Planet Business
The Lexicon: Decembuary:2013 is but days old, but we are already well into the season that is Decembuary, a portmanteau of December and January. Decembuary isn’t quite winter with poor old November left out though – the standard definition excludes most of December too, applying it to this strange otherworldly time between December 27th and that black day in January when everyone has to go back to school. It’s also used by retailers as a more accurate descriptor than “January sales” for the period in which unsold snowflake-patterned woollies and other rapidly-dating items are flogged off at an ostensible discount. This year, mobile operator Meteor has gone overground by advertising its “Decembuary” sale. Next year everyone will be at it.
Image of the week: Pizza cliff
Planet Business has stumbled across the real motivation for the late-night brinkmanship in the fiscal cliff “negotiations” in Washington – it was all just a ruse for calorie-deprived politicians, legislators and assorted hangers-on to get in a pizza or two.
The unidentified aides delivering what looks like about 40 12-inch boxes are heading into a conference room stuffed to the crust with Democrats near the office of House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer at the US Capitol in Washington on January 1st.
The Democrats’ pizzeria of choice is We, The Pizza, based on Pennsylvania Avenue, which, according to its website, offers “a delivery special” to House and Senate office buildings “in some good news for congressional staffers”. Pizza is never not good news. PHOTOGRAPH: MARY F CALVERT/REUTERS
The List: Celebrity tax exiles
Of all the messages that might be posted on the Kremlin website, could anything be scarier for the good people of Russia than this? “Vladimir Putin has signed a decree granting Russian citizenship to Gerard Depardieu,” the message reads. The actor has gone east after the French government criticised his decision to move abroad to avoid higher taxes. But who else has gone abroad to avoid tax?
1Sean Connery: Most famous for playing James Bond, the Scottish actor is no fool, choosing to exile himself in the sunny Bahamas. Not that this undermined his support for Scottish independence – oh no.
2 Lewis Hamilton: The 2008 Formula 1 champion is from Hertfordshire, but prefers Switzerland and Monaco. He still pops home for the odd torch relay.
3 Sting: In 1980, Sting relocated to Galway for tax purposes despite singing on Dead End Job: “I don’t wanna be no tax exile / and I don’t mind being skint.”