Peter Chowla

As new lines with hopefully state of the art signaling, headways could be <2min. I don't think interlining would really be a problem.

Long run gain to have Midtown East connected (2nd Ave subway afterall) to Upper Manhattan. And very long term to the entire East Side of Manhattan.

Plus current demand is not the upper limit. Many more large apartments buildings will be built in East Harlem as the area becomes better connected.

Ultimately the "Q" is not meant for Midtown West.

Medium term there is cross town in Harlem volume; East Side going to Columbia/ Barnard or other places on the upper west, and all upper Manhattan that may want to go to east side.

Yes please! Q needs to go all the way Broadway & 125th. Please let us have nice things…

The candidates for these posts should have in-depth substantive knowledge of international tax cooperation and deep technical experience related to the topic(s) of their instrument.
#hiring #internationaltax #taxcooperation

The UN Framework Convention and its protocols will shape international tax for decades to come and these people in each of these posts will lead the technical work for the specific instrument listed. These are exciting jobs that will have real impact.

A third posting for a Senior Economic Affairs Officer is going live soon:
• careers.un.org/jobSearchDes... (Protocol on the prevention and resolution of tax disputes)

The Senior Economic Affairs Officer posts are:
• careers.un.org/jobSearchDes... (Framework Convention on International Tax Cooperation)
• careers.un.org/jobSearchDes... (Protocol on the taxation of income derived from the provision of cross-border services)

Deadline for both posts is 10 March!

My office at the United Nations continues to build the secretariat team to support the critical global work to negotiate a UN Framework Convention on International Tax Cooperation. We have three senior level jobs open now (and more junior posts also online).
#hiring #internationaltax

The Guardian view on a tax war: the world must unite against American obstruction | Editorial Editorial: Donald Trump’s threats to global tax reform have backfired, leaving the US isolated as nations push ahead with a new UN tax convention

Really good to see more mainstream media such as @theguardian.com covering global geopolitics combined with looking at the economic implications!

Diplomacy is getting harder, but the UN's work on a new international convention on tax is really important!

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Full house this morning for the opening of the third PrepCom for the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development!
Follow online at: webtv.un.org/en/asset/k1j...

#FFD4 #financing4development #SDGs

Principle Economic Affairs Officer
Deadline: 13 February 2025

careers.un.org/jobSearchDes...

#hiring #internationaltax #taxcooperation

This is an exciting opportunity to have real impact on the world to bring more fairness to the economic system. Job is open to economists, lawyers, tax cooperation practitioners, and others who should have a vision for the work and a feel for how to work with countries to achieve sound agreements.

This work, mandated and funded by the UN General Assembly, seeks to develop a fully inclusive and effective international tax system.

If successful, the Framework Convention and is protocols will shape international tax for decades to come.

The biggest & most important job in international tax was just opened. The UN is looking to hire a senior leader to head up the Secretariat to the negotiations on the UN Framework Convention on International Tax Cooperation.
#hiring #internationaltax #taxcooperation

careers.un.org/jobSearchDes...

Remember: Unless your organization is in consultative status with ECOSOC or has been previously accredited to FFD Conferences (Monterrey, Doha, or Addis Ababa), your organization must apply for special accreditation for FFD4. Accreditation for other UN Conf (e.g., COP) does not transfer to FFD4.

❓ What’s needed to get accredited: Expression of interest, Proof of legal status, Activity report!

👉 Accreditation Deadline: 21 February 2025

ℹ️ More information: financing.desa.un.org/ffd4/partici...

Some key points:
You cannot attend the FFD4 Conference (or the sessions of the PrepCom) as an individual.

Participants must be affiliated with an accredited organization or a United Nations Member State delegation in order for their registration to be confirmed. Accreditation is mandatory.

Our office has announced the opening of the final round for special accreditation to the 4th International Conference on Financing for Development (FFD4), scheduled to take place from 30 June in Seville, Spain.
financing.desa.un.org/ffd4/partici...

Last chance!
#FFD4 #developmentfinance #SDGs

For more general information the #FFD4 zero draft outcome document and links to the process please check back to: bsky.app/profile/pcho...

The overall approach is not to change what the credit rating agencies say, but to make ratings less central to market functioning. And less deterministic of public policies and investment.

That is something that even CRAs themselves amay be fine with - they don't claim a monopoly on knowledge!

And to try to stay on top of the issue in the long run, the zero draft calls for "an annual special high-level meeting under the auspices of ECOSOC for dialogue among Member States, credit rating agencies, regulators, standard setters, and long-term investors".

A forum for ongoing discussion.

Both 51(b) and 55(b) agree to "reduce the mechanistic reliance on credit-rating agency assessments in regulatory frameworks".

Banking capital adequacy standards for banks still make explicit reference to ratings. But so do investment mandates and regulatory frameworks for some pension funds.

Para 51(b) also calls for "ratings to positively reflect the long-term debt sustainability benefits of voluntary debt restructurings, rather than penalizing countries that engage in such transactions and official sector debt programs" to recognize that after restructuring countries are MORE solvent!

Proposal in para 51(b) says countries will "promote transparent, accurate, objective and long-term model-based credit assessments" and calls for public entities to produce these. These can be references for investors - they already read IMF and World Bank assessments, so lets make them comparable.

So what can be done to address any potential unwarranted impact of credit ratings on development finance, especially when CRA ratings are presented as "opinions" and thus protect by free speech laws?

Overall approach of the FFD4 Zero draft seems to be lets just make CRAs less important!

UN DESA Policy Brief No. 131: Credit rating agencies and sovereign debt: Four proposals to support achievement of the SDGs Credit ratings play an important role providing information on sovereign borrowers. But financial markets, including credit ratings, often over-emphasize short-term economic concerns, and underweight ...

There is good research on this published by many in international system:

From UNDESA
desapublications.un.org/policy-brief...

From UNCTAD
unctad.org/publication/...

From UNU-CPR
unu.edu/cpr/report/r...

Not to mention older work by the IMF's John Kiff, Amadou Sy and others

Credit rating agencies are a bugbear of many, and in the development space are accused of bias against developing countries, particularly African countries.

They are said to reinforce short-term, procyclical market reactions, and negatively influence the cost of developing country borrowing.

Today's #FFD4 interesting proposals: credit rating agencies

The co-facilitators stated that:
"Regulatory regimes should encourage credit ratings to be more transparent, accurate, objective, and long-term oriented."

and proposed:
"implement consistent regulatory regimes for rating agencies."
#CRA

Forgot to mention - this proposal is in paragraph 29, action (f)!
#FFD4 #developmentfinance #genderequality