Beer Taxes in Europe by Country: Chart

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Taxes on beer vary widely among the countries in Europe. The EU requires every country to levy a minimum of €0.03 ($0.03) for a 330ml (11.2 oz) beer bottle with 5 percent alcohol content according an article at Tax Foundation. Germany, Luxembourg and Spain charge the lowest taxes on a beer bottle at the minimum rate defined by the EU. This is not surprising as Germany is a beer-drinking nation for ages and Spain is popular with tourists especially the British for its cheap beer. The German rate is also the lowest among the OECD countries.

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Source: Tax Foundation

In addition to the excise taxes shown above all countries levy a Value-Added Tax (VAT) on beer when it is purchased by consumers. Consumers see the VAT added to a bill just like any other item but do not see the excise tax.

Putting The National Debt of Over $33 Trillion in Perspective: Infographic

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The US national debt crossed $33.0 Trillion on Monday, June 18th according to the Treasury Department. A government shutdown may occur if federal funding is not extended by the Congress before Sept 30th. 33 Trillion dollars is such as large number it is impossible to even understand how such a debt is possible. As this figure goes higher and higher each year, ordinary people may simply not care about since it might as well be $100 Trillion or $500 Trillion. Beyond a certain amount it almost sounds like just a lot of zeros which have no meaning.

I came across the following neat infographic that puts this huge debt mountain of the US in perspective:

Source: Peter G.Peterson Foundation

Performance of U.S. vs. Foreign Stocks 1971 to 2022

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One of the strategies for success with investing in stocks is to diversify one’s portfolio across asset classes. This may include owing both US and foreign stocks. It is wise to have international stocks in addition to the domestic peers because their outperformance varies over a period of time. Generally foreign stocks have outperformed their US peers lasting many years at time and vice versa. US stocks have strongly beaten from 2008 to 2021. However last year international stocks outperformed for the first time in many years.

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Source: Uncovering International Investment Opportunities, Franklin Templeton

It remains to be seen if foreign stocks’ outperformance would continue thru this year and beyond.

Related ETFs:

  • SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY)
  • Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO)
  • iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF (EEM)
  • Vanguard Developed Markets Index Fund ETF (VEA)

Disclosure: No positions

On The Performance of Exchange-Listed Foreign Bank Stocks YTD

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Most of the foreign bank stocks were in the red around this time last year. However it is a better story this year with most of them up at least so far. The top performers are from Argentina which is permanent basket case of a mismanaged economy. Unlike 2022, Brazilian banks have not shot up high though they are in the positive. Notable among the banks down YTD are British banks excluding HSBC and Bancolombia of Colombia.

The following table shows the year-to-date returns of foreign bank stocks:

S.No.Company NameTickerClosing Price on Setp 15, 2023Year-to-Date Change(%)Country
1Grupo Financiero GaliciaGGAL $16.23 63.10%Argentina
2Banco MacroBMA $24.00 43.91%Argentina
3Mitsubishi UFJ FinancialMUFG $8.98 30.13%Japan
4Banco BBVA Argentina S.A.BBAR $5.11 29.74%Argentina
5Banco Bilbao Vizcaya ArgentariaBBVA $7.73 27.62%Spain
6HSBCHSBC $39.37 26.03%United Kingdom
7Mizuho FinancialMFG $3.64 25.70%Japan
8Banco SantanderSAN $3.73 24.41%Spain
9Sumitomo Mitsui FinancialSMFG $10.17 24.06%Japan
10Banco Santander ChileBSAC $18.81 19.57%Chile
11Itau UnibancoITUB $5.64 19.53%Brazil
12KB Financial GroupKB $42.51 10.17%Korea
13Banco BradescoBBDO $2.83 9.30%Brazil
14ICICI BankIBN $23.97 9.14%India
15Banco BradescoBBD $3.06 6.25%Brazil
16Woori Financial Group Inc.WF $27.89 2.87%Korea
17Barclays BankBCS $7.97 2.56%United Kingdom
18Shinhan FinancialSHG $27.79 2.01%Korea
19Banco Itau ChileITCL $3.37 1.55%Chile
20Banco de ChileBCH $20.86 1.34%Chile
21Banco Santander BrasilBSBR $5.56 0.74%Brazil
22Bancolombia CIB $27.49 -3.22%Colombia
23Lloyds Banking GroupLYG $2.11 -4.09%United Kingdom
24HDFC BankHDB $66.20 -4.96%India
25Deutsche BankDB $11.01 -5.12%Germany
26NatWestNWG $6.00 -8.05%United Kingdom

Note: The returns noted above are excluding dividends

Source: BNY Mellon

It remains to be seen if these banks would add further gains thru the reminder of this year.

Disclosure: Long BCH, CIB, ITUB, BBD, BBVA and SAN

The Chemistry of the Coronation Crowns: Infographic

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The Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom housed in the Tower of London are fascinating to look at. The Coronation Crowns in the collection are some of the wonderful crowns in the world. While visiting the Tower of London one does not feel like enough time was spent to admire the jewels due to the moving conveyor belt system. With that said, I came the below infographic that shows the amazing amount of precious stones present in three of the imperial crowns:

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Source: Compound Interest

It would be an interesting task to calculate how much it would cost to build one of these crowns taking into account the cost of all the stones and other materials involved.