 7.6 Mpa which means soil compaction can be varied stepwise or it can be driven at a constant sample volume. The treatment temperatures of the soil samples can be varied from -10 to +80 ° C. Additionally to the parameters such as temperature, pressure, volume and water content, the capillary tension is recorded during the measurement. For the simultaneous study of water transport characteristics and the unsaturated conductivity of undisturbed unconsolidated rock samples, an evaporation test has been developed. It is equipped with a full-space line source to determine the thermal conductivity. This allows the simultaneous measurement of thermal conductivity, water retention characteristics and hydraulic conductivity of a soil sample up to the air entry point of the ceramic tensiometer cap (approx. -780 hPa). The functionality of the equipment and methods has been validated and the devices were used for soil investigation in numerous projects. Determination of the design parameters of shallow geothermal systems and of the heat transfer of burried cables is thepurpose of the methods presented in this study. The data compile mathematical models for the thermo-physical parameters of soils. A mathematical function for calculating the thermal conductivity in dependence of the capillary tension is introduced here and the test results of geotechnical and geothermal soil parameters of sand, clay and silt are presented

Reading Slant During Covid-19: A Contrarian List

Today's academia is obsessed about writing and speaking gobbledygook. At least most of the time. It has little time in sitting still and actually reading fiction, poetry and say, Wittgenstein. One pretends to say fancy things about these authors but one does not actually read books anymore. COVID 19 Lockdown prompted this author to answer queries from students and peers about a reading list. So prepare a wide ranging list he did which covers everything from the version of Mahabharata one ought to read to novels on celibacy. But then he chose to publish at Prabuddha Bharata over all other platforms because the Ramakrishna Mission has the finances to keep this list alive 200 years hence. This was written during COVID 19 Lockdown in India at the end of April, 2020. Nirad C Chaudhuri insisted on making a good bibliography in his magnum opus. This author follows Nirad C Chaudhuri in quietly speaking about how Harold Bloom plagiarised the Late Professor John Senior's reading list. The list also comments on Romanticism and the art of writing itself. The list on Hinduism is truly contrarian. One hopes that this list survives when GoodReads and other Listopias are no longer. Today's academia is obsessed about writing and speaking gobbledygook. At least most of the time. It has little time in sitting still and actually reading fiction, poetry and say, Wittgenstein. One pretends to say fancy things about these authors but one does not actually read books anymore. COVID 19 Lockdown prompted this author to answer queries from students and peers about a reading list. So prepare a wide ranging list he did which covers everything from the version of Mahabharata one ought to read to novels on celibacy. But then he chose to publish at Prabuddha Bharata over all other platforms because the Ramakrishna Mission has the finances to keep this list alive 200 years hence. This was written during COVID 19 Lockdown in India at the end of April, 2020. Nirad C Chaudhuri insisted on making a good bibliography in his magnum opus. This author follows Nirad C Chaudhuri in quietly speaking about how Harold Bloom plagiarised the Late Professor John Senior's reading list. The list also comments on Romanticism and the art of writing itself. The list on Hinduism is truly contrarian. One hopes that this list survives when GoodReads and other Listopias are no longer. These COVID 19 days, while the First world is mooning over syllabi for their kids and third and fourth world folks like me are tackling Umphan; I chose to prepare a new kind of syllabus. A syllabus which is not merely a list. In these days of incessant and meaningless webinars which my students can only spread memes about and only the poor and doctors will actually travel to white nations which are killing their own; here's a list which ends with Hindu classics which are contrarian. Nirad C Chaudhuri, a much maligned man in India and a forgotten polyglot in white privileged academia said we must first prepare a bibliography. So, Figure it out. I used some of the Hindu resources on recognition mentioned here and tried to work on Stephen King; a privileged white tenure track person from Trumpland just snowballed me. Now, this list is syllabi and also just a list of a bunch of books to read during Lockdowns which will be more common in the future because COVID 19, as Dr Fauci tells us; is here to stay. Even if one COVID 19 person is there; then along with Ebola, my white privileged tenure track fiends; off you go to gagaland. We in India already know these diseases. Go figure it out